At Nice and Serious we have a natural talent for sniffing out a good green story and this one reeks of Eco-ism! On the 5th August British sewage treatment company Wessex Water revealed their latest invention and the ultimate solution to waste management - a car which runs on human poop!

With the often hectic life of being a producer at Nice and Serious, its a rare occasion that I get to sit down and catch up with one of Hollywood’s offerings. However, with my flatmate on holiday and no networking to do that evening, I decided it was time to watch a film that I’d been meaning to watch since its release in December 2009; 9. Whilst the environmental theme is only slight, I feel it can certainly be included amongst the numerous eco-conscious animated films that have been released lately. We have only to watch films like Wall-e and Happy Feet to realise that Hollywood is making a very welcome attempt to educate today’s youth about the environmental crisis our planet faces.

Rating: 2/5
2006, UK.
Certificate U.
Duration: 77 mins.
Directors: Mark Francis, Nick Francis

This week I experienced “Black Gold”, at my first Nice and Serious film night. Which, for some unknown reason, clashed horrendously with the World Cup semi final match between Uruguay and Holland. However, as I have a combined interest (and degree!) in environment and development, I suppressed my inner lad and was looking forward to an interesting film. Regrettably, my hopes were misplaced…

As an environmental production company, it's our duty to stay up to date on all the eco-sustainability banter that's floating around these days, taking all opinions into account whilst keeping a critical Nice and Serious eye-out for greenwash and unsubstantiated eco-babble. So when a friend alerted me to an event at the Institute of Contemporary Arts about the dark side of green consumerism, I felt it my duty to pop along with an open mind and check it out...

Setting the scene.

1. “Having gone from zero to mass market globally in just three years, online video is the fastest growing media platform in history” Lightspeed Research, 2009

2. “It’s safe to predict that video will soon be commonplace on all websites. The task ahead is to figure out how to use it well, and in ways that differentiate them from competitors.” Marketing Sherpa, 2009