Split Estate and M.I.T.'s Landman Report Card Offer Special Competition

Split Estate is teaming up with Landman Report Card, a project of MIT's Center for Future Civic Media, to present a special competition.

Landman Report Card (LRC) is giving away free Split Estate screening packages to the first three communities that submit 10 reports to the LRC website. LRC has already partnered with Red Rock Pictures to organize recent screenings in Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

ABOUT
Landman Report Card (LRC) is a web resource that helps people share and explore reports about interactions with landmen and the gas companies they represent. Those new to the gas drilling issue can use LRC to read about the experiences of others and connect with knowledgeable people in their communities, while those who have gone through the process of negotiating a lease can share their experiences to hold companies and landmen publicly accountable.

Community groups can use the site to monitor activity in their area, share documents, find other groups in similar situations around the country, and build up a detailed profile of activity in their neighborhoods.

THE PRIZE
Winners will receive a free copy of the community-screening edition of Split Estate on DVD. In addition, LRC will reimburse the three winning communities up to $100 towards the cost of planning a screening event.


HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Ask members of your community to submit report cards at LRC. All participants must include a quick sentence about their affiliation in the description section of their report card. After a group has submitted 10 reviews, the representative responsible for organizing the screening should send an email to extract@media.mit.edu to alert the LRC team, which will verify that criteria have been met.

ELIGIBILITY
Individuals, citizen groups and NGOs are welcomed to apply. National organizations are not eligible for participation, but local chapters of national organizations are. Each individual is encouraged to submit as many report cards as they can — one for each landman or company they have dealt with. However, only two reports per individual will count towards the final group total. If you have questions, please email Christina Xu at ckx@media.mit.edu.
Visit the Split Estate website

Film Explores Drilling's Hidden Impact

Veronica M. Cruz | The New Mexican

It's been nearly two years since Tecton Energy abandoned its plans to drill in the Galisteo Basin. But for communities in the Rocky Mountain region and several other states around the country, the battle between landowners and natural gas and oil companies is far from over.

In the documentary Split Estate, producer/director Debra Anderson, who lives in Santa Fe, focuses on the detrimental effects of the controversial deals that she says can wreak havoc on the environment and pose health threats to people in areas where drilling occurs.

"It was somewhat invisible because a lot of the big drilling is happening in big, unpopulated places," said Anderson in a telephone interview. "Then they started to creep into residential areas. A lot of people I talked to had been trying to get attention to this issue for a while." More>>>

IF YOU GO

What: Screening of Split Estate
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail
Cost: $9.50; seniors, students and military, $8.50
For more information: www.splitestate.com

"Split Estate" showing at the Santa Fe Film Festival

Time: December 5, 2009 from 5:45pm to 7:45pm
Location: New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe
Phone: 505.988.7414
Event Type: film, screening
Organized By: Aaron Leventman, Bioneers

Flyer

Commentary on "Split Estate" screening at the United World College in Las Vegas NM.

I was a bit surprised at how few students seemed to be in attendance, but overall, there was a good turnout. The panel answered a variety of questions from concerned citizens. Most of the questions revolved around how we can prevent Mora and San Miguel Counties from becoming like the decimated counties shown in the film. I was encouraged by the variety of people giving their voice to this issue and expressing their intentions of continuing to work for the safety of counties in Northern New Mexico. If you would like to know more details about the screening and subsequent meeting, contact me and I would be happy to pass along further information.

Press Release, Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center, Split Estate Screening

"Contact: Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center
(505) 425-3840, (505) 617-6794, lvpeacecenter [at] desertgate.com
Event: Film Screening ("Split Estate ") and panel discussion re: Oil & Gas Industry
Event Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Location: United World College-USA, Kluge Auditorium, Montezuma, NM

The United World College Students for Peace & Justice and the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center will be hosting a film screening and panel discussion on Sunday, November 8, 2009,
1:00 - 3:00 PM at the Kluge Auditorium on the campus of the United World College-USA.

The agenda for the forum will include the following:

*Special screening of the just-released, highly-acclaimed, 76-min. documentary "Split Estate"
(http://www.SplitEstate.com/);
* Discussion with four panelists about the impacts posed by the Oil and Gas Industry's potential for drilling in San Miguel County and Mora County;
*Comments from local community advocates who have been actively working on this issue; &
*Comments and questions from the audience.

PANELISTS: Debra ANderson, Filmmaker (Director, Producer & Editor of "Split Estate"); Paula Garcia (President, Mora Land Grant); Johnny Micou (Co-founder, Drilling Santa Fe, & Executive Director, Common Ground United); & Linda Spier (Producer, Galisteo Basin Photography Project and Mora Photography Project)

We encourage UWC students, staff, faculty, San Miguel County and Mora County residents, land owners, public officials, community leaders and others to attend the film screening and discussion. This 2009 documentary shows the impacts caused by oil and natural gas drilling in Colorado and New Mexico. Tens of thousands of acres are being leased to the O&G Industry in San Miguel and Mora Counties right now. Come learn about the consequences for those in the path of this drilling boom. Oil and Gas development has arrived and we need to educate ourselves about the potential effects of this industry, and what we can do about it.

Everyone is welcome. Please join us."