Field Notes

2009-10-30T12:34:00.001-07:00

Sea Studios Foundation and Sealife Conservation launch the "Think Beyond Plastics Southern California Tour" next week. The program includes a screening of the Sea Studios Film "Dirty Secrets," and a voyage aboard the marine research vessel Derek M. Baylis. The Tour is intended to raise awareness about marine conservation in coastal communities from Morro Bay to San Diego. First stop Morro Bay, Thursday, November 5!

Sea Studios Wins Two Major Awards at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival

2009-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sea Studios Foundation is proud to announce that we have won two awards at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Sea Studios won Best 360 Campaign for our Think Beyond Plastics campaign. The 360 Award is given to the campaign package that most effectively utilizes multiple distribution platforms and formats, including: broadcast, theatrical, live-event, internet, venue specific display, gaming, mobicast, and any other distribution to enrich an appreciation or understanding of the natural world and the relevant issue. Sea Studios' film Once Upon a Tide won Best Children's Film. That award is given to the program that most effectively inspires an appreciation of the natural world, or issues associated with animals and the environment, to young audiences. Kudos to all!

Plastic Pollution Coalition

2009-09-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Plastic Pollution Coalition, a nonprofit organization is a coalition individuals and institutions involved in the study and remediation of plastic pollution worldwide. The Plastic Coalition promotes strategic planning, coherent communication, synergistic action to reduce the negative impacts of plastics on the environment, marine life, and human health worldwide.

Executive Board: Lisa Boyle, Environmental Attorney, Dianna Cohen, Artist, Manuel Maqueda,

Environmental Strategist, and Daniella Russo, Campaign and Social Activation Expert.

Supporters, advisors and facts about plastic pollution can be viewed at this website: http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/ The coalition is hosting an upcoming screening at UCLA.

Mayors' Ocean Summit

2009-09-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday, August 29, 2009 a one day event was hosted by West Marine for mayors of coastal cities from Crescent City to Santa Barbara, to discuss the dangers of plastic pollution.

The following city and state officials were in attendance:

Hon. Sam Farr Congress member, 17th district

Hon. Bill Monning  Assemblyman, 27th District

John Laird, Member Waste Management Commission of the State of California

Carmel Sue McCloud, Mayor Rich Guillen , City Manager

Carpinteria Gregg Carty, Mayor Dave Duflinger, City Manager

Del Rey Oaks Joseph P. Russell, Mayor

Half Moon Bay  John Muller, Mayor

Pacific Grove Dan Cort, Mayor

Monterey  Chuck Della Sala, Mayor

Morro Bay  Betty Winholtz, Mayor

Santa Monica Ken Genser, Mayor

Pacifica Julie Lancelle, Mayor Don Eagleston, Chamber of Commerce

Salinas Dennis Donohue, Mayor

Santa Cruz  Cynthia Mathews, Mayor Katherine Beiers, Council Member Ryan Coonerty, Council Member Tony Madrigal, Council Member Fred Keeley, County Assessor

Seaside Ralph Rubio, Mayor

Watsonville Antonio Rivas, Mayor Carlos Palacios, City Manager

For more on the event, topics discussed and photos, visit this website: http://www.mayorsoceansummit.org

UCLA Film Screening

2009-09-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Plastic Pollution Coalition invites you to
a special film screening

Friday, October 23, 2009
7 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
UCLA Melnitz Hall - James Bridges Theater

See Tapped, the Movie www.tappedthemovie.com , followed by National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth: Dirty Secrets, hosted by Edward Norton (http://www.pbs.org/strangedays), and a sneak preview of footage from a documentary by Bill Weaver and Jan Vozenilek on the current Midway Journey www.midwayjourney.com .

Screenings will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers.
Admission is free of charge

Get Informed. Take action.

This event is made possible through the generosity of Irmelin DiCaprio and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, The UCLA School of Film, Television and Digital Media, and the UCLA Institute of the Environment, with additional support from the UCLA Education for Sustainable Living Program.

To reserve your seat(s) please RSVP to plasticpollution@gmail.com

Summit on Communicating Plastics

2009-08-14T14:16:00.001-07:00

Our work on communicating plastics continues. On July 24, a group of environmental leaders actively engaged in communicating the dangers of plastic pollution to the public came together at our offices on Cannery Row. The goal? How to communicate more effectively one key message - plastic pollution is bad. For the people. For the animals. For the planet. An excellent meeting that we kicked off with a team building exercise - African drums.
A day of great discussions took place. Topics, attendees and pictures - please visit the website.
Our work continues to capture the hearts and minds of many. Our facebook group is now over 27,000 people strong. People continue to view Edward Norton's inspirational message to "bring your own bag" and habits will begin to change.
Onward!

Think Beyond Plastics - a finalist at Jackson Hole Film Festival

2009-07-09T18:08:00.001-07:00

Think Beyond Plastics is bubbling rapidly. After the film festival our ranks on Facebook are growing: Think Beyond Plastics as well as Don't Trash the Ocean have gained hundreds of new members.
But the most exciting news arrived today: Think Beyond Plastics is a finalist at the Best 360 Campaign Category at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. What a terrific recognition for the campaign, for the people who are working on it, and for all of our partners who have and continue to contribute efforts.

Strategic Council on Plastic Pollution

2009-06-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

World Oceans Day Brings Warnings from Plastic Pollution Council

On June 4th I helped form the Strategic Council on Plastics Pollution. Our goal is to raise awareness of rising threat of plastic pollution to people, animal and the environment.

Following a presentation to Google employees by Captain Charles Moore, an oceanographer who pioneered the study of plastic debris, the Strategic Council on Plastic Pollution convened at the Google Campus in Mountain View, California. It was our first meeting. Said council member and marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, “We are finding plastic in the stomachs of sea turtles, birds, and fish all over the world. I find this extremely disturbing."

In honor of World Oceans Day, the council issued the following statement regarding this increasingly urgent threat to wildlife and human health:

Do you know where our plastic goes?

Did you know that our oceans are filling up with plastic pollution?

Plastic fragments contaminate even the most remote locations on earth, and harmful chemicals leached by plastics are present in the bloodstream and tissues of almost every one of us.

Plastic pollution harms people, animals, and the environment. Plastic is not biodegradable. In the marine environment, plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that absorb toxic chemicals, are ingested by wildlife, and enter the food chain that we depend on.

Consumption of throwaway plastics, such as bottles, containers, bags, and packaging, has spiraled out of control.

Recycling is not a sustainable solution. The reality is that most of our plastic waste is landfilled, downcycled or exported to other countries. And tragically, millions of tons of plastic are poisoning our oceans.

Businesses and governments need to take responsibility for new ways to design, recover and dispose of plastics.

Plastic pollution is the visible symbol of our global crisis of over-consumption. Let's pledge to shift our societies away from the disposable habits that poison our oceans and land, eliminate our consumption of throwaway plastics, and begin embracing a culture of sustainability.

Our health, our children, and the survival of future generations depend on us.

To stay connected with the issue, join our facebook group Think Beyond Plastics or just visit www.ThinkBeyondPlastics.org

Terrific film festival, onto 2010

2009-06-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our film festival was a real success!
We had excellent attendance, despite the beautiful day outside. Nice weather always kills movie attendance - but not in this case. People were coming in all throughout the day, talking to the partners who have set up booths, and actively participating in the panel at the end. We were very happy to welcome Anna Cummins and Markus Ericksen of Algalita, who are in the midst of their awareness campaign, called JunkRide 2000. Anna and Markus talked about sailing the Gyre and handed out samples of the "plastic soup". We concluded the evening with a wonderful sail on the Monterey Bay.
My thanks go out to our team, Wendy Goldman, Sheila Taylor and Blaise Douros, as well as the terrific volunteers who worked all day long to produce a memorable event: Peter Larson, Dalya Adams, Azucena Yzquierd, Rae Pineda and Mike Tomitz.

