'Hulk' producer Hurd keeps busy

Jun. 02, 2003

By Borys Kit

Seaworthy: You'd think that the release of her mega-budget tentpole movie in less than three weeks would leave Gale Anne Hurd without any extra time, but the producer, whose "The Hulk" comes out June 20, just keeps adding more to her datebook.
Returning from Skywalker Ranch, where she was overseeing the movie's final dub, she zipped into a Raleigh Studios soundstage Wednesday to help out with a PSA on ocean awareness. She's exec producing it for Shifting Baselines, an environmental campaign she helped co-found with director Randy Olson and the noted marine biologist Dr. Jeremy Jackson.

The PSA, conceived by Olson, will feature Jack Black, in a tuxedo and "Amadeus"-like wig, conducting the world's worst symphony, featuring the likes of Josh Lucas, Madeline Stowe and Paul Michael Glaser, in an attempt to show how low standards have sunk when it comes to ocean health. "The deteriorating state of the ocean has been in the news a lot lately and sometimes, when all you have is dire stories, it's difficult to want to read any further," said Hurd, as Henry Winkler attempted to play a harp in the background. "That's why we're using humor to make a point here. Humor makes things more accessible, more interesting." Not stopping with Shifting Baselines, Hurd, who learned to scuba dive when she produced 1989's "The Abyss," is teaming up with Leonardo DiCaprio for Reef Revival, a fundraiser at Universal Citywalk on June 25. "Once you start to dive, you really become aware of the changes to the ocean," said Hurd. "In the years since making 'The Abyss,' I have seen the erosion of reefs and fish. Though I've been working seven days a week on 'The Hulk,' I make time for this -- because this is really important."