I was a producer at NBC News and I was assigned a story about how to make your home less toxic
and I didn't know anything about it and I learned that many of the chemicals that we
use inside our home and the products are not tested for their safety.
I was shocked and unnerved about it and this becomes our next documentary.
What was really surprising to us is the realization that these chemicals aren't regulated.
And when Dana first brought the idea to me, I just couldn't believe that that was the
case, that in our country we have chemicals on store shelves that haven't been tested
for their safety.
It's just kind of an unbelievable statement, so that's what stood out to me at the beginning.
The strategies and tactics that have been used by industry that were the same for tobacco
until today and so these are the same things that are used over and over and it's time
that we kind of come to the realization that this is happening for almost a century now.
Of all the different products that you come across, what do you think is the most harmful
thing that is least publicized right now?
BPA in Kansas, one that sticks out to me, that like we knew about maybe baby bottles
and other plastic things but knowing that it's in the can liner of virtually anything
that you can buy on a store shelf, it's pretty surprising.
The chemical trickle sand is something that I really am worried about, it's in pretty
much anything that's called antibacterial and I think we're in a society that we want
everything to be antibacterial and that I think people think that that's good for you
but if trickle sand's in it is not good for you.
So sometimes with these films about the chemicals and everything it's like okay what do I do?
Do I get into a plastic bubble and do I like seal myself up and grow my own stuff?
So what are practical tips for people after watching this that they can do?
Well I'm so excited you asked that because today we launched the beta version of our
website which has products that have been vetted by our advisory board of doctors,
green scientists and people who are working in this field that have green products and
non-toxic products that we can all buy and you can go directly to the sites to buy them.
And so that's, we think consumer action is really the way to make change on this and
every day, every week we all go to the store and we buy stuff for ourselves, for our families
and that's the way to make the change.
I heard from the Gravevine that someone kind of famous narrates this human experiment.
So how did you get Sean Penn involved in this whole cause and movie?
We were fortunate to meet Sean a few years ago here in Marin through a mutual friend
we had and he helped us with our first film which was called Witch Hunt and then I guess
liked us enough to come back again for Love Hate Love and then when we started to come
up with a concept for the human experiment we went to him and kind of presented like
here's what we'd like to do, would you be a part of it, would you give us a hand, would
you be a mentor to us and he said yes.
So for some reason he keeps saying yes and we're going to keep going back.
So you called him a mentor as well, what's the best advice he's given to you?
He told us to put grass and reeds in our last document.
He said make it less like photography and more from the heart.
A lot of things like that that are more about like maybe a feeling than like a specific
you know put that shot there, put that shot there.
So be authentic, be really.
Which is hard for Don.
This is my Stark insider talk.
Okay.
Thank you Don.