At The Last Stretch

2009-05-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

A Think Beyond Plastics Film Festival

It has been crazy busy time for us all. Why did we ever think that a film festival is not that hard to put together? Tells you how much experience we have in doing that.
Well, what we did not know, we compensated with great willingness to succeed.
Our whole team continues to perform miracles. We have signed up partners, we have received sponsorships, our ads are all over the Monterey Peninsula - radio, newspapers. And of course, since we are so good at new media, we are all over with a Facebook page, fans and twitter followers.
We are so pleased that Earthbound Farms offered their sponsorship, as well as The Monterey Peninsula Weekly.
Everyone is worried about whether people will actually come - but I am not. Our goal is to raise awareness of the cause and by simply advertising and working with the partners we have already accomplished so much.
Think Beyond Plastics!

Why a great team is all you need

2009-05-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

From Daniella Russo's moleskine.

Our support is growing and this brings great energy into the entire team. Today Passionfish joins in as a major sponsor of the festival. Other sponsors to date are Oceana, Indian Summer and the Monterey Peninsula Waste Management District. It is terrific to see so much excitement in the community for this - first - film festival in honor of Oceans Day.

A key element of the strategy for the campaign all along has been engaging non-profits and grass-roots organizations who are already working on the dangers of plastics and marine debris. Their access to the community, their "feet on the ground" are really important for the success of the campaign. We could offer excellent outreach materials, film and CDs to support their efforts. So, with these great partners on board, we march towards a great film festival. I hope we get the word out and people attend the event.

As I write about the team, it is important to mention Blaise Douros, our post-production assistant extraordinaire. In the film business post-production assistants do everything: from bringing coffee and making copies, to editing and burning CDs. Not at Sea Studios. Here we treat post-productions with some reverence, because they hold the key to our successful outreach campaigns. They produce all the material that ends in the hands of the public. Blaise came to us with a degree in music and skills in lots of technical areas. He has a great attitude, he is always ready to help, and we ask him to do everything - from producing the outreach CDs, to setting me up with a portable audio system for my keynote presentations, to researching stock footage, to selling stock footage, to creating the music for some of our podcasts, to actually getting sponsors signed up for the festival. And this is just a glimpse at his tasks. This week he did a tour de force along Cannery Row and got quite a few businesses to support he film festival.

Think Beyond Plastics keeps growing

2009-05-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

From Daniella Russo's moleskin

It is truly amazing to see how our campaign is growing. We launched it at the end of 2008, with a Facebook cause, a viral film hosted by Edward Norton, and a destination page www.strangedayscauses.org. Our goal was to capture the interest in Edward Norton (Bring Your Own Bag), and send viewers to the portal web page that would help direct their interest. Soon we found out that there is no singular web site that organizes news, information and social activism around plastic bags, or The Garbage Patch. So we created the pages: www.droptheplasticbag.org and www.greatgarbagepatch.org. To get people to visit, we added a call to action at the end of Edward's Video Bag The Bag. We also launched a Google keyword campaign, linking certain words to the web sites. Slowly, but surely, traffic began to flow.
Today, about 14 months after we started the campaign, our Facebook cause is almost 17,000 strong and continues to grow. Traffic to both web sites is building up.
Key to our efforts now is partnering with grass-roots organizations to reach out to the communities live, not just online.
Next I will write about working with the partner organizations.

Film Festival Gains Momentum

2009-05-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

From Daniella Russo's moleskine

Our film festival now has a logo! It is gaining momentum fast: it is listed on the web site, we have a press release and fact sheet, and are beginning to work with sponsors. Wendy is awesome. So is the Monterey Cannery Row IMAX. The theater is brand new, very elegant and with a great location. We are very happy to have them as a partner for the event.

And since I started writing about our terrific team, I have to say the event would be impossible without the talent and energy of Sheila Taylor. Sheila is our southern belle, complete with a lovely southern drawl invoking images of lazy afternoons with mint juleps in hand. But don't let this image fool you for a moment. There is nothing laid-back or slow about this woman. Behind the long blond hair and big blue eyes is one of the sharpest financial minds in the film business. Sheila is also working on the film festival, because we need all hands on deck and done a terrific job of selecting media outlets and organizing the partners. I am lucky to have such a talented team!

A film festival to honor Oceans Day

2009-05-07T14:02:00.001-07:00

From Daniella Russo's notebook
So after long debates about how to get people interested in - er - garbage, marine debris and plastic containers, in a moment of absolutely clarity, our team of grass-roots organizations, filmmakers and non-profit leaders arrived at the decision to organize a film festival! In partnership with the Cannery Row IMAX who is providing its beautiful new facility for the event, we are now in the midst of organizing the inaugural Oceans Day film festival. This year's theme is "Think Beyond Plastics". We will screen three terrific films: Marina of the Zabballeen, Message in The Waves and Strange Days on Planet Earth (Dirty Secrets).

How do you get a film festival on a shoestring budget? Ask Wendy Goldman. Wendy is the queen of the event, who organizes us all with an iron fist and produces with a tremendous speed press releases, fact-sheets, pledges and everything else a film festival needs. Which is a lot. Click on our staff link and find out more abut Wendy. She is terrific.

Think Beyond Plastics gains momentum

2009-05-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

From Daniella Russo's notes
Well, so much about writing regularly. We got real busy really fast: the campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of plastics "grew legs" in multiple communities and many grass-roots organizations. We have reached out to Surfrider, Save Our Shores, Oceana, Sea Life Conservation, Save The Whales and many others to get the message out to our communities. How? We produce thousands of CDs with outreach materials and ask people to take one and host a party. Not tupperware party, but a plastics-awareness party. As a result of our relentless focus on getting the word out, our Facebook cause Don't Trash The Ocean topped 15,000 and continues to snowball and traffic to our web sites GreatGarbagePatch.org and DropThePlasticBag.org has nearly doubled.
We must press on.

Daniella Russo Launches Think Beyond Plastics

2009-03-04T11:56:00.001-08:00

The premiere of Strange Days on Planet Earth behind us, we have been focused on raising awareness of one of the topics of the film: the dangers of plastics. Our Facebook Group Stop Trashing The Ocean is growing fast, and the members have been asking how to get involved, what is going on in their communities, what efforts should they support. Traffic to both GreatGarbagePatch and DropThePlasticBag is up. Clearly, the issues of plastics are at the public's attention. So in February 2009 we launched Think Beyond Plastic, a collaborative effort to connect the online activities with community events that focus on the dangers of plastics. I went to present to a great group - Outdoor Educators at their annual gathering at the Sempervirens Outdoor School in Santa Cruz. What a great crowd! Excited, committed to the health of our planet, and willing to learn and be involved. And so much fun.
Blaise, our post-production coordinator extraordinaire got me all prepared, with my own audio, video and tons of CDs for hosting parties. It was fun!
The road ahead is long, but full of terrific bright people and I look forward to working with them on this worthy cause.

Sitka Alaska Shoot

2008-07-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a week shoot in Alaska. We went up there to tell a success story about the halibut fishery. It was quite an amazing trip. The landscape and people were wonderful. I went up a few days early before our director and camera/sound crew arrived to do some scouting and to meet the fishermen/women and fish processors in person.

Prior to our arrival, we had a hard time getting fishermen and fisherwomen to commit to interviews and fishing trips over the phone. So I hit the ground running. My job was to find as many halibut fishers as possible. But I also needed to find someone to take us out on a boat so we could film halibut fishing. This was not so easy. It was salmon season, and the majority of boats were focusing on salmon. Plus the weather looked like it was going to get really bad by the time the crew arrived. So I lucked out and found a boat called the Kathleen Jo heading out for a two-day halibut trip. I did some fast-talking, and within an hour I was on board heading out to sea with two kind fishermen.
I had brought my HDV video camera and a tripod. I am not sure why I bothered to bring the tripod. It was completely useless on a boat. I ended up getting some nice footage of the fishermen setting three sets of long-line gear. I got a little nauseous, but managed to keep all my cookies to myself. It’s hard to keep your balance, look through a viewfinder, and not get seasick. By the second day I had my sea legs and filmed the fishermen catching halibut without feeling like I might need to find the leeward side of the boat. They only caught about 30 halibut, but that was plenty for me to film. They said it was the worst catch they had ever had. But 30 halibut ended up being over 600 pounds. They caught twice the pounds of yelloweye. It’s a kind of orange rockfish. The fishermen said yelloweye is actually tastier than halibut.

