The Seattle Times profiled Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen regarding his interest in the arts. Allen is especially interested in documentaries, and is producing one on a worthwhile subject–intelligent design and the Dover case:
“With documentary-film projects, you hope you highlight an area of concern people haven’t thought about before,” Allen said in an interview. “A lot of times I’m asking myself — this seems to be a significant problem. What can be done that hasn’t been done?
“In global warming I think everyone is scratching their heads — are there technological things that can be brought to bear that can make a difference?”
Through his production company, Vulcan Productions, Allen makes feature films, documentaries and television programs related to art and science. His latest project, “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial,” is scheduled to air in November as part of the PBS Nova series, telling the story of a Pennsylvania school district beset by controversy over teaching intelligent design, which holds that the universe is too complex to be explained by evolution and must have been aided by the work of some supernatural “designer.”
Intelligent design isn’t the only topic he is working on. There is a certain irony in a production company named Vulcan producing a series on this topic:
Allen’s team at Vulcan is starting work on a series about human nature that explores mental difficulties and emotions.
His personal interest drives the film’s subject matter, said Hutton, a former executive at Walt Disney Imagineering. “Paul was very interested in not just the science of human nature, but what we’ve learned over 20 or 30 years and how that has been applied to people beset by negative feelings, anxiety and depression.”
The series started out with a scientific focus, but Allen pushed the producers to take a much more practical approach, presenting solutions and resources for people who need support.
“I think Paul sees film as a way of breaking through some of the clutter and giving back,” Hutton said. “He’s getting information out to the public that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible.”
