Educational Media Reviews Online

So Right So Smart is an excellent feature-length documentary profiling the leaders of the movement integrating environmental sustainability in business practices. Narrated by actress/environmental activist Daryl Hannah, the film mainly focuses on Ray Anderson, the founder of the global carpet manufacturing giant, Interface, Inc. Anderson became inspired to reinvent himself and his company to become a positive force and reduce the negative impact on the environment. Anderson himself is a charismatic leader, and in transforming Interface, Inc., he has inspired other businesses to be more accountable for their environmental impact.

So Right So Smart features extensive interviews of Anderson, as well as prominent environmental authors and business experts such as Paul Hawken (The Ecology of Commerce), David Suzuki, Janine Benyus (Biomimicry), and many more.

The film also includes shorter profiles of several companies who started out with a commitment to “green” business practices: Stonyfield Farm, Patagonia, Herman Miller, Seventh Generation, and New Belgium Brewery. Other companies engage in “green washing,” like oil-giant BP, marketing themselves as being an eco-friendly company as a superficial public relations scheme. Interestingly, Walmart executives are featured towards the end of the film, inspired by Ray Anderson’s story and success, as they start taking action to make their massive chain of product suppliers worldwide accountable for their environmental impact.

The DVD includes both a 56-minute and an 86-minute version. The 56-minute version cuts out several chapters near the end of the film, including the section about Walmart. The film has very high production quality, with almost constant flashy graphic effects. In my opinion it was almost too shiny, and I found some of the animations used throughout the film to be annoying and often excessively simplified. However, it is engaging, and the message of the film is very clear: you can be rich and run a successful company while at the same time working towards environmental sustainability.

So Right So Smart covers an important topic that is rapidly gaining greater exposure and traction. Ray Anderson has an amazing screen presence and his story is expertly told. The fact that so many innovations in business and industry are caused by integrating environmental sustainability is making it a popular subject in business, management, and leadership programs around the world and this film is recommended for libraries supporting these types of programs in schools and colleges, as well as public libraries.

Awards

• Best of Festival , Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival
• Best Feature, Reel Earth New Zealand Film Festival, 2009