By the middle of the second day, the weather report was calling for gale force winds, so we headed back to Sitka. The director, Rob Whittlesey and the cameraman, Harry Dawson, met me at the dock. Later we met up with our sound mixer, Phillip Powell and went out for the first of many fabulous seafood meals.

The next day we went to a fish processor and filmed several boats offloading their halibut catches.

Since the weather turned bad, it had chased all the fishing boats back to port. So we had lots to film. And what’s more, the weather was going to stay bad, which meant we were able to interview the fishermen/women of Sitka. If the sun had come out, we would have been out of luck.

All in all, the shoot went very smooth and we got the footage we hoped for! Click HERE to see all the photos from the shoot.

Strange Days is all over youtube!

2008-05-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hannah Smith Walker here...I am a production/post coordinator at Sea Studios. But I am also one of the team members helping Sea Studios enter Web 2.0. We started a youtube channel called StrangeDaysAction (www.youtube.com/StrangeDaysAction), and have posted many of our videos. But I just did a quick search on youtube and found lots of youtubers posting trailers of Strange Days, interviews and speeches with Norton about Strange Days, and actual pieces of the newest episodes that only aired last week.

Here's a couple examples of what I found posted:

Earthday

2008-04-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Earthday, Tuesday April 22. New York City.

It’s 7am and Edward has just arrived at the Today Show studio. We’re welcomed by a nice producer who prepped the interview. Edward is going to be able to talk about Strange Days and our campaign encouraging people to stop using plastic bags. He’s asked to hand out reusable bags to the crowd outside. Great that even the Today show is going green—at least for today. 7:40 and he’s taken to the “couch.” I’m invited along to watch from inside the studio. But today is no normal day. Mrs. Bush is a guest also. As a result, I’m not let in and watch on a monitor in the green room. The interview goes well. Matt Lauer seems to be a genuine fan. With a day to the broadcast, I hope that it will convince some folks to tune in. And who knows, it might even get some to think about their use of plastic.

I had to laugh. As I was hustling to the subway to catch my flight back home, I look up and spot “plastic man.” Here is this guy covered in plastic bags. I had to meet him and get his picture. He and his buddy are traveling the country on behalf of the environment. And plastic man is a Stanford grad. What a kick. I’ll find out more about what he’s up to and post it when I do.

--Mark Shelley

Earthday Rally

2008-04-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 20, Washington, D.C.

Woke up this morning and pulled open the shades… rain. Hard rain. My fantasy of being involved in the latest of a great tradition of historic events that have taken place on the Mall-- Viet Nam war rallies, Martin Luther King, the Million Man March-- dissolved into scenes from Woodstock. Well, if we’re celebrating nature, what better way than for her to show us what she’s got. Norton’s psyched, though. Spirits are still high. We have the chance to introduce our Bag the Bag video to the hearty soles who won’t be discouraged by a little… torrential downpour.

After a short delay for a thunderstorm to pass, the rally gets going again and the giant Jumbotron’s light up with our video. The loudest cheers of the day emerge from under thousands of umbrellas when he says “paper or plastic? How about neither.” No question he speaks to this crowd. Edward is then introduced. And he’s on fire. For 5 minutes he made getting involved with environmental issues hip, relevant, and the most important challenge of our time--. It reminded me of the first Earthday rally in San Francisco. I was lucky enough (and old enough) to have been there. Country Joe and the Fish; Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Joan Baez. It was a movement. There was passion, energy, urgency. And we-- all of us-- were going to change the world. And in many ways we did. For a moment, I thought that we just might be able to do it again. Edward finishes, the crowd erupts, and so does the sky. At one point I saw a lightning bolt hit the top of the Washington Monument. Solid water. Minutes later, the Park Service cancelled the rest of the show. But we made it and it was thrilling. I’m hoping to get a recording of his talk and will post it if we do. Check back.

--Mark Shelley

On the Way to Earthday

2008-04-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

Heading out to DC for Earthday on the Nation’s Mall. We’re launching our Bag the Bag viral video campaign for reusable bags (saying no to paper AND plastic)-- www.thegreenguide.com/strangedays. It is also the final swing of promotion for the broadcast Wednesday night.

Interesting that Bisphenol A (BPA) is in the news right now.
This is a story we were picking up on over a year ago when we started research for Dirty Secrets. Today it is getting a lot of press because new studies with lab rats given BPA show changes suggesting a potential cancer risk and and could be involved with changes resulting in early puberty Polycarbonate is made with BPA.

This is one of those unnecessarily confusing issues for the public. A google search for BPA will result in a mixture of peer reviewed study references and industry disguised sites. A parent sorting through the sites finds comforting words telling you there is absolutely no health concern with using polycarbonates countered by scientists like the one we feature in Dirty Secrets, Dr. Frederick vom Saal, telling you that there is enough evidence to avoid the use.

To illustrate, check this out—go to Fox News and read the article, Coming Soon: More Chemical Scares Than Anyone Dreamed Possible by Steven Milloy, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,25065,00.html
The tag for the story is: Anti-chemical activists achieved a major victory this week. A government-sponsored panel of scientists laid the foundation for banning virtually any chemical on a whim.

“On a whim?” This is journalism? The article goes on to state: “[Activists’] claims are based in the work of Our Stolen Future cult leader and University of Missouri researcher Frederick vom Saal. His experiments on laboratory mice supposedly show that very low doses of some chemicals — thousands of times lower than current safe standards — increased prostate weight in male mice and advanced puberty in female mice.

Now go to an article at in the peer reviewed journal, PLoS Biology (from the Public Library of Science) by Liza Gross called, The Toxic Origins of Disease. http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050193&ct=1&SESSID=b899536fe5b3780ff2782d723b0149a4

Her tag line: Researchers say endocrine-disrupting chemicals can permanently harm the developing organism and may even promote obesity. But the chemical industry doesn't want you to believe them.

What does a concerned person do—particularly if you don’t want to spend hours sorting through the controversy? You may want to look at what Canada is doing. Just last week, Canada banned the import and sale of plastic polycarbonate baby bottles. And Wal-Mart Canada is pulling baby bottles made with polycarbonate from its shelves. That’s enough for me, though I tend to adopt the precautionary principle on these issues—I had enough evidence sometime ago.

To help you—at least a little-- check out our Smart Plastics Guide at at http://www-tc.pbs.org/strangedays/pdf/StrangeDaysSmartPlasticsGuide.pdf

--Mark Shelley

Exciting New Media at Sea Studios

2008-04-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

Sea Studios has embraced Web 2.0! Please explore some of our new media ventures:

We have our very own YouTube Channel called Strange Days Action. Go to: www.youtube.com/strangedaysaction to see many of our films.

We have also started several social networking communities and causes on Facebook and Myspace. Please click on any of the following:

Strange Days Facebook Cause: Make Waves
MySpace Strange Days Action Cause
Wastephobia
Save the Coral Reef
Stop Trashing the Ocean: The Great Garbage Patch

We are involved in an online movement called Drop the Plastic Bag. Please visit: www.droptheplasticbag.org to join forums, to find resources, and to take a number of actions.

Go to the The Green Guide to see our "Bag the Bag" video, starring Edward Norton.

And finally, go shopping at our interactive supermarket. Go to: www.pbs.org/strangedays/getinvolved/

Television Premiere of Strange Days II

2008-04-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

We are counting down the days to our broadcast premiere! Please join us by tuning in to PBS on April 23rd (Wednesday evening) to see "Dangerous Catch" and "Dirty Secrets".

