By contributor Jacqueline Lynch
Photo credit: Jessica Greene
Greeted by soft piano music, guests walked the red carpet to enter a colonial themed private room and bar at the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for an evening with SHFT co-founders actor Adrian Grenier and film producer Peter Glatzer where guests enjoyed an open bar and hors d’oeuvres while waiting for the stars.
On the menu: spanakopita, corn cakes, tomato and pesto, crudités, buffalo chicken cups, and various sliders.
At 7 PM the music ceased and the guests went into a small, intimate theater where they awaited Grenier and Glatzer. Known for his lead role in HBO hit Entourage, Adrian is also a filmmaker and musician; Peter an independent film producer who has produced a series of movies featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Both Grenier and Glatzer were brought to D.C. on behalf of “Evening with… ” to promote their company SHFT sponsored by IMPACT Arts & Film Fund.
Adrian Grenier and Jacqueline Lynch
Both Grenier and Glatzer, to bring awareness to sustainable lifestyles and usage, founded SHFT. Grenier said that, “While everyone was talking about donating to non-profits we decided to create a non-profit of our own. That’s how we started an organization: SHFT mobile kitchen classroom.” The organization has food trucks that travel to public schools and educate students on “nutrition, food politics, and health. Inside the kitchen, kids get to explore the wonders of cooking for themselves, knowing what’s healthy and what’s not.”
SHFT aims to redefine the way we live through the use of sustainability. Glatzer believes that, “in some regard we’re a little production company that makes little movies, or big movies, that can aid in advocacy work on behalf of certain policies.” To him, Shift is “a game changer.” Grenier wants “to reflect the change that’s already happening and preach to people what it means…..viable solutions and alternatives… improve the quality of our lives.”
Chris Dodd, Peter Glatzer and Adrian Grenier
During the interviewing, three videos were shown. The first two were on the transformation of algae to oil and plastic to polyester. The final video was on reducing carbon footprints. Grenier confessed that he “went green on the entourage set and it lasted a week… at the end of the day the technology hadn’t caught up with the desire.”
But, making documentaries is not all that SHFT does. SHFT has also created its own organic wine! Adrian Grenier believes, “Together we can find solutions to our problems in the world… so we think wine is a great way to bring people together. It’s a social lubricant that allows people to get a little loose, a little sexy.” And trust me, the audience had no problem with that!
For Glatzer, the “next project is showing how the film industry can make changes. We are creating a few other projects with the help of the W Hotel and residences in LA to market our sustainable wallpaper.”
Grenier and Glatzer hope to transform SHFT into a thriving company where eco-friendly producers and entrepreneurs can work on advocating the public to GO GREEN!
“Peter and I and a small little team keep the standard very high and make sure we pick only the quality stuff… in the coming years were going to let SHFT fly a little bit and leave it open for other people to come in and contribute more and to make SHFT their own so that you start seeing more than just Peter and I,” Adrian said.
However, don’t dare to call Grenier or Glatzer activists! “Activists don’t focus on every aspect of today’s world. Activism doesn’t feel like it really applies to where we are today.”
Grenier admits, “We don’t have all the solutions. We really need to just inspire people to think and discover for themselves and contribute and really find solutions through a collective contribution.”
