Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer

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Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer
Occupation(s)Filmmakers, journalists
Notable work FrackNation
Not Evil Just Wrong
Mine Your Own Business
Website Ann & Phelim Media

Ann McElhinney (born 1964) and Phelim McAleer (born 1967) are conservative Irish documentary filmmakers and New York Times best-selling authors. They have written and produced the political documentaries FrackNation , Not Evil Just Wrong, and Mine Your Own Business , as well as The Search for Tristan's Mum and Return to Sender. Their latest project, Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer , is a true crime drama film based on the crimes of Kermit Gosnell. [1] Their book, Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer, was an Amazon and New York Times best seller. [2] They were married at the Basilica Church of St Mary Magdalene in Dublin in 1992.

Contents

Early careers

McAleer, who is from Beragh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and who is a former student of the National Council for the Training of Journalists course at the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education, began his journalism career by accepting a position at the Crossmaglen Examiner a local Northern Ireland newspaper in County Armagh, an area where the IRA operated. [3] McAleer then moved to Northern Ireland's largest-selling daily, the Irish News, [4] in Belfast. There he covered the Northern Ireland troubles and peace process, before becoming night editor. [3] From 1998 to 2000, he worked for the UK's Sunday Times [3] [4] in its Dublin office. From 2000 to 2003 he was the Romania/Bulgaria Correspondent for the Financial Times , and he also covered those countries for The Economist . [3] It was this position that ultimately led him to filming documentaries. [3]

McElhinney, who is from Bundoran, County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland, [5] has made documentaries for the BBC, CBC (Canada), and RTÉ (Ireland). [6] She has been a guest on Dennis Miller and the Randi Rhodes show. McElhinney has worked as a journalist and filmmaker in the US, Canada, Romania, Bulgaria, Chile, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Ghana and Uganda. [7]

Films

FrackNation

FrackNation is a feature documentary that claims to address misinformation about the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking. It premiered in 2013 on Mark Cuban's AXS TV [8] and was distributed by Magnolia Pictures in 2014. [9] FrackNation was inspired by a confrontation between Josh Fox, the director of the 2010 documentary Gasland , and McAleer. While Fox was promoting his film project McAleer confronted him about the historical record of people being able to ignite natural gas coming from their water taps. McAleer told the Los Angeles Times :

He knew that people could light their water for decades before fracking started. He said he didn’t include that in the film because it wasn’t relevant. [10]

McAleer told Politico he was motivated to make the film by the "one-sided approach taken by the media, 'outsiders' and 'urban elites'" on the fracking process. McAleer said there has been no real debate on the issue, with the environmental lobby relying on emotion and scare tactics to condemn fracking. [11]

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette McAleer stressed the film is trying to show both sides of the fracking discussion. "We're definitely covering the contamination" in the film, McAleer said. "We feature both sides." Though the filmmakers wanted to avoid appearing pro-industry, according to the interviewer, trailers from the film "play rather like industry commercials ... of farmers and landowners who say gas drilling provides economic stability". [12]

In 2013, a sequel to Gasland titled Gasland Part II premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on 21 April 2013. [13] A group of farmers, who were featured in FrackNation , along with McAleer and McElhinney, were not admitted into the premiere and claimed that it was because they asked difficult questions; organizers said that after guests who had purchased advance tickets and waited in line had been admitted, the screening was full. [14] [15] [16]

Not Evil Just Wrong

Not Evil Just Wrong is a film McElhinney and McAleer directed and produced to challenge Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It claims that the evidence for human-caused global warming is inconclusive, and that the impact of suggested legislation for mitigating climate change would be much more harmful to humans than beneficial. [17] The movie was filmed in 2008, and was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam [18] and at the Right Online conference in 2009. [19]

In 2010, the directors cooperated with the Independent Women's Forum to create a program, Balanced Education for Everyone (B.E.E.) that seeks to place Not Evil Just Wrong in schools. [20]

Mine Your Own Business

Mine Your Own Business is a documentary partly funded by the Canadian Mining Company [21] that looked at campaigns by foreign environmentalists against a large scale mining project in Romania [22] that never came to fruition. The film looked at how the lives of the poor people in the area would have been affected if the mine had been built. McAleer agreed to film the documentary, funded by the Canadian Mining Company featured in the movie, after the company guaranteed that he and wife would retain creative control over its content. [23] McAleer said of his findings during the shoot:

It was surprising that environmentalists would lie, but the most shocking part was yet to come. As I spoke to the Western environmentalists, it quickly emerged that they wanted to stop the mine because they felt that development and prosperity will ruin the rural "idyllic" lifestyle of these happy peasants. This "lifestyle" includes 70-percent unemployment, two-thirds of the people having no running water and using an outhouse in winters where the temperature can plummet to 20 degrees below zero Celsius. [24]