Also check out our brand new interactive Strange Days PBS website: www.pbs.org/strangedays

Photos from the "Strange Days on Planet Earth" screening in Washington, D.C.

2008-04-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Mark Shelley, Executive Director of Sea Studios Foundation, Justin Brashares, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley - also the terrestrial ecologist featured in the Ghana story of "Dangerous Catch", and Gretchen McClain, President of ITT Fluid Technology, sat on the panel following the screening to discuss their work and take a few questions from the audience.

In the lobby of Grosvenor Auditorium at the National Geographic Society where guests were greeted for the screening of Strange Days...

Two new web videos by Sea Studios

2008-03-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Dr. Sumaila, director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit at the University of British Columbia Fishery Center, talks about overfishing, its impact on the Ghanaian economy, and the global ramifications of a fish shortage in Africa.

Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Research Institute, highlights some of the problems of plastic contamination.

Strange Days on Planet Earth Premiere in Washington DC

2008-03-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

After weeks of color correction and sound mix at the Skywalker Ranch, we are finally ready to show our film at the Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. We arrive to find the lobby of National Geographic decorated with large Strange Days posters; the ticker outside the building invites people to come and watch. Overwhelming, exciting and a bit unnerving. Then we begin to worry whether we will fill the auditorium.
We worry in vain.
In front of a full audience, Strange Days displays all its glorious colors, sounds and exciting scenes. The audience gasps at the sight of albatross chicks bellies full of plastic and responds loudly at scenes that excite them.
The final credits roll at a thundering applause. Yes. It is a success! Now we must spread the word: watch April 23rd on PBS.

Here's a taste of what's to come on Season II of Strange Days on Planet Earth:

Finishing Strange Days on Planet Earth

2008-02-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

We are in the final stage of our film: color correction, sound layback and mastering and sound mixing.

Video Arts in San Francisco is where we are doing Visual FX, Color Correction, Sound laybacks and Mastering. Video Arts is a 20 year old post production house that specializes in high definition post production and finishes documentaries for PBS and Theatrical release on a regular basis.
Next week, Skywalker Ranch for the soundmix.

Strange Days on Planet Earth Host Shoot

2008-01-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

Well it finally happened...we filmed our host, Edward Norton in LA. We would have filmed him earlier in the month, but a freak storm put an end to that plan.

The second planned shoot went very smoothly. Our line producer, Brook Holston spent weeks working on the pre-production plans. We only had two days, but we managed to film all of the scenes starring Edward Norton for both new episodes of "Strange Days on Planet Earth". "Dirty Secrets" and "Dangerous Catch" will be premiering on PBS in April 2008 (the day after Earth Day).

This shoot was especially exciting for me because I was brought on as the still photographer. This was the first time I had been on a crew where it was my sole responsibility to take photos. Normally, I am a PA (production assistant), so my job usually consists of doing whatever anyone tells me. Plus, I always take photos anyway. But this time I had the pleasure of focusing on just the photography. Also, someone hooked me up with a headset so I could listen in to all the production-speak. I am a scientist and a photographer by background, so the whole LA film scene was new to me. We had a 40 person + film crew this time. There were assistants for the assistants! Everything had to be perfectly choreographed so that we could film Edward Norton at all of the correct locations in the perfect light. We shot at a pier, a culvert, a fish market, a parking lot, a beach, and a water treatment plant.

Imagine getting that many people set up, tore down, and moved around in just two days. Kudos Brook!

Ahead of the Curve 2

2008-01-15T11:49:00.001-08:00

Following up on the hugely successful Ahead of the Curve: Business Responds to Climate Change, SSF began production in December on a companion short film that will highlight the positive efforts being made by state governments around the country to address this pressing issue. Right off the bat, producer Rob Whittlesey and associate producer Julie Crawford got a reminder course in why we don’t call this problem ‘global warming.’ For five hours they sat in a packed plane waiting for clearance to take off from Boston’s snowy Logan International. This was a December storm to warm the cockles of any misguided climate change denier. In the end, with a final dose of de-icer at the head of the runway but no food in the galley, they were able to leave New England on their way to sunny Phoenix Arizona, where they had an appointment the next day with Arizona’s dynamic governor, Janet Napolitano.

Interview with Janet Napolitano, Governor of Arizona

Unfortunately, they were booked through Cleveland. Upon arrival they learned their connection to Phoenix had departed ‘on time’ many hours earlier. Worse, it was the last flight of the day to the southwest. Fortunately, there are many fine airport hotels to choose from in Cleveland and they found one that offers shuttles back to the airport even before the sun has risen. Their reward for that chilly ride was the news that the crack of dawn flight they’d been booked onto wasn’t actually going to leave at the crack of dawn. Seems the crew hadn’t yet had it’s required down time. Undaunted, our intrepid travelers, grande lattes in hand, soldiered on. By early afternoon, they had indeed arrived in Phoenix, where the kind folks at the governor’s office welcomed them with open arms. Eight hours and two interviews later, they were on a red eye home. Pretty glam life this filmmaking.

In the weeks since, Rob’s made a mad dash to California to interview Terry Tamminen and then flew on to wintry Minnesota, where, joined by Julie, he interviewed Govenor Tim Pawlenty and the charming mayor of Minnetonka Jan Callison.

Interview with Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota

Interview with Jan Callison, mayor of Minnetonka

Upcoming trips to Maryland and Florida loom, after which it’ll be time to hunker down in the editing room, safe hopefully from the vagaries of winter weather.

From the Edit Room with Stephanie Munroe

2007-12-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

I have to say that as an editor from Boston, Sea Studios is not exactly a hardship post. The waves are crashing right outside the edit room window, seals are barking and sometimes a sea otter will bobble right past, rolling and scratching. There is probably not a more dramatic scene to be observed from any work place.

As if the view weren’t reward enough, the films made here are challenging and exciting. The STRANGE DAYS Series is fascinating to put together and the support system from the top down is unmatched. Everybody wants to make things work and you share the electricity and excitement of success - this is what filmmaking should be about and I’m thrilled the spirit still exists out here in Monterey.

Stephanie works her magic on the new Strange Days episodes scheduled to air on PBS in April 2008...

Mark Shelley and David Elisco join in on the fun...

“Once Upon a Tide”

2007-08-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sea Studios Foundation, Monterey, CA 8/15/07.
In addition to producing science documentaries like “Shape of Life" and "Strange Days on Planet Earth" , we are starting to depart from traditional science narratives. “Once Upon a Tide” is a live-action / animated fable designed to touch people’s hearts by witnessing the journey of a little girl named Olive. Olive lives in a world, set in a time, not unlike our own, where a spell has been cast causing people to forget about the ocean and its importance to our lives. Luckily for Olive, she finds a shell that helps open her eyes to the magic of the ocean. Here are some stills from the film:

Animation created by LAIKA/house

Yesterday we shot two of the live action scenes in Monterey. We had what I thought was a big crew, a director, a DP, a sound recordist, an AC, a grip, a gaffer, two caterers, several producers, a child actress, her mother, a make up artist, a prop designer, me, and a crane operator. I guess that isn’t big by Hollywood standards, but it was the biggest shoot I had been on.

Everything went great. Olive, our star was good as gold. The weather cooperated for the most part. We thought our big hero, dune jib shot would be ruined by fog. But the sun came out just in time and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset. It was a fabulous day!

Signing off for now...Hannah Smith Walker (Sea Studios Production / Post Coordinator)

Harry Potter and the search for the perfect children’s bedroom

2007-08-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sea Studios Foundation, Monterey, CA 8/15/07.
While most everyone at Sea Studios was out having grand adventures in Africa, I had my own quest in Monterey. I had three weeks to find the perfect sand dune and the perfect children’s bedroom for an upcoming documentary called “Once Upon a Tide”. It was great trekking all around Monterey finding all different shapes and sizes of sand dunes.
But the bedroom was another story. I had struck out at every turn finding the mythical perfect child’s bedroom. But luckily, a boy named Harry Potter led me to a woman named Tammy.
The night before the new Potter book came out, I found myself in a library-sponsored trivia contest. I didn’t know a soul in the audience, but I noticed one of my competitors seemed to know everyone. Scores of people held up placards supporting a woman named Tammy and her daughters in Harry Potter trivia domination. Tammy wiped the floor with me and ended up winning the competition. When I went up to her to congratulate her, I surprised her by asking to take pictures of her daughters’ bedrooms. She gave me quite a funny look, as I tried to explain that I was scouting locations for Sea Studios. It all came out in a nonsensical rush, but fortunately a woman near by perked up and said, “Sea Studios, I know Sea Studios, they make wonderful films”.

