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Chipotle Joins Forces with Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment to Promote "Food, Inc."

By: Chipotle Mexican Grill |  2 Shares     143 Reads

Filmmakers, Chipotle Look to Boost Awareness of Issues in American Agriculture

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG)(NYSE: CMG.B) is joining forces with Magnolia Pictures, Participant Media and River Road Entertainment to help promote their critically acclaimed documentary film "Food, Inc." Through the partnership, Chipotle is sponsoring free screenings in 32 cities nationwide, will put promotional materials in all of its restaurants, and plans to include a bonus feature discussing its commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture when the film is released on DVD later this year.

Now playing in theaters across the country, "Food, Inc" exposes America's industrialized food system and its effect on the environment, the economy and our overall health, and encourages Americans to become more conscious consumers. Directed by Robert Kenner and featuring prominent authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), it has been heralded as "essential viewing," by the Los Angeles Times. Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers writes, "Don't take another bite till you see Food, Inc."

Chipotle entered into this partnership because of its commitment to serving food made with premium quality ingredients from more sustainable sources and its concern over many issues associated with large scale commercial agriculture. For more than a decade, the company has been working to find like-minded suppliers who share its vision and commitment to food that is raised right. Chipotle calls this vision "Food with Integrity" and it is one of the ways it is changing the way the world thinks about and eats fast food.

"I hope that all our customers see this film," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "The more they know about where their food comes from, the more they will appreciate what we do."

Through its commitment to Food with Integrity, Chipotle serves more naturally raised meat (from animals that are raised in a humane way, never given antibiotics or added hormones, and fed a pure vegetarian diet) than any restaurant in the world. In addition, an increasing percentage (currently 35 percent) of Chipotle's beans are organically grown, it is purchasing locally grown produce when seasonally available, and all of the dairy the chain uses is made with milk from cows that are never given the synthetic hormone rBGH.

"Chipotle is a great example of a company that's on the right track to improving our food system," said "Food, Inc" director Robert Kenner. "Chipotle's philosophy shares many of the same values expressed in 'Food, Inc' and we are very pleased with their support of our film."

About Chipotle

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food with Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food not only from using fresh ingredients, but ingredients that are sustainably grown and naturally raised with respect for the animals, the land, and the farmers who produce the food. Chipotle opened its first restaurant in 1993 and currently operates more than 860 restaurants.

About Magnolia Pictures

Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also include the Landmark Theaters chain, the production company 2929 Productions, and high definition cable networks HDNet and HDNet Movies. Magnolia's 2008 slate included such critically acclaimed films as James Marsh's Man on Wire and Tomas Alfredson's Let the Right One In. Magnolia's 2009 slate includes James Gray's Two Lovers, The Great Buck Howard starring John Malkovich, Guillermo Arriaga's The Burning Plain, documentary and festival favorite Food, Inc with Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, Kirby Dick's Outrage, Anne Fontaine's The Girl From Monaco, Erick Zonca's Julia, Lynn Shelton's Humpday, Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, The Answer Man starring Jeff Daniels, and Lauren Graham, John Woo's Red Cliff, Conor McPherson's The Eclipse, and much more.

About Participant Media

Participant Media is a Los Angeles-based entertainment company that focuses on socially relevant, commercially viable feature films, documentaries and television, as well as publishing and digital media. Participant Media is headed by CEO Jim Berk and was founded in 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll, who serves as chairman. Ricky Strauss is president. Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that bring to the forefront real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates extensive social action and advocacy programs which provide ideas and tools to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant's films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Darfur Now, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, Standard Operating Procedure, The Visitor, The Soloist and Food, Inc.

About River Road Entertainment

In the past several years, River Road Entertainment has emerged as one of the leading independent production companies known for developing, producing and financing unconventional films and documentaries that astonish, inspire, reveal and provoke. After cementing its reputation for ground breaking material with the Academy Award® winning Brokeback Mountain, the company has produced an impressive slate of acclaimed films, with more promise on the horizon. River Road is currently in post-production on Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and is financing The Runaways, a rock 'n' roll biopic about the groundbreaking 1970s all-female rock band. Previous pictures include Into the Wild, Lust Caution, A Prairie Home Companion, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret and Chicago 10.

Source: Chipotle Mexican Grill

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