EW Think-Tanker, Stephan McGuire announces a fabulously successful opening of the 11th Hour in Los Angeles and New York August 17th. Leonardo DiCaprio’s feature length documentary “examines the state of the global environment, and includes visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet’s beleaguered ecosystems.”

Stephan, a producer with Tree Media Group, was Associate Producer of The 11th Hour as well as Director of Outreach for The 11th Hour ACTION Campaign. Studying Permaculture on the island of Hawaii in 2001 and in Costa Rica in 2002-2003 inspired him to see the key role of permaculture design in sustainable development. While working at Tree Media he has gone on to co-found the Coalition for A Sustainable Africa, one of EW’s “Partners in Empowerment.” CSAfrica is an international coalition dedicated to creative and collective solutions to inextricable economic, social and environmental challenges facing Africa today.

The documentary tackles an issue that DiCaprio has championed for years as it takes on a renewed urgency in the wake of recent natural disasters, and as increasing global abuse brings the future of our environment into greater question.

DiCaprio says “Global warming is not only the number one environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity.” “We all have to do our part to raise awareness about global warming and the problems we as a people face in promoting a sustainable environmental future for our planet.”

Leonardo DiCaprio’s “The 11th Hour” is a feature length documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and their impact on the planet. “The 11th Hour” documents the cumulative impact of these actions upon the planet’s life systems and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity. With the help of over fifty of the world’s most prominent thinkers and activists, including reformer Mikhail Gorbachev, physicist Stephen Hawking, and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, “The 11thHour” documents the grave problems facing the planet’s life systems. Global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction, and depletion of the oceans’ habitats are all addressed, and their causes rooted in human activity. The combination of these crises call into question the very future not of the planet, but of humanity.

The 11th Hour tries not to simply paint a dismal portrait of a planet in crisis, but offer hope and practical solutions. Scientists and environmental advocates such as David Orr and Gloria Flora provide a vision of a radically new and exciting future in which humanity seeks not to dominate the earth’s life systems, but to mimic them and coexist. “The 11th Hour” calls for a future now within our grasp that is both sustainable and healthier.

The film is co-directed and written by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, co-founders of Tree Media Group. DiCaprio produced, co-write and narrated the project. The team has previously collaborated on Global Warning and Water Planet, short films that can be seen on DiCaprio’s eco-site. The 11 th Hour was produced by Leila Conners Petersen and Brian Gerber for Tree Media Group, and Chuck Castleberry for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

For More Information:

• Read the one page synopsis of film here.
• Watch 11th Hour Trailer on YouTube.