So, to make a long story short Tammy showed me her wonderful home, and two weeks later a giant film crew invaded her house.

Bronwen’s Road

2007-08-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

July 29, 2007. Desert outside Swakopmund, Namibia.

When Namibia first gained its independence in 1990, the newly established fisheries Ministry had inherited a series of difficult challenges. For years, foreign fishers had been exploiting the rich fisheries off the coast with reckless abandon, ultimately depleting the stocks to devastating proportions. The Ministry set out a series of bold strategies to improve the stocks. Its ideas were progressive, science-based and testament to the spirit of the country's new constitution where sustainable use of resources is a cornerstone.

When Bronwen first arrived at the Ministry of Fisheries, her career path was clearly charted . . .

. . . she set out to study the near shore ecosystem, with a singular focus . . .

. . . but soon after her arrival, when she first learned of the hydrogen sulfide explosions, she veered off her immediate course, took a road less traveled and helped to address a mystery that many suspect needs to be considered in fisheries management -- the sulfide eruptions.

The Big Think

2007-08-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2007. Swakopmund, Namibia.

In a warehouse we all gather to block out the sequence. In the sequence, Scarla, Andy and Bronwen would be discussing their theories as to what was causing the eruptions of hydrogen sulfide.

Before shooting, Scarla, Andy and Bronwen take this opportunity to get some work done. In reality these three mostly collaborated virtually via e-mail and phone conversations. Given the chance to actually be in the same room, they never missed a moment when they could dive into their data and work face-to-face.

Welwitcha

2007-08-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2007. Walvis Bay, Namibia.

For days, Kathy Peeard has been making miracles happen. She got us permission to film at the lighthouse in Swakopmund. She helped us scout locations at the Ministry, ran interference, greased wheels and basically made all of our jobs that much easier. Kathy and Bronwen even helped to arrange a special expedition on the research vessel Welwitcha. This was a great treat for all of us. For Mark Knobil and me, the experience brought back memories of more than a decade ago when we both set sail (twice) to film at the Titanic in the Atlantic. For Brook, who had just finished producing a series of specials focused on ocean conservation, it was a welcome change to the driving, flying and hiking we'd been experiencing for nearly a month.

The happy faces of Richard . . .

. . . Brook. . .

. . . Chad . . .

. . . Chris . . .

. . . Chad and David . . .

. . . Mark and Chad. . .
It was great to be out at sea!

Explosions

2007-08-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2007. The desert outside Swakopmund, Nambia.

After much anticipation, we arrive early in the morning, before the easterly winds, eager to see if our explosives expert George will deliver. As he sets his powder and fuses and pours gallons of petrol, we set our shots, sit back and wait. There's a lot riding on these explosions, and I'm starting to feel the pressure. We've carved precious time out of a very tight schedule and if it doesn't work, we're going to be in trouble. George has brought enough powder, fuses and fuel to detonate five explosions. He's not sure exactly how big they will be, despite the fact that he's carefully measured and built each unit. Explosive can be unpredictable, and if the winds suddenly pick up they could blow fire, dust and rock in our direction. The unpredictability of explosives is real, and the fact that George is missing one hand underscores this fact. After decades of defusing bombs and creating explosive events for movies and concerts, it was a simple flare that blew up as he was holding it, taking his hand.

We decide to set-off a test explosion to gauge its size. We all take our position at a distance, and George counts down. "Three . . . two, one!"

A fireball races into the sky, followed by clouds of billowing smoke and great cheers. We're in business!

Chad, David, Chris, and Mark await the test fire.

Andy, our character can be seen walking in the desert contemplating the destructive nature of hydrogen sulfide events, as an explosion, shot in slow motions, blazes across the sky.

Chad stands next to the explosives so that we can mark the next shot.

Desert Offices

2007-08-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2007. Desert outside of Swakopmund, Namibia.

Chad moves some lamps that we borrow from the hotel.

Chris positions a desk, racing the sun as the winds begin to pick up.

The desk is leveled, stairs are built, and a chair is rigged so that it won't sink into the Namibian sand.

Richard Berkely, our production assistant who performed the role of a coordinator with precision, sits in as we block out a shot.

Questions

2007-08-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2007. Walvis Bay, Namibia.

David Elisco (Vice President for Creative Affairs)

Lighthouses . . . explosions . . . offices in the desert . . . None of this was planned, or even contemplated until hours before we started to set the wheels in motion. The scientists -- Scarla, Andy, Bronwen, and Kathy -- were behind the plan. In fact they were cheering us on, having fun with the creative nature of our endeavor. Brook and Richard employed their laser focus to nail down all the details, pulling rabbits out of their hats, arranging and rearranging the schedule based on a myriad of criteria. Mark, Chris and Chad through their creative energy into the fire, fueling the process with unbridled optimism as only three guys from Pittsburgh can.

But still . . . would it all work? Would it be as visually appealing as we thought? Would it help to drive the story forward? I was confident, but uncertain and this uncertainty was further exacerbated by other more personal events that were simultaneously unfolding in my life.

The Plan

2007-08-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2007. Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Namibia.

With the list of filming ingredients whirling around in my head, a plan started to form.

1. Bronwen is the lighthouse. Like a sentry, sitting on the edge of the desert, looking out to sea in Swakopmund, there is an old lighthouse. As the sun sets everyday, the beam of the lighthouse cuts across the town. The lighthouse, like Bronwen, is forever vigilant keeping its eye on the ocean. I thought that we could meet Bronwen at night, as the fog sets in, follow her up the lighthouse stairs, and stand with her hundreds of feet above the city as her face is awash in the harsh glow of the revolving beam. From here, we can set up the story and the mystery of the fish explosions.

Great idea! Okay . . . how do we get in the lighthouse? Brook, Richard and Kathy were on the case.

2. Since so much of the story takes places within the minds of our three main characters -- Scarla, Andy, and Bronwen -- and since these characters were part of a vanguard of research, maybe we can create a space in the desert that both represents their pioneering efforts and captures the imaginative nature of their enterprise. The idea: whenever either of our scientists were getting deep into their research, they would be transported via a wash of white light into their thought space -- the vast desert.

Sounded cool and plausible, but we were running out of time. Can we create offices spaces in the Namibian desert? Where can we get desks, chairs, other office supplies to shoot the next day? This might not sound like a tall order, but consider this: after days of trying Brook couldn't find a rental car; there is one wireless Internet location in the country, according to Richard; and every store closes exactly at five o'clock.

3. After more conversations with George our guide (and explosives expert) at Tuna Corp, it becomes clear that we could probably pull off about three or four good explosions if we're lucky. George has all the right permits in place. And his license is good for a few more days!

With the potential of explosions becoming more real, I began formulating a plan on how we might use them. For our story, here's the challenge: The hydrogen sulfide explosions are extremely dangerous to life in the ocean. Hydrogen sulfide acts as a poison, and the explosions also remove oxygen from the water, suffocating sea life. The problem is that you can't film these events.

The concept: Our idea was to take Andy into the desert, which will have been established as a thinking space for our main characters, and as he walks the dunes contemplating the destructive force of the hydrogen sulfide events, he will pass through a series of frames where violent explosions erupt on cue.

This could be extremely effective, and very visual, but would it work? Could you get the explosives to fire? Would they fire on cue? How can we make sure that nobody gets hurt?

