TEDx takes Manhattan

INVISIBLE HAND’s Anthony Lappé was extremely proud to volunteer his services as a speaker prep coach to a few of the speakers at yesterday’s TEDx Manhattan: Changing the Way We Eat event at the Times Center. It was an amazing day, full of insights and inspiration. We were especially honored to work with CNN Hero Gary Oppenheimer, founder of AmpleHarvest.org, whose simple idea of connecting home gardeners with food pantries is revolutionizing the way food donations work by providing fresh, healthy food (no more Pop Tarts and canned peaches!) to people who need it most. Our favorite speaker, hands down, was the Bronx Green Machine’s Stephen Ritz. The man is a force of nature. His talk, better described as a freestyle performance, told the story of his unique gardening program for Bronx kids. Among other accomplishments, he improved the participants’ attendance at school from 30% to 90%.

To watch video of the talks sign up for the TEDx Manhattan newsletter. Videos will be released over the next month or so.

Farmers Stand with OWS

Think Occupy Wall Street is a bunch of hipsters? Our latest film took us to the Occupy Wall Street Farmers March, in which farmers from around the country came to show their support for the movement that one farmer called “the conscience of America.” In this short, produced for Iowa-based Food Democracy Now!, we tell the story of Jim Gerritsen, an organic potato farmer from the far reaches of northern Maine.

Watch the film here.

World’s Greatest Card Trick

INVISIBLE HAND’s Eric Wagner recently made this magic little film, a devilish mix of 3D animation and live action. It’s been viewed over 4.2 million times on YouTube. See what the hype is about here.

We’re Not Buying It

We’re proud to announce the launch of our latest video, a collaboration with the Oakland, Ca.-based Prevention Institute. The short vid is the cornerstone of a new campaign to focus attention on the marketing of junk food to kids. The organization writes:

• “When we put children–not profits–first, the plan of action is clear: companies should market the foods that keep kids healthy, not sugary cereals and other junk food. The federal health experts who make up the Interagency Working Group on Foods Marketed to Children (IWG) have proposed voluntary, science-based nutrition guidelines to help provide a model for companies that market to kids. Unfortunately, the food industry and media companies are working to get Congress to stop the IWG from finalizing these sensible recommendations.”

Watch it here.

Celebrating 40 Years of the Food Movement

Thank you to everyone who joined my mother, sister, food hero Vandana Shiva, and about 1,000 other people at the Cooper Union for an amazing event celebrating 40 years of the food movement.

Yes Men, Small Planet Institute and IH team up

When a PR firm working for Dow Chemical, America’s largest manufacturer of toxic chemicals, contacted Anna Lappé (sister of INVISIBLE HAND’s Anthony) to participate in an online forum on ‘the future of clean water’ they obviously didn’t know who they were dealing with. Working with the legendary Yes Men, Anna and IH produced a short video pointing out some inconvenient truths about Dow’s long history of polluting our waterways. The vid went viral, with coverage from across the web.

Ahead of our time

Back in the late 90’s I was working on a project that I was convinced would revolutionize television journalism. The project was killed, and I was cut out of the deal. I came out of it, hurt and disillusioned. For the first time, the principal player in the story has published his take on the event.

Bringing the World Cup to the Middle East

Qatar wins! INVISIBLE HAND’s Anthony Lappé recently was part of the team that helped bring the FIFA World Cup to the Middle East for the first time. As a writer for @radical.media, he wrote two of the three films shown in Qatar’s historic final bid presentation on Dec. 2, 2010 in Zurich, Switzerland. Lappé also traveled across the Middle East as a second unit director for the final film. The Wall Street Journal wrote, “[Qatar's] three slick videos had the quality and inspiration of Oscar-winning short films.”

Earlier, Lappé wrote another short film and ad for Qatar’s bid (directed by Lenard Dorfman, produced by @radical.media) staring Zinedine Zidane. The ad, which aired around the world on numerous international networks, was credited by London odds-makers with catapulting Qatar’s bid into the favorite slot prior to the Dec. 3 vote.

The project can be viewed here.

Production stills:

The Incredible Inedible Egg

Rodent feces, bugs, bird infestations, maggots – chicken cannibalism. Yup, chickens are fed chicken parts. It’s enough to make you hurl. And it’s the story behind the recent salmonella outbreak that forced the recall of half a billion eggs. As the Fox News lady says, “Seems like no one is really regulating this industry.” You think?

INVISIBLE HAND recently teamed up with our new friends at Slow Food USA to produce this this viral short, which has already been viewed more than 16,000 times on YouTube and was featured on The Atlantic, TreeHugger and numerous other leading web sites.

Haiti’s Lost Music (PBS Need to Know)

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

INVISIBLE HAND’s Anthony Lappé traveled to Haiti to shoot, produce and write this story of hope from that beleaguered isle for PBS’ excellent new national newsmagazine, Need to Know.