In the documentary, McAleer films Mark Fenn from the World Wildlife Fund, who is shown living in luxurious conditions, at one point showing off his $35,000 sailboat to the cameras, all the while advocating the value of living the simple, village life. [25]

The Search for Tristan's Mum

McElhinney and McAleer directed and co-produced "The Search for Tristan's Mum," which highlights the case of a toddler Tristan Dowse who was adopted by an Irish couple at birth—and then abandoned in an Indonesian orphanage two years later. It broadcast on RTÉ One, the Irish state television station, in 2005. [26] Tristan Dowse was an Indonesian boy adopted by an Irish man, Joe Dowse, and his Azerbaijani wife, Lala. After two years, Tristan was abandoned at the Indonesian orphanage from where he had been originally adopted, when, according to the Dowses, the adoption "hadn't worked out." At that stage, his adoption had been recognised by the Irish Adoption Board and he had been granted Irish citizenship. He could only speak English. In 2005, McAleer and McElhinney reunited the young boy with his natural mother, Suryani. In 2006, an Irish court ordered the Dowses to pay an immediate lump sum of €20,000 to Tristan, maintenance of €350 per month until he is 18 years of age, and a further lump sum of €25,000 when he reaches the age of 18. In addition, Tristan would remain an Irish citizen and enjoy all the rights to the Dowses' estate. Tristan's adoption was struck off the Register of Foreign Adoptions held by the Irish Adoption Board and Suryani was appointed his sole legal guardian. [27]

This film was selected to be part of Input 2006, a showcase for programs representing national public broadcasters from around the world, and was duly screened for industry professionals at the film festival that year in Taiwan in May. [28]

My Son Hunter

In 2021, the duo announced their next project, a biopic centered on Hunter Biden. Both will produce, with Robert Davi directing. The cast includes Gina Carano, Laurence Fox, and John James. [29]

Kermit Gosnell film project

McElhinney and McAleer are developing a true crime drama film about abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, [4] [30] who was convicted on three of the murder charges, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion, and 211 counts of violating the 24-hour informed consent law, May 2013. The murder charges related to a patient who died while under his care and seven newborns said to have been killed after being born alive during attempted abortions. [31] The current film project is called the Gosnell Movie, and it has raised more than $2.3 million on Indiegogo as of 26 June 2015. [32] [33] [34] On Friday, 9 May 2014, the filmmakers, McElhinney and McAleer, announced that they had hit their funding goal for the movie and that the movie will be made. [35] The Gosnell movie project has raised more money than any other movie project in Indiegogo history. [35] During the fundraising period the project received endorsements from Hollywood actors such as Kevin Sorbo. [35] The campaign received contributions from 28,181 donors. [36] Andrew Klavan has been hired to be the screenwriter for the movie. [37] Nick Searcy will direct and John Sullivan is the executive producer. [1]

Gosnell book

In January 2017, Regnery Publishing [38] released McElhinney and McAleer's book about abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, Gosnell: The Untold Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer. The book debuted at No. 3 on Amazon's best seller list [39] and No. 13 on the New York Times's "Combined Print & E-Book Best Sellers." [40] Regnery Publishing said that the New York Times "ignored real sales numbers". [39]

Public appearances

McElhinney and McAleer are popular speakers at conservative conferences. She spoke at the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2017 Conservative Political Action Conferences. She has also been a featured speaker at the Civitas Institute's Conservative Leadership Conference. [41] McElhinney and McAleer were featured speakers at the 2016 Heritage Foundation Resource Bank. [42]

Related Research Articles

Disruption is ending an adoption. While technically an adoption is disrupted only when it is abandoned by the adopting parent or parents before it is legally completed, in practice the term is used for all adoptions that are ended. It is usually initiated by the parents via a court petition, much like a divorce, to which it is analogous.

Deborah Wallace is a Scottish born actress, playwright and producer.

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Nicholas Alan Searcy is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's Justified. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries From the Earth to the Moon as Deke Slayton, and directed Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer, a film released on October 12, 2018.

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Harvey Leroy Karman was an American psychologist and the inventor of the Karman cannula, a flexible suction cannula used for early-term abortions.

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<i>Not Evil Just Wrong</i> 2009 Irish film

Not Evil Just Wrong is a 2009 climate change denial documentary film by Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer that challenges Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth by claiming that the evidence of global warming is inconclusive and that the impact global warming legislation will have on industry is much more harmful to humans than beneficial. The movie was filmed in 2008 and was screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and at the RightOnline conference in 2009.