The lighthouse at Swakopmund, Namibia. Just as in Strange Days One, where we found ourselves saying "Think David Lynch not David Attenborough," in Swakopmund I kept repeating to myself, "Bronwen is the lighthouse."

Did You Say Explosives?

2007-08-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2007. Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Of all the stories that I've shot in my career, I've felt for a long time that this particular story was going to be a creative test -- and not just for me, but for the entire crew. The story itself is extremely compelling: explosions of hydrogen sulfide off the coast of Namibia have been killing ten's of thousands of fish. The mystery: how big are the explosions, what's causing them and what can be done -- if anything -- to lessen the impact?

The problem: There's very little that we can actually shoot. We don't have the time or money to wait for such an event to occur and most of the action, the sleuthing, takes place in minds of the scientists.

During the morning of our scout, we were guided by Kathy who lead us through the Ministry Building in a search for possible locations. The offices and the building were handsome and perched on the edge of the sea, but we'd traveled the whole way to Namibia, and shooting indoors just didn't seem right. Guided by our Production Assistant, Richard Berkley, we headed first to the desert and then on to Walvis Bay to continue our scout.

In the desert, Richard identified a number of locations, one of which might serve for a sequence when our scientists were considering the role of the desert in the story of explosive events. The desert was very impressive, and I began thinking that perhaps this location could play a bigger role in our story. As a location it was very cinematic but how could we use it . . . that was the question?

Next we headed off to Walvis Bay to scout possible warehouse locations at a place called Tuna Corp. In pictures that Richard sent to us, Tuna Corp's warehouses exuded a certain ambiance that might lend itself well to a series of sequences where our scientists were discussing potential scenarios that could explain the explosions in Namibia's waters. At Tuna Corp, we were met by George Pkuhn, who was going to guide us through the facility. Within a few short minutes of our tour, George mentioned that he was in the film business, too. I've heard this line a number of times, and I politely asked what he did. As George began speaking, I stopped dead.

"Did you say explosives?" I asked.
"Yes," George said. "I rig explosives for concerts and movies."
"What kind of explosives? Could you rig something pretty big with a lot of fire?"
"Sure, sure. That's what I do."
As we toured the warehouses at Tuna Corp, which proved to be very photogenic, I continued to question George about the possibility of rigging some explosives for us. I wasn't sure how I would use them, but if we could get explosives, I was sure that I could come up with something that would make sense.

As we left Tuna Corp, things were starting to come together. The ingredients:
1. A cool desert with amazing sand dunes
2. Railroad tracks that bisected part of the desert.
3. The potential of explosives.
4. Several empty warehouses with great lights and shadows.

How could these ingredients be used?

George Pkuhn is an explosive expert with decades of experience. The fact that George was missing one hand, and that we were going to try to put explosive into the film within a few short days, unnerved some of the crew just a little.

Chad, our assistant cameraman walks the desert . . .

. . . and his own sense of internal coolness . . .

. . . keeps him quite comfortable.

Namibia Begins

2007-08-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2007. Swakopmund, Namibia.

We started early this morning, and we had a lot to do. On the list:

1. Drop off laundry for cleaning (Brook, our Line Producer, had already made it clear that me, Mark, Chad and Chris were beginning to push the bounds of decency; in fact days earlier she insisted that we all shower before she would let us in the van from Kumasi to Accra.)

2. Meet the scientist whom we'd be filming. Up until this point, they'd all been voices over crackly phone lines.

3. Scout locations. We'd only seen pictures of Swakopmund and nearby Walvis Bay, and I for one had been scratching my head, and if truth be told waking up in cold sweats, trying to figure out how we were going to visualize this sequence. (More on this later.)

1. Laundry: Check.

2. Scientists: Check Plus!

Scarla Weeks, Andrew Bakun, Kathy Peeard, and Bronwen Currie (whom we'd meet later the next day) proved to be marvelous, each possessing a unique and charming personality. Scarla is a satellite oceanographer with exuberant charisma, who would later say in her interview that her office was in space. Andy is a big thinker, who occasionally quotes Shakespeare, and has the distinct good looks of a Hollywood actor. Kathy is both shy and bold; shy in the sense that she avoids the camera when given the chance, and bold to the extent that she became an invaluable member of our production team -- scheduling, scouting, approving shots and even on occasion making sure that our Director of Photography had his camera set properly. ("Mark," she asked during a lab shoot, "Is your extender turned off?")

And then there's Bronwen . . . I'd asked myself prior to meeting her, "Who is this woman on the other side of the phone with such a sweet voice, who patiently answers all of my questions (even the dumb ones)? In person, Bronwen is just as sweet as I imagined, and I would come to recognize that her patience and serenity is born of her love of the ocean. Bronwen is a surfer who spends as much time as she can in the water. She's also a biker, who peddles each day to and from the office. A beginning surfer myself, and a lifelong biker, I can attest to the peacefulness that these activities can bring, but in Bronwen her spirit had quite comfortably and unequivocally merged with her constant motion. Bronwen moves as if her feet barely touch the ground.

The excitement I felt upon meeting our scientists (and dropping off my laundry) was short lived. As we began scouting, it became painfully clear that we had less than twelve hours to reinvent an entire sequence that we had traveled half way around the world to shoot. And the clock was ticking.

Kathy and Bronwen discuss hydrogen sulfide, fish stocks, bacteria (and wonder what's for lunch.)

Scarla and Bronwen examining satellite images of Namibia's coastline.

Me and Andrew in the desert near Swakopmund.

Hello Namibia

2007-07-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

July 23, 2007. Windhoek, Namibia.

After two long flights and a layover in South Africa, we arrived in Windhoek, Namibia feeling a bit whacked from the air travel and looking down the barrel of a five-hour drive. For all of us, Windhoek was a bit of a surreal experience at first. Perhaps it was the contrast to the hot, muggy and lush landscape of Ghana that took us off guard. Windhoek was dry and clear. We were surrounded by a vast expanse of desert and comforted by a cool breeze. The hustle and crowds of Ghana were gone, now replaced by a profound sense of isolation. "Where are we?" Chad, our assistant cameraman, asked in disbelief.

I think we were all experiencing a sense of being lost and trying to come to terms with this new location, which quite frankly didn't match up to any of our expectations. Mark Knobil, our Director of Photography, and Chris Strollo, our Soundman, (who have both worked extensively in Africa before) seemed a bit confused. For me, I think it was sensory deprivation. There was a single black road, beige sand (like some sort of lunar landscape) and blue sky. The only vestige of our Ghana experience was the baboons. There they were, seemingly larger, sitting on the side of the road like sentinels. It was strange seeing baboons out in the open among desert scrub brush. The baboons looked like dusty old books, sitting in lines along the side of the road.

As we drove into the night, our new colleague and driver ,AJ, answered periodic questions about the land, the people and the wildlife. The baboons in Namibia aren't a big problem though their numbers are growing. The giraffes we were seeing were part of game parks, a burgeoning new business. Hunting parks too were big. If you wanted to shoot a lion that could be arranged for 10K US, an elephant 25K and so on.

Late in the evening we finished crossing the desert and arrived in Swakopmund, which sits on the desert's edge of the coast. The town was eerily quiet, and the extremely wide streets, which were first built to accommodate ox carts, were devoid of any life. A thick blanket of fog covered the entire town, and it was very cold thousands of miles from Ghana, and even further from home.

Farewell Ghana (& the Big Headed Greenback)

2007-07-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2007. Accra, Ghana.

This evening we loaded our gear for the last time in Ghana and were whisked off to the airport, lead once again by Teddy Sabutey, our fixer. At the airport, Teddy worked his magic for a final time and we breezed through customs and all the long lines at the airport. It was nothing short of miraculous. We did however run into one small obstacle that at first even stunned Teddy. When we went to pay for our excess baggage (we checked 19 bags), we were a bit shocked to discover that the airport doesn't take credit cards. Not to be shaken easily, Brook, our Line Producer, reached into her own magic bag and retrieved more than five hundred dollars in cash to pay the bill. Not so fast . . . To our surprise, our money was no good. The reason: our US currency was of the older variety, the kind where the President's portrait is smaller than that of the new currency. "We only take the Big Heads," the woman at the counter informed us.

