Engaged celebrity couple Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are quite the dynamic duo. While their scrapped project The Island is attempting to recover due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, they also have another project up their sleeves. Phoenix and Mara will make a deal with you- if you watch the environmental documentary The Smell of Money, they’ll reimburse you for the rental fee.
Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are noted environmental and animal rights activists. Naturally, they’ll want to do everything in their power to promote Shawn Bannon’s hog farming documentary The Smell of Money. If you need more motivation to watch the newly released documentary, the Her couple has found a generous way. IndieWire says Phoenix and Mara will reimburse the first 500 rental pre-orders on iTunes and Google Play before its December 12th release. To qualify, you need to be an American and have a Venmo account.
Other than personally covering movie rental fees, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara will also host a Los Angeles screening of The Smell of Money. They released in a joint statement what they hope audiences will get out of it.
“We hope once audiences watch this film they are as moved by its important message as we are,” said the Mary Magdalene couple. “Movies like The Smell of Money live or die by word of mouth, and we would like to lend our voices and support to help raise awareness. Please share this film with your family, friends, everyone!”
The Smell of Money focuses on a major pig factory in eastern North Carolina called Smithfield Foods. That is to say, they produce a giant portion of the world’s bacon and barbecue. However, this documentary raises awareness of the pig waste and brutal housing conditions of the hogs. Consequently, this leads to air, water, and soil pollution, which is dangerous for wildlife and humans.
The environmental documentary, screened for over a year, will hold additional screenings at film festivals and educational venues. Shawn Bannon, who worked with Rooney Mara in A Ghost Story, felt rentals were an effective strategy for raising awareness. However, it’s been a challenging task, considering his new documentary costs $14.99 to rent.
“Renting a movie costs a lot of money,” said Bannon. “Here’s easy access where anybody can watch this movie right away, which is really, really cool. We’re just over the moon about it. It’s very cool of them to do.”
With Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara being willing to reimburse the documentary’s rental fee, why not give it a try? More information can be found here.