<i>Mine Your Own Business</i> 2006 American film

Mine Your Own Business is a 2006 documentary film directed and produced by Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney about the Roșia Montană mining project, funded by a grant from Gabriel Resources, the foreign company behind the mining effort. The film documents environmentalists' opposition to the mine as unsympathetic to the needs and desires of the locals, prevents industrial progress, and consequently locks the people of the area into lives of poverty.

Gasland is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Josh Fox. It focuses on communities in the United States where natural gas drilling activity was a concern and, specifically, on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), a method of stimulating production in otherwise impermeable rock. The film was a key mobilizer for the anti-fracking movement, and "brought the term 'hydraulic fracturing' into the nation's living rooms" according to The New York Times.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Fox</span> American film director

Josh Fox is an American film director, playwright and environmental activist, best known for his Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning 2010 documentary, Gasland. He is the founder and artistic director of a film and theater company in New York City, International WOW, and has contributed as a journalist to Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, NowThis, AJ+ and Huffington Post.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kermit Gosnell</span> American serial killer (born 1941)

Kermit Barron Gosnell is an American serial killer and former abortion doctor. He provided illegal late-term abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia. Gosnell was convicted of the murders of three infants who were born alive after using drugs to induce labor, the manslaughter of one woman during an abortion procedure, and of several other abortion- and drug-related crimes. Staff at Gosnell's clinic testified that there were hundreds of infants born alive during abortion procedures, and subsequently killed by Gosnell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fracking</span> Fracturing bedrock by pressurized liquid

Fracking is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants hold the fractures open.

FrackNation is a feature documentary created by Phelim McAleer, Ann McElhinnery, and Magdalena Segieda. The film, released in 2013, claims to address alleged misinformation from environmentalists about the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking.

<i>Promised Land</i> (2012 film) 2012 film by Gus Van Sant

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<i>Life Itself</i> (2014 film) 2014 American film

Life Itself is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, directed by Steve James and produced by Zak Piper, James and Garrett Basch. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name. It premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. The 41st Telluride Film Festival hosted a special screening of the film on August 28, 2014. Magnolia Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and simultaneously via video on demand platforms on July 4, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-fracking movement</span> Environmental activism

The anti-fracking movement is a political movement that seeks to ban the practice of extracting natural gasses from shale rock formations to provide power due to its negative environmental impact. These effects include the contamination of drinking water, disruption of ecosystems, and adverse effects on human and animal health. Additionally, the practice of fracking increases the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, escalating the process of climate change and global warming. An anti-fracking movement has emerged both internationally, with involvement of international environmental organizations, and nation states such as France and locally in affected areas such as Balcombe, Sussex, in the UK. Pungești in Romania, Žygaičiai in Lithuania, and In Salah in Algeria. Through the use of direct action, media, and lobbying, the anti-fracking movement is focused on holding the gas and oil industry accountable for past and potential environmental damage, extracting compensation from and taxation of the industry to mitigate impact, and regulation of gas development and drilling activity.

Dayne Pratzky is an Australian anti-fracking activist known colloquially as the Frackman. He is also the subject of a 2015 feature-length documentary film of the same name produced by Smith & Nasht.

<i>Gosnell: The Trial of Americas Biggest Serial Killer</i> 2018 film by Nick Searcy

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer is a 2018 American drama film based on real life events about Kermit Gosnell, a physician and abortion provider who was convicted of first degree murder in the deaths of three infants born alive, involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient undergoing an abortion procedure, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion, and 211 counts of violating a 24-hour informed consent law. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

<i>My Son Hunter</i> 2022 American film

My Son Hunter is a 2022 American biographical comedy film directed by Robert Davi and starring Laurence Fox, Gina Carano and John James. The film centers on Hunter Biden, a son of US president Joe Biden. Since 2019, Donald Trump and his allies have accused both Bidens of corruption. It is, according to The Guardian's Catherine Shoard, the "debut fiction attempt" of documentarians Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer. The film is being distributed by American far-right news website Breitbart News, and was released on September 7, 2022.

I Lived on Parker Avenue is a 2018 documentary film. It follows adoptee David Scotton as he travels from his home in Metairie, Louisiana, to Indiana to meet his birth parents — Melissa Coles and Brian Nicholas — for the first time. Scotton gave a speech in 2011 at his high school about his adoption story, which caught the attention of Benjamin Clapper, executive director of the anti-abortion group Louisiana Right to Life, who would go on to produce the documentary. I Lived on Parker Avenue inspired the 2022 feature-length drama film Lifemark.

