April 14 - Week 15
International Year of the Reef

The Earth Communications Office (ECO), the environmental voice of the entertainment industry, announces the formation of the ECO Coral Reef Celebrity Alliance in support of the International Year of the Reef, and the debut of Hidden City, ECO’s 1997 Coral Reef Public Awareness Campaign.

Charlton Heston, Fraser Heston, Cindy Crawford, Gene Hackman, Ed Begley, Jr., Ted Danson, Hector Elizondo, Tea Leoni, Woody Harrelson, Jean-Michel Cousteau, and Peter Fonda are among the many celebrity scuba divers who have joined ECO’s Coral Reef Celebrity Alliance to help bring attention to the critical issue of coral reefs.

"Like the rainforest, the coral reef is the life blood of the planet," states Alliance member, director Fraser Heston. "Aside from being one of the most beautiful and fascinating of God’s creations, the coral reef is also a barometer of the health of the oceans. If the coral reefs of the world continue to disappear, there is clearly something seriously wrong with the oceans of the world. And if the sea dies, we will surely perish."

Celebrity Alliance members will be invited to ECO’s worldwide premiere of Hidden City taking place April 23, 1997 at the AMC Theatres in Century City. The premiere will be followed by a VIP reception sponsored by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Project Aware Foundation and the PADI Diving Society. Made possible by the generosity of the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, ECO’s Hidden City Coral Reef Public Awareness Campaign will include a two-minute movie theater public service announcement (PSA) narrated by Hector Elizondo of Chicago Hope and a 30-second PSA for television narrated by Gene Hackman. AMC will be among the first theaters to air the PSAs in honor of Earth Day. Each PSA is tagged with a Coral Reef Hotline number, 1-888-CORAL REEF, which offers information on how to protect our reefs.

World renowned oceanographer, Jean-Michel Cousteau, who narrated the ECO Coral Reef Hotline, has spent a lifetime promoting the protection of our oceans. He states, "Losing a coral reef is like losing a Mozart, a Shakespeare or a Michelangelo, only worse. For along with the poetry of life, we also lose the prose of survival, the contribution of reefs to our existence. Soon most of humanity will live within 40 miles of the sea. In an age of global warming and rising sea levels, coral reefs are not just pretty, they are crucial. They protect the coastal zone from erosion, feed growing human populations, and yield key ingredients for desperately needed pharmaceuticals."

Commenting on the entertainment industry’s involvement, ECO Chairman Larry Kopald said, "One of the gifts our industry is able to give back is the power of celebrity. When high profile celebrities spoke out about the perils facing the rainforest, it brought a critical issue into the mainstream for the first time. Virtually every claim made about rainforests can be said about the reefs, including the rate at which we are destroying them."

Hidden City marks ECO’s seventh year of producing theatrical PSA campaigns that have been seen by more than 500 million people worldwide on movie theater screens and on television. In addition to an EMMY nomination and two NY Film Festival Gold Medals, ECO’s two-minute PSAs have won nearly every advertising award, including the prestigious CLIO and Belding awards. Written and directed by Larry Kopald, Hidden City will be translated into the six official United Nations languages and is expected to be seen by more than one billion people worldwide throughout 1997.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE REEF PLEASE CONTACT:

Matt Stout
Office of Public and Constituent Affairs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
14th St. & Constitution Avenue, NW
Room 6013
Washington, DC 20230
tel: (202) 482-6090
fax: (202) 482-3154
e-mail: matthew.stout@noaa.gov
or coralreef@www.rdc.noaa.gov

Paul Holthus
Marine and Coastal Programme
IUCN - The World Conservation Union
Rue Mauvernay 28 CH 1196 Gland
SWITZERLAND
tel: (41 22) 999-0251
fax: (41 22) 999-0025
e-mail: pfh@hq.iucn.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SUBJECT PLEASE CONTACT:

Laurie Peters
Public Relations
Earth Communications Office
12021 Wilshire Blvd., Box 557
Los Angeles, CA 90025
tel: (310) 306-4125, 821-8991, or 571-3141
fax: (310) 571-3143

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