137 Films Electrochemist Mike McKubre on Science Friday right now! McKubre will be in The Experiment, coming this Fall.
March 26 at 11:31am •

137 Films THE EXPERIMENT NEWS: It is official! The production team Monica Long Ross, Clayton Brown and assistant editors Stephen Poon and Amy Ellison begin the rough-cut today after 1.5 years of filming. Playing catch-up with the 137 catalog? The Atom Smashers Indie Lens cut is available on Hulu and Netflix free of charge.
March 12 at 8:15am •

137 Films Cinematographer Stefani Foster LaBrecque at work in Salt Lake City for The Experiment
February 4 at 1:44pm

137 Films What's going on in the 137 office today? Assistant Editor Amy is transcribing footage from California for The Experiment while rocking out to "Here Comes Science" by They Might Be Giants-- Operations Director Carole is currently planning lots of events for 2010 at 137! Stay tuned..
January 26 at 9:52am

137 Films Week in review: Andrew and Clayton have a special screening and panel for Chicago area students at Cinema Chicago -- Stef, Monica and Clayton head to California to film for "The Experiment", which heads into post this month!
December 13, 2009 at 10:02pm •

Dear Mr. Krivit,

I am writing to you on behalf of 137 Films, a non-profit documentary film company based in Chicago, Illinois. Our company makes films about the stories we find in the world of science. Our latest film, The Atom Smashers, is an award-winning documentary that tells the story of Fermilab’s search for the Higgs boson. Beyond an exploration of the fascinating science involved with particle accelerators, the film explores the lives of the scientists involved in the search, the politics surrounding Fermilab's operation, and, in general, America's weird relationship with science. The Atom Smashers premiered in the U.S. on the PBS show "Independent Lens," and is being distributed in the U.S. and internationally. A link to the film (with a trailer) can be found here:

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/atomsmashers/

We’re proud of the work we did on The Atom Smashers and remain close to the physicists who let us into their lives. We treated their work and their stories with respect and care, and we feel as though we earned their trust.

We are now beginning work on our next film, which we plan to be an exploration of the complexities surrounding Low Energy Nuclear Reaction / Cold Fusion. As with the search for the Higgs boson, the complex story of cold fusion appeals to us on many levels. Not only is the science compelling, the cultural and political aspects of the pursuit of cold fusion are spellbinding. New developments in the field and the growing demand for clean energy research make this a perfect time to bring this complex and fascinating story to the general public.

And like The Atom Smashers, our primary focus will be on the people involved in the story behind the science and how the science collides with contemporary culture. Several documentaries have been made either promoting or condemning cold fusion as a scientific concept, including Infinite Energy's own "Fire from Water." Our intention is a bit different. We want to tell the story of Pons and Fleischmann's polarizing experiment and explore how in 1989 there seemed to be a “perfect storm” of events that caused their work to explode in the public imagination, the media, and the mainstream science community. Why did other scientists react so differently to the cold fusion experiment, some embracing it, some dismissing it completely? Why were they attacked so personally?

We’re very excited by the possibility of bringing this timely story and the issues that come with it to a contemporary audience. To do that, we'd very much like to talk to you, an expert in the history and consequences of the story, as well as the contemporary implications with scientists currently pursuing the field (including Edmund Storms, with whom we had a very good interview at his home in New Mexico).

And of course, we feel quite strongly that our story would not be complete without hearing from Drs. Pons and Fleischmann. Our efforts to find them have been unsuccessful so far. Would you be willing to discuss our plans for the film tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, with the potential that you could put us in contact with Drs. Pons and Fleischmann?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

All the best,

Clayton Brown