UW News

May 4, 2012

Video Friday: Clip about fighting invasives takes cue from ‘The Artist’

News and Information

The almost-silent-movie “The Artist” recently won five Oscars. The producer and stars of a video mimicking that movie-making style hope to win $10,000 to fight invasive plants and provide wildlife habitat on the University of Washington campus.

The film is a finalist in a contest where the top 10 vote getters each receive $10,000 for tree-planting projects from Odwalla Inc.

The Restore the Montlake Cut project would use trees to shade out invasive plants, according to Hillary Burgess, UW graduate student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and a staff member for UW Grounds Management.

The video is among the 20 posted on the Plant a Tree website. Voting ends May 31.

The video stars Burgess, Teos Bisbee, a UW undergraduate and chair of the outdoor committee for Students Expressing Environmental Dedication, or SEED; Steve Kryszko, a gardener for UW Grounds Management; Lee Harrison-Smith, a local arborist; and Noca, the dog.

It was produced by Jennifer Leach, a UW alumnus of environmental and forest sciences.

Two other Seattle-area projects are also among the finalists.