We hope this newsletter finds everyone in good health and positive spirits. Progress continues to be made on all fronts. We have completed and sent two fine cuts to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) in preparation for airing in the Spring of 2006 on PBS. They are the Chicago and Philadelphia hours. We have already filmed Scott Simon for Chicago's on camera host. And we are very pleased to have former Governor Gary Locke of Washington State as Seattle's host. We are in the midst of securing hosts for both Philadelphia and Los Angeles. We hope to have word in the next two weeks.

We begin our efforts to recruit both National Outreach Partners and Local Coalition Members for EL&F. We define a National Partner as an organization devoted to environmental/sustainable issues which has representation in more than one state; a Community-based Coalition is local or regional, without statewide or national representation. Our goal is to secure at least 100 National Partners and several thousand community-based coalitions.

Please alert all of your friends and colleagues of our search and ask them to sign up on our website. There is no cost and there are advantages: receiving our newsletter and being able to purchase products in bulk are just two of them. The goal of the national outreach campaign is to transform "viewers into doers."

We are very pleased that Learn and Serve America has tentatively agreed to become one of our initial National Partners. Current coalitions members include Chicago Wilderness, TreePeople (Los Angeles), The Center for Neighborhood Technology (Chicago), Philadelphia Green, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Ultimately, a list of outreach partners and coalitions will be on our website with links to these organizations. Our website contains application forms for National Partners and will soon have a form for Local Coalitions. We look forward to many of you becoming part of our outreach efforts.

What follows is an update for the project. Edens Lost & Found is creating a series of media tools to be used by local and national communities, and organizations dealing with the renaissance of American cities through the creation of sustainable urban ecosystems.

These tools include:

1. Four, hour-long PBS broadcasts tentatively set (Chicago and Philadelphia hours in May '06; Los Angeles and Seattle hours in September '06)
2. 350+ page PBS Companion book, with 80-page Teacher's Guide, to be published by Chelsea Green (January '06. It will be in book stores near the first of April 2006.)
3. Four regional Community Action Guides representing Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle. Guides are downloadable as pdf files on our website.
4. Interactive website, www.edenslostandfound.org with a soon-to-be free electronic newsletter directed towards national partners, coalitions, students, volunteers, community-based organizations, professionals, and government agencies. A subscription form is available on the website.
5. Regional and national Town Hall Meetings to begin in early 2007. Town Hall Meetings will air on local PBS stations in each community and will be organized local coalitions. They will be "solutions" focused. A first commitment has been made to fund a Town Hall Meeting in Colombus, OH by a number of our corporate underwriters.
6. Accredited Academic Curriculum based on Edens Lost & Found focusing on urban sustainability for grades 9-12 and beyond.
7. Second Academic & Professional Symposium to be held in Philadelphia on October 15-17th, 2006 (date to be confirmed). To be coordinated by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
8. Gala screenings to be held in Philadelphia in April '06, Seattle on April 19th, and Los Angeles with date TBD.
9. Gala Washington DC screening to be held in April or May of '06.
10. Edens Lost & Found Video/DVD Library will consist of about 20 non-broadcast DVD titles 30-60 minutes in length. Each video will concentrate on one major environmental / quality-of-life issue such as public transportation, environmental justice, or watershed management. Content will be extrapolated from all the footage we have recorded for use in the PBS broadcast series. Bullfrog Films is the primary distributor of the broadcast series for public performance rights venues, and for the Edens Lost & Found Video/DVD Library. The broadcast series DVDs will also contain enhancements, including director cuts, and exclusive host interviews.
11. The consumer version DVDs of the broadcast series, with enhancements, will also be available at the PBS.ORG Store and on the www.edenslostandfound.org website.
12. In the coming months we will continue with post-production as we: sound-mix and score all four hours with original music to be composed by David Loeb and Gary Griffin; prepare the Companion Book for publication with the Chelsea Green team; edit and format the Teachers Guide; and begin work on the Academic Curriculum with our core education team of Joe D'Agnese, Denise Kiernan and Deb Perryman.

We are also very pleased to be working with Nancy Severinsen in helping us to secure music clearances.

We extend special thanks to our extraordinary team of Producer/Writer/Editor Beverly Baroff and Associate Editor Therese Avedillo. They continue to burn the midnight oil with smiles on their faces while our Line Producer Vicki Mills makes sure the office functions smoothly and deadlines are being met. Special thanks to our Editorial Consultant Andy Lipkis of TreePeople for his vision and encouragement.

We want to, once again, thank all of our underwriters without whose support the project could not have happened. We are determined to justify the faith you have shown in us.

Edens Lost and Found will show how urban "best practices" improve the quality and the public health of our daily lives. Using a systematic and integrated approach, it will examine shifting urban priorities; re-visit earlier environmental strategies; and focus on the renewal of our urban areas through community-based urban forestry, greater use of public transportation, improved public spaces and parks, sustainable landscape design, green building practices, watershed management, recycling, and more efficient waste management.

Wiland-Bell Productions is a multiple award-winning media production company, specializing in the design and implementation of socially relevant projects in an entertaining and enlightening context.

Harry Wiland and Dale Bell's individual productions have won one Academy Award (Woodstock), five Emmys, one Peabody, two Christophers, two Cine Golden Eagles, four Childrens' Acts, among other awards and nominations. Their collective films for PBS, networks, cable, and cinema represent an array of styles including journalism, documentary, dramatic feature film, performance, and industrial. (National Geographic Specials, Kennedy Center Tonight, The Chemical People, WonderWorks, and Johnny Cash). Their latest PBS media outreach production, And Thou Shalt Honor, a 2-hour special national broadcast on eldercare and the healthcare crisis, was named by PBS as a "Program of Special Note," and was Program of the Month in October 2002. It is a multiple award-winning film with a companion book published by Rodale Press.

Sincerely,
Harry Wiland & Dale Bell
Executive Producers
Media & Policy Center Foundation