Brunson, DiCaprio Support Environmental Film

If you read the names at the bottom of the poster for the recently released film The 11^th Hour  and said to yourself, “Is that THE Doyle Brunson?” you were probably not the only one.  The poker legend is one of the executive producers of the film, which addresses the state of the earth’s ecosystems and how we can make changes for the better.  Narrating The 11^th Hour is fellow executive producer and producer, Leonardo DiCaprio. 

Written and directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, presents dialogues with environmental experts from the worlds of education, science, politics, the arts, and media.  People like Stephen Hawking, Mikhail Gorbachev, and former CIA chief, James Woolsey are among the more than fifty people who lend their insights to the viewer.   

Leila Conners Petersen, for one, was surprised at what she learned from making the film.  

“When we started the project, we wanted to take a ‘big picture’ look at how humans have related to the earth, and take stock of the state of the planet,” she said. “It seems so obvious now, but I was surprised to find out that humans are facing an extinction crisis along with all other life, that we are not excluded from the catastrophic events, that in fact, we are the most vulnerable even though we have technology.  We learned that the earth is going to be fine.  It’s us, humans [sic] beings, that are in big trouble. So, the environmental movement is not about saving the trees, it’s about saving ourselves.” 

But there is still time to turn things around, she added.  “All that is at issue is that it is a matter of will, of priorities, and changing our behavior.”