Josh Tickell

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Josh Tickell
Josh and wife Rebecca Harrell Tickell at AFI Dallas Film Festival, March 2010
Born (1975-08-07) August 7, 1975 (age 48)
Lancaster, Ohio, United States
SpouseRebecca Harrell Tickell (2010–present)

Josh Tickell (born August 7, 1975) is an American film director who specializes in movies with a social message. His first feature movie, Fuel [1] won the Sundance Audience Award for Best Documentary, was released theatrically in the United States and became a global sensation gaining over 1 million viewers on Netflix, iTunes, Hulu and CNBC.[1][2] The movie was screened in the White House for energy and environment staff working in the Obama Administration.

Life and career[edit]

Tickell directed the Cannes Film Festival movie, The Big Fix.[3] The film explores possible connections between corporate and political malfeasance and the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. He went on to direct his third film, Freedom (2011),[4] which focuses on alcohol fuel and aired on the SuperChannel in Canada. He completed his latest documentary, PUMP, and is currently in production on Good Fortune.[5]

Tickell holds a Master's degree in Film from Florida State University's School of Motion Picture Arts.[5]

Tickell is married to activist and former actress Rebecca Harrell Tickell, with whom he collaborates on his films.

The Veggie Van Voyage[edit]

Tickell returned to the US, bought an old diesel-powered Winnebago van that he painted with sunflowers and called the "Veggie Van".[6][7] He built a small biodiesel processor that he named "The Green Grease Machine" and then set off on a 25,000 mile, two-year tour of the US powered by the biodiesel he made from used grease collected from fast food restaurants along the way. This journey, which eventually became known as The Veggie Van Voyage, attracted the attention of numerous media outlets, serving to promote the publicity of biodiesel as a viable alternative fuel.[citation needed]

Books[edit]

After the Veggie Van tour, Tickell co-wrote his first book, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank – The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel.[8]

His second book, Biodiesel America: How to Free America From Oil and Make Money with Alternative Fuel, examines the status quo of the oil industry, the automakers and the government and offers an alternative energy roadmap to wean the US off fossil fuels.[citation needed]

Filmography[edit]

In 2014, Harrell Tickell directed and produced the documentary film Pump, which is funded by the Fuel Freedom Foundation,[11] whose aim is to reduce American dependence on imported oil through replacing it with US-produced methanol from fossil gas, compressed natural gas (obtained by fracking) and biofuels.[12] These solutions are promoted in Pump, which includes an interview with John Hofmeister, Advisory Board member of the Fuel Freedom Foundation and former President of Shell Oil Co.[11] The film has The Los Angeles Times reviewed the film as "well reasoned and compelling". The film has also been criticised for promoting fossil fuel production such as fracking and methanol from fossil gas, as well as biofuels,[13] which are controversial due to their competition for agricultural land with food production and high emissions.[14] For instance, maize ethanol is estimated to have a higher emissions impact than gasoline and diesel, once carbon opportunity costs are factored in, and substantially higher emissions than solar-powered electric vehicles.[15]

In 2020, Tickell and his wife Rebecca Harrell Tickell co-directed documentary Kiss the Ground, which is narrated by Woody Harrelson, and advocates for restoring soils through regenerative farming as a solution to climate change and soil degredation. The film has received criticism for its uncritical presentation of the ideas of Allan Savory, a controversial figure who has claimed that the carbon sequestration potential of holistic livestock grazing is immune from empirical scientific study.[16] A Food and Climate Research Network meta-study found that Savory's claims that holistic grazing by livestock can reverse climate change were "unrealistic" and very different from those issued by peer-reviewed studies.[17] Kiss the Ground has also been criticised for its selective reference to Project Drawdown,[18] a respected ranking of solutions with the most potential to combat climate change - the film points out that Project Drawdown states that 13.72 - 20.92 Gigatons CO2eq can be sequestered in soils between 2020–2050 due to “Managed Grazing” (0.46-0.70 Gigatons CO2eq per year), but omits to mention that this would only be enough to offset of 7-11% of ruminant livestock's total estimated emissions of 6.4 gigatons CO2eq per year,[19] and that Project Drawdown ranks a reduction in livestock numbers due to "Plant-rich diets" as having the 2nd highest potential of all solutions, with potential to reduce emissions by 78.33 - 103.11 Gigatons CO2eq between 2020–2050 (2.61-3.44 Gigatons CO2eq per year).[20]

