Two Golden-based Film and Theater Organizations Celebrate a Decade of Progress with Strategic Merger

Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 — Golden, CO — Two Golden-based organizations whose missions aim to inspire and educate audiences through film and theater are merging. The Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF) and Golden Resource for Education, Arts and Theater (GREAT) will officially become one in the same on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. As a long-standing registered 501(c)3 nonprofit, GREAT will nominate and elect four CEFF members as officers of GREAT’s board of directors and the film festival will become the sole focus of the newly combined organization.   
The two organizations began discussions about a possible merger a year ago, when GREAT announced a renewed focus on providing resources to the grassroots cinematic and performing arts community it has long supported in Golden and CEFF concurrently began conducting a search for a new fiscal agent.
 
CEFF is an inspiring and energizing festival with world-class environmental films, local and national representation, topical forums and discussions, and films specifically for youth. True to the spirit of Colorado, the event is supported and attended by people who value the natural world and share a passion for the power and beauty of film. CEFF has been held at the American Mountaineering Center, 710 10th St., in Golden, since its inception. The upcoming event from Feb. 23 through Feb. 25, 2012, is the sixth festival.
 
GREAT formed and was formally incorporated in 2002 with the intention of restoring the old downtown Gem building into a theater. Its formal mission is to “enhance, promote and enrich our community’s cultural diversity in relation to the cinematic and performing arts.” In its first year, GREAT produced an evening of historic Golden and Colorado film shorts and a black and white fall film series. GREAT also held two outdoor movie screenings that year, which continued annually and ultimately developed into a partnership with the City of Golden in 2005 to create the Movies and Music in the Park series. Today, nearly one thousand people pack Parfet Park Friday evenings in August to enjoy the free family-friendly music and movies. Since its inception, GREAT has planned and operated multiple successful film festivals, Oscar parties and other movie screenings.
 
As GREAT celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, the cinematic and performing arts in Golden are stronger than ever. Golden has its own independent downtown theater (Miner’s Alley Playhouse) and historic dinner playhouse (Heritage Square Music Hall), is home to several well-established film festivals (including CEFF and DocuWest Fest), an outdoor movie series that has been emulated throughout the metro area (Movies and Music in the Park), an urban renewal authority committed to bringing second-run films to Golden each weekend (Golden Gem Cinema) and even a cruise event that has begun screening films (Golden Super Cruise).
 
“GREAT’s merger with CEFF is really symbolic of the progress Golden’s cinematic and performing arts community has made. We’re bringing together an organization that sparked the initial interest in establishing film and theater in Golden with another that is showcasing Golden to an international audience of filmmakers and environmentalists,” said GREAT President Sabrina D’Agosta. She said the new partnership builds on the vision GREAT’s founders had a decade ago and the incredible dedication of the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to further the arts in the community. Some of GREAT’s key members included Judy Bolis, Jean Cava, Pati DeLand, Tracy Evanko, Lisa and Scott Helker, Don and Mary Parker, John Spear, Sharon and Dale Wheatley, Geoff Wodell and Jim Zoschenko. Tracy Evanko and John Spear are the two founding members who remain on the board today.
 
“This is an exciting opportunity for CEFF to build on GREAT’s history and realize new funding opportunities that wouldn’t immediately be available to us,” said CEFF founder Shawna Crocker. “We’re very grateful for the opportunity and look forward to another successful decade bringing high quality film to Golden and beyond. Our festival provides a venue for films that need places to be seen.  We plan to bring CEFF to other Colorado communities by packaging the best of our films for other festivals around the state.”
 
Once the merger is complete, GREAT’s history will be maintained on CEFF’s website at www.ceff.net

The Sixth Annual Festival will occur on February 23-25, 2012 in beautiful Golden, Colorado.

Known by some as "America's Nile," the Colorado River stretches about 1,450 miles across seven states and two countries — and photographer Peter McBride has traveled the entire thing, shooting photos for his new book, The Colorado River: Flowing Through Conflict.

McBride explains the conflict in an interview with All Things Considered host Michele Norris. The delta, which was once a vast, lush ecosystem, has all but dried up. "It shows what happens when you ask too much of a limited resource: It disappears," he says.

The Bureau of Land Management says there are 1,800 oil wells on public and tribal land in North Dakota and asked for public opinion Wednesday on the industry’s method of hydraulic fracturing those wells.

Hydraulic fracturing is coming under increased public and government scrutiny and about 250 people attended a forum in Bismarck on Wednesday, one of three the BLM will hold by Monday – here, in Colorado and Arkansas.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a supplemental proposal to reduce emissions from the Four Corners Power Plant. The new proposal will reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from approximately 45,000 tons per year to 5,800 tons per year, 3,200 tons less than EPA’s initial proposal. The proposal will also work to protect public health in the area by ensuring residents have cleaner air with fewer harmful pollutants.
Today’s action follows EPA’s initial October proposal to require pollution controls at the Four Corners Power Plant. In response to that proposal, Arizona Public Service put forward an alternative requiring plant operators to install Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) on two of the five coal-fired boilers and shut down the three older ones. SCR is the most stringent pollution control technology available for this type of facility.

“The new proposal controls emissions better, while costing less and preserving jobs,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This plant is the nation’s largest source of nitrogen oxides. By reducing its emissions by 87% - rather than our initial proposal of 80% - we will all be able to see the results and breathe cleaner, healthier air.”

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency asked nine natural gas companies Thursday to voluntarily disclose the chemical components used in a drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.

The agency said the information is important to its study of the controversial drilling practice, also known as “fracking.” Crews inject vast quantities of water, sand and chemicals underground to force open channels in sand and rock formations so oil and natural gas will flow.