Maggie Gyllenhaal and other illustrious judges have spoken

The winners of a user-generated video contest meant to inspire our next President to take bold action on climate change were announced this morning — and inspiring they are. Displaying a high level of craft and imagination, key ingredients in the pursuit of socially effective and emotionally affecting creations, the winning videos are not only impressive, they are stirring.  Each entry strikes a pitch-perfect note of balance between the leveraging of fear as catalyst to action, and gentle mnemonic for that which we fight to preserve.  The winning submissions will be distributed to all presidential nominees and each member of Congress. Additionally, the videos will be broadcast to a potential audience of more than 50 million viewers around the nation and online. The top four winning entries (there was a tie for third place) take on the issue of climate change in a variety of ways. First and second place entries look at the problem through the eyes of children, while the third place entries employ stop-motion photography and animation to tell different stories. The winning videos are:

:: First Place :: Climate Matters by Steve Dempsey of Sammamish, WA

:: Second :: Ask the Children by Barbara Lucas of Northville, MI

:: Third :: Green to Blue by Elizabeth Klein of Cincinnati, OH

:: Third :: This Lawn is Your Lawn by Roger Doiron of Scarborough, ME

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The contest was conceived of and sponsored by Brighter Planet and 1Sky, in partnership with Vimeo.com which hosted the contest on its web platform. Organizers are now asking people across the county to take a stand on the climate change issue by promoting the videos — and the message about climate change — online and in local communities. The videos are set up so that anyone can easily embed them on their own blogs, homepages or social networks. In addition to extending the impact online, people are encouraged to take action in their own communities by sharing the videos with local leaders. Additional ideas for taking action can be found at http://brighterplanet.com and www.1sky.org.

Look out for the winning videos broadcast via Link TV, FSTV, and online at venues including: www.vimeo.com, www.think.mtv.com, www.joost.com,www.huffingtonpost.com and www.quarterlife.com.The winning videos will be showcased at the Green Expo in San Francisco next month. And finally, the first-place winner will receive a $3,000 Brighter Planet™ Visa® Gift Card; the second and third place winners will receive $1,000 and $250 Brighter Planet Visa Gift Cards respectively.

Judges for the contest include Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress; Rory Kennedy, Emmy award-winning documentary producer; Tia Lessin, the supervising producer of “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and “Bowling for Columbine”; Leila and Nadia Conners, the producers/directors of “11th Hour”; author Anya Kamenetz; David Jenkins, Government Affairs Director of Republicans for Environmental Protection; Bill Stetson, Producer and Environmental Consultant; Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director of 1Sky; and Patti Prairie, CEO of Brighter Planet. Full bios for the judges can be found here.

Sixteen video finalists were selected from over 100 submissions based on the greatest number of viewer hits. From the narrowed pool of 16 videos, judges made their winning selections based primarily on the following criteria: 1) creativity, 2) coherence of message, 3) potential impact of message on political leaders and 4) potential to inspire.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, actress and Climate Matters video contest judge:

The winning video entries make a compelling case for why bold action must be taken on the climate change issue. We were overwhelmed by the passion and commitment of their creators and are proud to offer them a platform for national exposure.

Patti Prairie, CEO of Brighter Planet:

The damage we are inflicting upon the environment is unsustainable and we’re approaching the point of no return. The next President of the United States will have an opportunity to make policy that will affect our climate for generations to come. These videos effectively convey that message and build the case for doing so in a way that words simply could not.

Gillian Caldwell, Campaign Director for 1Sky:

Our nation’s energy and economic crises have moved climate change squarely into the Presidential campaigns. It is clear that our climate challenge is also a 21st century opportunity to reinvent our economy for a cleaner, greener future. Our leadership must hear America’s call for bold action on climate loud and clear, and we can’t think of a more impactful way of ensuring that they do than by sharing these powerful video messages with Congress and our country’s next President.

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