The half-finished New England Clean Energy Corridor is a 100-mile reminder of the urban-rural divide on clean energy. Follow Ryan deep into Maine’s Boundary Mountains as he explores what this project revealed about rural communities - and how they might be our most overlooked heroes in the fight against climate change.
2. The Objectives
● Ski and run 100 miles from the shores
of the Kennebec River to the Canadian
border along the proposed New
England Clean Energy Connect
Corridor.
● Explore the ties between western
Maine communities, their landscape,
and their clean energy future.
● Demonstrate how rural-urban
collaboration on clean energy is both
critical and possible to avoid the worst
of climate change.
3. The Motivation
● The empty New England Clean Energy Connect corridor is a 135-mile reminder of the divide between
urban-based energy interests and the rural communities expected to house energy infrastructure - at
least, this is how ultra-marathoner and western Maine native Ryan Trott sees it.
● Ryan understands that rural knowledge and skills are undervalued in urban-based conversations about
clean energy planning. Even the public officials reaching out to these rural communities do not seem to
know how to collaborate with them successfully.
● Rapidly deploying clean energy generation and transmission in rural areas like Maine is critical to
addressing climate change. Rural and urban communities must have a vision for productive and positive
cooperation.
● This film will create that vision, inviting both rural and urban communities to share in the
understanding and empowerment that Ryan discovers on-screen.
4. The Plan
● Showcase examples of western
Mainers’ unique place-based heritage
and traditions by following the path of
the planned NECEC corridor.
● Interview national clean energy
experts, locally active clean energy
companies, and local community
members.
● Articulate best practices for
communicating between rural and
urban perspectives using personal
examples, ending with a call to action.
5. Expert Interviewees
● Dr. Emily Diamond of the University of Rhode Island’s Schools of
Communication and Marine Affairs is a nationally leading researcher of
rural-urban environmental and clean energy divides.
● Jeffrey Thaler at the University of Maine School of Law is one of the foremost
US experts on clean energy legal frameworks, as well as the founder of
E2Tech, Maine’s clean energy innovation hub.
● Dr. John Hagan led the Maine Climate Table’s “Climate Common” initiative,
dedicated to improving communication and collaboration on climate change
across geographic and political divides.
● Anna Clausen co-led the Rural Climate Dialogues at the Institute for
Agriculture and Trade Policy prior to starting her own organization, Voices for
Rural Resilience.
6. Audience
The themes of
self-discovery, self-agency,
and human potential
explored here are universal.
We hope to reach both rural
and urban communities
across the United States. We
plan to enter several film
festivals between the fall of
2022 and the spring of 2023.
The Center for Rural
Strategies will also feature
clips of the film on their
website.
7. How We Tell It
We are taking an expository documentary approach with a performative documentary style sub plot. The
film will be driven by engagement with Ryan as he prepares for and executes his endurance event.
Interwoven interviews will explore subjects’ personal relationships to and knowledge of the matters at
hand. Interlaced B-roll, candid shots, archival footage and audio will provide context.
We will be filming on the Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro G2 as camera A and Canon R5 as B camera, using an
Irix and DZO lens set to give a more modern look. Aerial footage will be captured with DJI drones. Film
processing will begin in Adobe Premiere Pro and will then go on to Davinci Resolve for final color. We will
be shooting in 4.6K for crop and effect, with final output being 4K and broadcast ready.
8. Mary & Ryan - Producer & Co-Directors
Ryan Trott and Mary Ignatiadis
have been adventuring together
for three years, usually with a
dog or three in tow. In addition
to being an avid mountain
athlete, Ryan is a small business
owner with a focus on
sustainable construction. Mary
recently finished her master’s in
natural resources economics at
the University of Maine. Her
work examined rural
community response to
economic change.
9. Kam - Cinematographer & Co-Director
Kam Mitchell is a professional photographer
with seven years’ experience in the commercial
and advertising world. After working as a
motion camera operator for several years, a
series of “yes’s” gave Kam an opportunity to
join a team filming a 600-mile bikepacking race
in Vermont. Even with only 24 hours of sleep
over eight days of filming, this experience
sparked a love for documentary filmmaking.
His motion camera and editing work can also
be seen in in the shorts “Family Recipe”,
“Recycled to Ride”, and “In Passing”.
10. Timeline
March
Ryan skis the Corridor, B-roll
obtained, interviews
continue, content review
begins
February
Pre -production: interview
scheduling and location
scouting
June
B roll, interviews, and
content review continue
July
Final footage obtained,
paper edit started
August
Editor starts, rough cut
started
April
B-roll, interviews, and
content review continue
May
B-roll, interviews, and
content review continue
September -
November
Rough cut finalized, music
licences acquired, sound
and color editing finished -
film ready for submission
13. The New England Clean Energy Corridor would bring Canadian
hydropower from Quebec to Boston, Massachusetts, supplying
18% of that state’s annual power needs. Advocates say that,
without the Corridor, New England will never meet its climate
goals. They may be right.
However, the Corridor would tower over one of the largest
forested areas remaining east of the Mississippi, crossing the
Appalachian Trail twice. Tribes on both sides of the border have
said that the Quebec dam and the Corridor itself violate their
sovereignty and harm their lands.
Votes for and against the Corridor throughout Maine in
November 2021 did not fall along traditional political and
cultural lines, though opposition is largely seen as being
concentrated in rural areas. Referendum campaign spending by
both sides broke state records. The project is still attempting to
move forward, despite the referendum results.
Appendix: Background on the NECEC