We'd run into this problem before in Ghana. It was never really clear to me if the preference for big headed Presidents was born out of a fear of counterfeiting or simply just a penchant for big headed Presidents. It was hit or miss whether somebody would take your money. None the less, at the airport we were in a bit of the bind. We all scrambled for our wallets in a search for Big Headed Greenbacks. Fifty dollars here, one fifty there, eighty dollars in my own wallet. We came up very shy of Big Heads. We decided to make a dash for a money machine to retrieve Ghanaian bills, however there's a limit to what can be withdrawn (about the equivalent of $150 US per day). To complicate matters there were no machines to be found in our terminal, and the clock was ticking. We headed back outside and to another terminal, where Teddy worked his magic and got us through security and into the airport through an Exit Only door. Brook and Teddy headed inside, found no machines, but lucked into an Exchange booth. With a fist full of crisp, new Big Headed bills, we were on our way.
Teddy is without a doubt one of the best fixers in the world, and probably the best I've ever had the pleasure to work with. Whether it was getting us permission to shoot in a difficult location with hours notice, or running interference when we got ourselves in trouble, Teddy performed with grace, dignity and style.

After drinks at the bar, we killed some time with this garbage can. It performed its role well in a dramatic and powerful story filled with excitement, love, loss and the inevitable tragedy that so often unfolds when individuals follow their hearts.

The excitement and possibilities implicit in new love.
A chance encounter leads to romance . . .
. . . and ultimately to love.
With the passage of time, love reveals itself to be fleeting, and a distance is created until . . .
Betrayal.
The pain of a broken hearts.

The Heat Sets In

2007-07-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

July 18, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana

Although the weather in Mole has been unseasonably pleasant, it still can get very hot. Water here is also scarce and only runs a few times a day, and then only for a very short period -- maybe only an hour. Just when the water is going to run is anybody's guess. Each of us has two five-gallon buckets, which we try to keep full. These buckets are used for bathing and flushing the toilets, and we've all been very good about rationing and sharing water when necessary. It's a valued commodity, though it's not good for drinking. After arriving and shooting for a few days in Mole, a few of us have gotten sick, probably from the water. Whatever we had, it zapped strength and resulted in cramps and dizziness. We all running a little slower than normal, but I think we're capturing some beautiful images that will help shed light on an important story.

When rain calls a halt to the shooting, we take refuge in an air-conditioned room. On this day we were all thankful that we had electricity, and we took this opportunity to take a brief nap together. Ghana is in the midst of an energy crisis. The country relies on hydropower, and most of the major reservoirs are painfully low. As a result, there are countrywide rolling blackouts. Power is provided from the main grid in forty-eight hour cycles, so that places get two days of power and then are left on their own. Many rely on generators to make up for the days without power.

Baboons, Woman & Children

2007-07-23T12:12:00.001-07:00

July 18, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana

As much fun as they are to watch, we're really getting a sense of how much of a problem the baboons can be. One interesting thing that has been brought to our attention is that baboons don't seem to have any fear of women. In speaking to the workers of the park, this fact comes up again and again. In fact, recently just to test this hypothesis, a worker here dressed up as woman and mingled with the females working outside near the kitchen. When the baboons came by, as they do most evenings as dinner is being prepared, a few of them went about hassling the women and chasing them. When they approached the man dressed up in costume, they stopped dead in their tracks. They paused for a moment to give him a closer look. Once they realized that he was a man, they ran away to safety.

According to Brashares, baboons can also be incredibly aggressive. For instance, he reported one case in Kenya where he witnessed two male baboons attempting to take a baby from the arms of its mother. The baboons lunged repeatedly at the woman, bearing their teeth, barking and circling her. Confused and frightened, the woman was hysterical and didn't know what to do as the baboons got more brazen and aggressive. Finally, a man came to her aid and forced the baboons away.

These Patas monkeys, pictured below, can also be quite aggressive. One morning, when I was watching them, one looked up at me and then charged, swatting at me -- its arms flailing. I jumped back and tried to take a posture to scare him off, but he kept on coming. Finally, he backed away when a worker from the motel ran up with a slingshot. Moments later, the Patas raided our breakfast table as we sat. They jumped on the table, went right for the sugar and jam and stuffed their mouths full before darting off.

Chris's Special Evening

2007-07-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2007. Larabanga, Ghana

After a full day of shooting, Chris, our soundman, stayed behind in Larabanga. His intention was to work with a Master drummer from the community, and he had high hopes of getting a private drumming lesson. To Chris's surprise and delight, rather than a lesson, the people in the community performed music from the Damba yam festival. This involves a complex drumming style of the same name. Chris points out that there's a dispute among musicologists as to how to count and notate this style of drumming. There are very few recordings of music from Northern Ghana, so the people of Larabanga fall into the cultural group known as the Gonja. This is a recording of drummers performing on the evening of a much-awaited thunderstorm. The group included a very old master drummer accompanied by several of the men who acted a hunters in the film. For Chris, the entire experience was magical, as it was only lit by lightening from the thunderstorm. Enjoy this rare recording courtesy of Chris!

The day in the life of an AP in Africa

2007-07-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Brook Holston (Associate Producer)
July 17, 2007 Mole National Park, Ghana

Despite a giant thunderstorm yesterday, we are miraculously on schedule and have shot most everything that was planned and scheduled.

Justin Brashares, the scientist we are here with is a star and has been great on camera and a huge help all around. Justin's grad student, Cole Burton (also at Berkeley) is here and has been a huge help as well and we've been filming with him quite a bit.

I am currently in the town of Tamale, which is about 2 hours outside of Mole Park. Even though I came into "town", I am still chasing down one suitcase that's been missing since we arrived, which contains most of our tapestock. It should arrive here soon on a flight from Accra. As the "services" are limited at the Mole Motel, I'm also here making a supply run for things the hotel is low on or out of: fruit, water, fuel for our generator (as the power is quite random in Mole and battery charging has been a challenge), money changing, DHL (where I'm picking up tapestock that I ordered should the suitcase never makes it back to us), etc, etc!

So far the crew is doing great, although a bit tired, and the good news is all of our equipment has been working good in the heat and humidity. We are working closely with the Wildlife Division in Mole Park and they have been extremely helpful - yesterday we shot elephants and today will be shooting some Baboons. There are baboons at the Mole Hotel who are quite cheeky - they hang out right in front of your room hoping you'll drop your bag so they can have a look. Yesterday they stole a woman's backpack and she didn't get much back!!

Bushmeat Hunters

2007-07-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana.

Racing the last light of the day, we met a group of hunters from the community of Larabanga in order to recreate a dreamlike sequence that would illustrate hunting pressures on the park. Bushmeat is an integral part of Ghanaian culture, and hunters, like these, play a vital role in providing food for their communities.

The question that the people of Ghana face focuses on how to create sustainable harvests of bushmeat without depleting the resource. At the moment hunting is regulated to a certain degree by issuing permits, but this practice in and of itself is not enough according biologists like Moses Sam, one of our featured scientists. Currently, there are efforts underway to farm some animals, such as grass cutters, which are giant rats, but the results are mixed. Farming these animals is not simple and still requires a fair amount of food to produce a harvestable animal.

Up Close With Elephants

2007-07-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana.

Early in the morning we set off with our guide, Samuel Anponsah Mensah, and headed into the park with the hopes of shooting elephants. We would not be disappointed. Samuel guided our vehicle down over the escarpment and into the alluvial plain. We passed through grasslands, and through the dense bush on a road that resembled a trail. After about a twenty minute drive, we took off on foot, and we didn't have to walk very far before meeting our first elephants taking their morning bath. As you might imagine, we were all thrilled to see these majestic animals at such a close range. For their part, the elephants didn't give us a second thought -- they lounged in the water, spraying, drinking and occasionally rough-housing.

