May 26, 2015 – Animal activist, founder of the Shambala Preserve and screen legend Tippi Hedren hosts the Green Carpet World Premiere of EARTH FOCUS: ILLICIT IVORY tonight at the Los Angeles Zoo. Joining Hedren in celebration of this powerful documentary are Emmy® Award winner James Cromwell, Mike Farrell, Shelley Fabares, Judy Tenuta, and Aleksa Palladino. Also on hand will be Brianna Barnes and Zay Harding from KCETLink’s “Globe Trekker,” as well as Derrick Shore, Nick Hardcastle andNic Cha Kim from KCET. KCETLink Media Group’s Mary Mazur will provide introductory remarks along with Los Angeles Zoo’s John Lewis.
A special invitation-only screening of American television’s acclaimed environmental series, EARTH FOCUS, ILLICIT IVORY uncovers the devastating effects of the illegal ivory trade, its impact on the dwindling African elephant population, and the link to insurgency groups and organized crime with a special introduction by Kristin Bauer Van Straten. ILLICIT IVORY comes during a pivotal time when an elephant is killed by poachers every 20 minutes to feed an insatiable demand for ivory. African elephants may be gone in as little as ten years as a result of organized crime syndicates, rebel groups, militias and insurgents. This special also explores education initiatives letting consumers know that buying an ivory trinket means that an elephant actually has to die.
KCETLink Media Group, a leading national independent non-profit public broadcast and digital network, has joined forces with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its “96 Elephants” campaign (96elephants.org) and the Los Angeles Zoo (www.lazoo.org) to raise awareness around the illegal poaching, illicit ivory trade and wildlife trafficking crisis.
As part of tonight’s event, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Los Angeles Times’ Carla Hall with notable participants including Wildlife Conservation Society’s John Calvelli, LA Zoo’s John Lewis, Fearless Advocacy’s Jennifer Fearing, and EARTH FOCUS Series Producer Raisa Scriabine.
EARTH FOCUS: ILLICIT IVORY will premiere as a broadcast special on Wednesday, May 27 on KCET (Southern California) at 8:30 p.m. PT and nationwide on Thursday, May 28 at 9 p.m. PT/ET on Link TV (DirecTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410). The program will also be available for viewing on http://www.kcet.org/ivory and http://www.linktv.org/ivory.