Clean energy advocacy[edit]

In September 2009, Tickell's documentary on alternative clean energy, Fuel, was rolled out into 150 cities. In 2012, Tickell's advocacy for clean energy led him to join the advisory board of Grow Energy,[21] a startup focused on developing algae as a viable energy resource.

Education[edit]

Tickell holds an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Living from New College of Florida.

After the publication of his first book, Tickell enrolled in Florida State University's School of Motion Picture Television and Recording Arts where he earned his MFA in film.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Fuel Film". Thefuelfilm.com. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  2. ^ "Josh Tickell". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  3. ^ "The Big Fix Movie | The shocking true story behind the BP oil spill". Thebigfixmovie.com. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "Freedom documentary by Josh & Rebecca Tickell | the Green Girl Next Door". Archived from the original on October 9, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "A Full Service Film and Video Production Company". Archived from the original on June 5, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  6. ^ Tickell, J. (1997). A Drive Toward Sustainable Living:Renewable Energy Alternatives to Current Lifestyle and Transportation Patterns (Bachelor thesis).
  7. ^ Bevill, Kris (2012). "Biodiesel Magazine | biodieselmagazine.com". Biodieselmagazine.com. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  8. ^ Tickell, Joshua; Tickell, Kaia (2012). From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel: Joshua Tickell, Kaia Tickell, Kaia Roman: 9780970722706: Amazon.com: Books. Biodiesel America. ISBN 978-0970722706.
  9. ^ Hirsh, Sophie (January 9, 2023). "Standing Rock Protests Come to Life in Feature Film 'On Sacred Ground,' Starring David Arquette (Exclusive)". Green Matters. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  10. ^ Papadatos, Markos (January 10, 2023). "Rebecca and Josh Tickell talk about 'On Sacred Ground' film". Digital Journal. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Pump The Movie". Fuel Freedom Foundation. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  12. ^ "About Us". Fuel Freedom Foundation. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  13. ^ Steiner, Lauren (October 10, 2014). "Buyer Beware: Latest Documentary From the Tickells Promotes Natural Gas". Truthout. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  14. ^ Jeswani, Harish K.; Chilvers, Andrew; Azapagic, Adisa (November 2020). "Environmental sustainability of biofuels: a review". Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 476 (2243). Bibcode:2020RSPSA.47600351J. doi:10.1098/rspa.2020.0351. ISSN 1364-5021. PMC 7735313. PMID 33363439.
  15. ^ Searchinger, Timothy D.; Wirsenius, Stefan; Beringer, Tim; Dumas, Patrice (December 2018). "Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change". Nature. 564 (7735): 249–253. Bibcode:2018Natur.564..249S. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0757-z. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 30542169. S2CID 54478982.
  16. ^ "Holistic management – a critical review of Allan Savory's grazing method". Table Debates. September 16, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Garnett, Tara; Godde, Cécile (2017). "Grazed and confused?" (PDF). Food Climate Research Network. p. 64. Retrieved February 11, 2021. The non-peer-reviewed estimates from the Savory Institute are strikingly higher – and, for all the reasons discussed earlier (Section 3.4.3), unrealistic.
  18. ^ Carter, Nicholas (October 5, 2020). "Kiss The Ground: Just A Last Ditch Effort To Keep Meat Relevant?". Plant Based News. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  19. ^ Twine, Richard (January 2021). "Emissions from Animal Agriculture—16.5% Is the New Minimum Figure". Sustainability. 13 (11): 6276. doi:10.3390/su13116276. ISSN 2071-1050.
  20. ^ "Table of Solutions". Project Drawdown. February 5, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  21. ^ "Grow Energy - About our Company". Growenergy.org. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
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