'Split Estate' Doc Sheds Light on Environmental Disaster in the Making

With the release of her feature documentary Split Estate, award-winning filmmaker Deb Andersen aimed to shed light on an important environmental story about the health risks associated with the controversial natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing (aka 'fracking'). The film has been the subject of more than 100 print, radio, and television articles and interviews, as well as hundreds of blog posts on the web. As Deb Andersen says, 'Split Estate is more than a documentary film. It is a powerful tool to raise public awareness of the true costs and long-term consequences of socially and environmentally irresponsible drilling. The Split Estate national community engagement campaign is educating and empowering communities to take action and to work with each other and policymakers to protect their civil liberties, health and property.'

While the movement has made tremendous strides with its awareness campaign, the efforts for global reach have just begun. Viewers and activists can learn more about donations and other ways to take action on the Split Estatewebsite.

Imagine discovering that you don"t own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door. Imagine having little recourse, other than accepting an unregulated industry in your backyard. Narrated by actress Ali McGraw, Split Estate maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health.

Zeroing in on Garfield County, Colorado, and the San Juan Basin, this clarion call for accountability examines the growing environmental and social costs to an area now referred to as a &'National Sacrifice Zone.&'

Red Rock Pictures is a production company dedicated to the creation of documentaries that explore deeply felt human stories about the environment, energy and human rights.

DVD and non-theatrical rights are distributed by Bullfrog Films, the oldest and largest publisher of videos and films about the environment in the United States. Founded in 1973, Bullfrog has been honored with a retrospective screening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and with a special award from Medikinale International in Parma, Italy.