SCA Alumni Screening Series Presents: FIELDS OF FUEL

ABOUT FIELDS OF FUEL

America’s addiction to oil has endangered the environment, taken the nation to war and threatened our long-term stability.  Driven by his own emotionally-charged motives, filmmaker, author and environmentalist Josh Tickell shuttles us on a revelatory fast paced journey to unravel this addiction.

Tickell tracks the domination of the petrochemical industry, from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt ethanol use in Ford’s first cars, to the mysterious death of Rudolph Diesel who invented the Diesel engine to run on peanut oil over 100 years ago, to the truth behind America’s choice to declare war after 9/11 rather than wean the country off of oil.

While driving the "Veggie Van" across the country, Tickell kick-starts a biodiesel revolution.  He shows us a hopeful reality with a decentralized, sustainable energy infrastructure: big rigs tanking up on biodiesel at Carl’s Corner Texas truck stop, a Brooklyn-based biodiesel company turning used fryer oil from restaurants into clean burning fuel, running your next car on biofuels made from algae, and the Swedish public voting to make Sweden petroleum free by 2020.

Tickell dissects how oil companies are paid to keep polluting, how Detroit pumps out cars incapable of running on alternative fuels, and how the American government is in the pockets of foreign oil sheiks.

Through Louisiana’s polluted bayous, Detroit’s misguided corporations, Washington’s corruption and the Middle East’s bloodshed, Tickell’s passionate film demonstrates how biofuels and renewable energy serves as the bipartisan table that has room for all sides of the issue. Driven by solutions that are immediately applicable, Fields of Fuel acts as a new model for patriotism in America, a sustainable model that includes everyone and excludes no one.

To learn more about the film and to view the trailer, click here.

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Josh Tickell (Filmmaker, Author & Environmentalist) is one of the nation’s leading experts in sustainable biofuels. Growing up near oil refineries in Louisiana, Tickell learned first hand that oil was ruining our planet. Studying the ill effects that his own hometown has endured, he realized something had to change.

Tickell’s first book, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank – The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel, sparked a biodiesel revolution in the 1990’s and jump-started the American biodiesel industry. This booming industry now produces over 850 million gallons per year and supplies biodegradable biodiesel to commercial fleets including the San Francisco Fire Department, the Navy and NASA.

In 1998, Tickell organized Green Mountain Energy’s “California Tour” and its Pennsylvania concert, which featured James Taylor, Sean Colvin and Kenny Loggins. Over 50,000 people attended the event, which was completely powered by biodiesel. In 2006, as a precursor to Fields of Fuel, Tickell released a second book titled Biodiesel America – How To Achieve Energy Security, Free America From Middle-East Oil Dependence and Make Money Growing Fuel. The book challenges the status quo of the oil industry, the automakers and the government, and offers a complete energy roadmap to wean the United States from fossil fuels.

At the time of the book’s release, Tickell founded the Biodiesel America Organization, selected by former President Bill Clinton to be part of his Global Initiative on Climate Change. Tickell has consulted with numerous companies and organizations such as the National Biodiesel Board, the Arizona State House of Representatives, Solar Energy International, Quicksilver and Clif Bar. Today, Tickell uses his expert knowledge and powerful communication skills to educate policy makers and the public about biofuels, while offering solutions to rising gas prices, global climate change, pollution-related health issues and national energy security.

John Goldsmith '87 (Executive Producer) is the owner and CEO of Metropolis, a talent agency specializing in the representation of artists and writers working in animation and children’s programming industry. Additionally, Mr. Goldsmith is the President of Metropolis Productions, Inc., an animation production company dedicated to the creation of dynamic animated television series and commercials.

Some of the more than sixty animated children’s television properties Metropolis represents include: The Powerpuff Girls and Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends – both hit animated Cartoon Network shows; Family Guy – a FOX Network primetime offering and the Nickelodeon cartoon My Life As A Teenage Robot, as well as the directors and writers for many animated features including Shrek, The Incredibles and Open Season.

Prior to founding Metropolis, John was Senior Vice-President of The Irv Schechter Company, Talent Agency based in Los Angeles. John has also served as the Executive Vice President of Corsair Pictures, where he produced such feature film projects as Shock to the System and Miss Firecracker. John began his career as Director of Feature Development for MGM/UA.

John graduated with a B.A. in Film and American Studies from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut in 1984. In 1987, he earned his M.F.A. in the Peter Stark Motion Picture Producers Program at the University of Southern California. His professional associations include: The American Film Institute, Third Decade Council-Founding Member, and the board of directors of the Archives of the American Cinema. 


This screening is presented free of charge and is open to all USC students, faculty, staff and alumni. The theater will be OVERBOOKED to ensure capacity and the RSVP list will be honored on a first-come, first-serve basis, with no reserved seating. Please bring a photo ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will be automatically sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Check-in will begin at approximately 6:15PM.


The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 850 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes are available for Parking Structure D and Lots M & V (across the street from the George Lucas Building) for $8.00. You must pull into Gate 5, located at the intersection of McClintock Ave. and W Jefferson Boulevard and purchase your parking pass with the booth attendant. Street parking is also available along W Jefferson Blvd.

To view the full schedule of films during the Alumni Screening Series, click here.