References

  1. 1 2 Bond, Paul (18 March 2015). "'Justified' Actor Nick Searcy to Direct 'Gosnell' Abortion Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Chiaramonte, Perry (7 February 2017). "Did the New York Times ignore top-selling book that damns abortionist as serial killer?". Fox News. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Phelim McAleer bio, Ann & Phelim Media.
  4. 1 2 3 Breen, Suzanne. Baby-killing US abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell to be next subject of acclaimed Co Tyrone film-maker Phelim McAleer, Belfast Telegraph , 1 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Donegal-born film-maker slams blockbuster 'Avatar'". Donagal Democrat, 9 March 2010
  6. ↑ "Ann McElhinney". Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Heartland Foundation" . Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  8. ↑ Graves, Lucia (20 May 2013). "FrackNation, Controversial Fracking Documentary, To Air On AXS TV". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Fracknation – Starring Phelim McAleer – Available on DVD and Blu-ray™". www.magnetreleasing.com. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  10. ↑ Los Angeles Times, Pro-fracking movie gets $22K in two days on Kickstarter, 8 February 2012
  11. ↑ Politico, New film in defense of fracking, 2 February 2012
  12. ↑ Schwartzel, Eric (4 March 2012). "Industry gets cast in 'FrackNation,' the latest documentary on the drilling debate". post-gazette.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012.
  13. ↑ Jeff Goodell. "New Anti-Fracking Film by Gasland's Josh Fox Targets Cuomo: 'Governor, What Color Will the Sky Be Over New York?' | Jeff Goodell | Politics News". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Fox News, 'FrackNation' filmmaker claims group of farmers was barred from 'Gasland Part II' screening at Tribeca, 23 April 2013
  15. ↑ "Tribeca Film Festival lies about shutting out farmers". FrackNation. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  16. ↑ "Tribeca Film Festival Turns Away Protesters Who Had Tickets to 'Gasland' Sequel". The New York Times. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  17. ↑ McGee, Harry (15 November 2008). "Film-makers taking on our 'global warming hysteria'". The Irish Times . Retrieved 25 July 2009.
  18. ↑ van Slooten, Johan (1 December 2008). "The truths and myths of global warming". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  19. ↑ Weigel, David (18 August 2009). "RightOnline Attendees Soak Up Success". The Washington Independent. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  20. ↑ "Balanced Education for Everyone". Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  21. ↑ Carroll, Rory (1 November 2006) "Mind Your Own Business". The Guardian
  22. ↑ "Gold industry recruits jobless Romanian miner to battle environmentalists" Daily Telegraph, 1 October 2006
  23. ↑ Guardian Unlimited, Rory Carroll on Mind Your Own Business, 1 November 2006
  24. ↑ "Rocky Mountain News, Speakout: Environmentalists are new foes of some of the world's poorest, 23 September 2006". Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  25. ↑ "Mine your own business". Spiked. 6 November 2006. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  26. ↑ The Search for Tristan's Mum, RTÉ
  27. ↑ "The Curious Case of Tristan Dowse". Independent. 8 February 2009.
  28. ↑ "Esras Films". Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  29. ↑ Sylvester, Jamie (19 November 2021). "Ex-'Mandalorian' Star Gina Carano Joins Controversial Hunter Biden Film". Inside The Magic.
  30. ↑ Bond, Paul. Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell Eyed as Topic of TV Movie (Exclusive), The Hollywood Reporter , 28 March 2014.
  31. ↑ "How the DEA Finally Caught Kermit Gosnell". The Atlantic . 22 April 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  32. ↑ Gosnell Movie, Indiegogo , 4 April 2014.
  33. ↑ O'Brien, Cortney. Gosnell Movie Campaign Earns $300,000 in Just Five Days, Townhall.com , 3 April 2014.
  34. ↑ Eichel, Molly. Filmmakers crowd-fund a TV movie about Kermit Gosnell, Philadelphia Inquirer , 3 April 2014.
  35. 1 2 3 Vadala, Nick. ‘Gosnell’ meets $2.1 million IndieGogo funding goal, Philadelphia Inquirer , 9 May 2014.
  36. ↑ "Gosnell Movie". Indiegogo. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  37. ↑ Bond, Paul (2 September 2014). "Writer Hired for Project About Convicted Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  38. ↑ "Gosnell – Regnery Publishing". Regnery Publishing. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  39. 1 2 Chiaramonte, Perry (7 February 2017). "Did the New York Times ignore top-selling book that damns abortionist as serial killer?". Fox News. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  40. ↑ "Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction Books – Best Sellers – February 12, 2017 – The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  41. ↑ "Ann McElhinney's schedule for 2016 Conservative Leadership Conference". 2015conservativeleadershipconfer.sched.com. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  42. ↑ "Heritage Foundation Resource Bank: Behind The Scenes". The American Spectator. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
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