A little over 5 years ago Laura Dunn began working on this film. She saw the struggle over Barton Springs between locals and developers as a microcosm for what is going on all over the globe. She wanted to explore the question: as we grow how do we protect our most precious natural resources? Enter Robert Redford and Terry Malick. Malick had signed on to executive produce the film and asked Mr. Redford if he would be interested in joining him. He said, “Absolutely.” He had grown up spending a lot of time in Austin and had learned to swim at Barton Springs. The impact it had on him was very important. As far as documentary filmmaking, that too was important. He had gotten involved with them in the 70s and 80s and put a lot of energy into them because he believed in them they would move out of the academic and talking head realm and wanted to be part of that growth and development. Read the rest of this entry »