Green Planet Films gets ready for its close-up

By Wendy Wilson -- ContentAgenda.com, 6/17/2009

June 17 | After four years of selling its catalog of environmentally-conscious programming online, San Francisco-based Green Planet Films is finding a growing demand for its titles with select retailers.

Last month, Green Planet titles were included in the launch of the “Eco Shoppe” store concept by Vitamin Shoppe. The first Eco Shoppe opened in Austin, Texas, on May 21 boasting a selection of Green Planet films. The 400-store Vitamin Shoppe chain also is selling Green Planet titles on topics from green building (Building With Awareness) to urban sprawl (The End of Suburbia) through its own Web site.

Suzanne Harle, founder and executive director of not-for-profit distributor Green Planet, launched the company in 2003 after attending an environmental film festival. The sheer volume of films being screened there helped her realize the richness of the eco-concerned content. Harle promptly shelved her dream of becoming a wildlife documentarian in favor of making certain that other people’s films about conservation found an audience.

“Our mission is environmental education through film,” Harle said, adding that the company hopes its blog, launched last week, will further its work online. “It is a one-stop place to learn about these films and film festivals, some of which are even going to be in theaters, which is unprecedented."

Today, the company has just over 200 titles in its catalog, many picked up at California’s largest film festival concerned with green issues, the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival in Nevada City, held annually in January. Harle estimates about 70% of Green Planet’s catalog comes from independent filmmakers, with the remaining titles offered up from major labels including National Geographic.

Since online sales of its catalog began in 2005—there were just 18 films then—Green Planet has relied largely on direct marketing to promote its titles. Schools, libraries and government agencies have proven to be its largest markets. Harle says Green Planet seeks out as many recycling and food films as possible because they are always in demand by government agencies, schools, libraries and individuals.

A lean corporate machine (Green Planet employs three people on a full-time basis), the organization’s commitment to green issues extends beyond its product offerings to the packaging in which its DVDs are offered.

Most recently, Harle responded to a post by a librarian at a large university and received 600 DVD cases that would otherwise have been destined for a landfill.
Green Planet’s current project: To make every last case to explain its re-purposing while, at the same time, covering up the old barcode.

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