There are approximately 800 elephants in Mole National Park, and unlike their distant cousins living in East Africa ( in places like Kenya) very little is known about these animals. Their groups have not been identified and none of them have been studied as individuals. The elephants of Mole present an incredible opportunity for any budding biologist looking to contribute to science.
Elephant footprints that have filled with water from rainfall the previous night.
Our Guide on this morning, Samuel Anponsah Mensah.
Elephants departing the watering hole stop to take a look at us before heading back into the bush.

Ghana Wildlife Division Archives

2007-07-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana

Don't let the cluttered nature of these photos fool you; this archive of data, collected over more than thirty years by the Ghana Wildlife Division, at more than seventy sights across the country, is one of the most complete records of animal abundance and distribution collected anywhere in the world. In fact, nothing like it exists for large mammals in North America or Europe. Despite its richness and value, the archive, like much of the animals it records, needs protection. A plan is currently in place for the archive to be transcribed, however, the work is currently being done by hand, which is painstakingly slow. Brashares and his colleagues at the Ghana Wildlife Division are seeking support that would speed up the effort and ensure that this valuable resource can be preserved. The plan entails bringing on more help by purchasing a scanner and computers at cost of approximately ten thousand dollars. A very small price to save such an incredible resource. (For anybody interested in contributing, please contact Justin Brashares or Moses Sam: Brashares@nature.berkley.edu or mkofisam@gmail.com).

Elephants and Cell Phones

2007-07-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2007. Mole National Park, Ghana.

We're staying at the only overnight facility in Mole National Park, the Mole Motel. The motel is perched above a dam, and looks out across the countryside. The views are spectacular, and the dam looks more like a watering hole. Wart hogs have the run of the motel, and they can be seen everywhere. They kneel on their front legs eating every piece of greenery that they can find sprouting from the red dirt. Baboons, too, are very common and troops move through the park, swinging from trees, running through the dirt and bounding over the hill on their way to the water below. There are also lizards, big and small, that come in a multiple array of colors. When I see them, I can't help but think of my 10-year-old daughter, Zelda, who has become quite the lizard wrangler in Pacific Grove, California. However, of all the animals that I've seen thus far, the most surprising to me were the elephants.

This morning, I awoke around 5:30 in the morning, and I staggered out of bed to make breakfast by six. I checked my bathroom to see if the water was running (it wasn't, and would not run all day.) After that, I went out the back door of my room to look out over the valley below. As I stood on my porch, I heard the voice of Chad, who is rooming right next to me. "Elephants," he said, and pointed down toward the water. I rubbed my eyes and looked down the hill, and there they were: elephants. It was a group of five females and one young male standing in the water taking their morning bath. Just beyond them, in a stand of trees, stood a group of eight. It was an incredible sight and I took a seat to watch them. As I did, I have to admit that I felt very lucky to be in their presence, but at the same time the moment was tarnished by so many inescapable truths. Mole National Park, despite it's greatness, is under intense pressure of human development. Not far from the elephants, on the horizon to my left there was a cell phone tower. Like shoots of weeds, these towers are springing up everywhere, massive metal harbingers of the changes yet to come. Don't get me wrong, I think it's amazing that I can pick up my phone in the Ghanaian wilderness and call anywhere in the world, but this luxury comes with a price. "How long can these elephants last?," I wondered. " Will future parks like Mole become nothing more than large zoos?" For the people who know me, these questions come as no surprise. I no longer believe in the concept of "nature" as being a separate place, untouched by human hands. It's a myth, one often perpetuated by colleagues working in film, that there exists this vast untamed world. Yes, there are elephants and they should be revered and appreciated. Take the time to watch them and be humbled by their majesty. Feel honored to be in their presence, but keep your eyes on the horizon.

Below is a picture of the elephants from my bedroom in Mole National Park. We'd be getting much closer in the following days. After watching the elephants, and a cup of Nescafe coffee (which I have to admit, I'm starting to enjoy) we went to the nearby village of Larabanga, which has a population of approximately 4,000 people. The purpose of our trek was to meet with leaders from the local village to discuss our upcoming shooting plans. The meeting was held near one center of the village and was attended by the film crew, myself, and sixteen representatives from the village. A new guide named Eben served as a translator. After a morning prayer, we described our intentions and were warmly received.

Larabanga is predominantly Muslim, and most of the residents are farmers. Like the fisherman in Accra, the people here have to work a great deal in order to seek out a living. Their major crops are corn, groundnuts, yams and cassava, and they depend on rainfall to grow their crops; there is no irrigation. In addition to the fate of the rains, the farmers have to contend with elephants, which enter their fields from Mole National Park. Elephants can make short order of crops and destroy an entire harvest in a single morning. Monkeys are also major crop raiders. Of all the animals that the farmers have to contend with, though, perhaps the biggest threat, according to Justin Brashares, comes from the baboon populations. Their numbers in some places have increased by more than 600%. Brashares points out that while the villagers may be concerned most with the elephants, the data suggests that the baboons are the bigger problem.
Our morning meeting in Larabanga. The people of this community speak [Kamara], which is a language unique to this small town of 4,000 people.
The children of Larabanga were extremely beautiful and friendly. This young boy stood by my side, rubbing the hairs on my arm. He ultimately sat beside me, and held my hand, content to swing his feet back and forth, which dangled above the red dirt. The smile never left his face.

Africa Shoot: Ghana Part 5

2007-07-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2007.
We departed from Kumasi pretty much as planned. With trucks and vans loaded, we made our way North out of the city. It was a pleasure to get out on the open road, beyond the city limits and see the Ghanaian countryside. Ghana is a beautiful country. Our trek took us on a single straight ribbon of road that cut through a seemingly endless horizon of green. We made few stops: a roadside stand for oranges, bananas and mangoes and lunch in the town of Kintampo. I spent much of the time resting, sleeping off and on, and reading. We listened to some Ghanaian music from the 1970's that our sound man, Chris, had collected. Chris has study Ghanaian music for years with a focus on drums in the Northern regions, specifically Dagomba. According to Chris, Dagomba drumming, which is a complex and multi-voiced music, utilizes entire villages as part of their performances. Chris has been studying Dagomba music for more than ten years, and studied with masters from Tamale in the states. However, this would mark his first trip to Ghana. Chris has some hopes, given the chance, to visit Tamale. We'll all keep our fingers crossed but we're not counting on it.

After about six hours, we turned off the main road. Our last two hours would be along a bumpy dirt road. We paused for a few moments in order to take all the bulbs out of our lighting gear before continuing on. There was fear that that the bumpy road would break the lamps. It's a good thing we stopped. The road was very rough, and it didn't help that we were driving between 50 and 60 miles per hour. Nonetheless, everyone’s’ spirits were high. It felt great to be so far from home.
Sunset in Mole National Park.

Africa Shoot: Signing off from Kumasi

2007-07-13T13:47:00.001-07:00

. . . heading out early. Just sent the last of my messages from the top of a Shell gas station. They took forever to load, and I'm exhausted and heading back to the hotel to get a beer and go to bed. We're up early tomorrow, heading North. I'll write from the road, but probably won't be able to send anything until next Friday, when we return to Accra.

All for now . . .
____________David Elisco

Africa Shoot: The Success and Failures of Mark Knobil

2007-07-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

Mark Knobil, our extraordinary Director Photography, is shooting some breathtaking images. He is also running into his fair share of bad luck. On our first full day of shooting, Mark's first step onto the savannahs outside Accra, resulted in a twisted knee. He was a little sore, but fine.
On Mark's second full day of shooting, he knelt an incredibly large pile of human feces, and his pant leg need to be cut off his body.

On his third full day of shooting, which was at the fish market, Mark stepped off the path and into a drain filled with sewage, fish guts and god knows what else, soaking his only pair of sneakers.

Africa Shoot: Ghana Part 4

2007-07-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

After the disappointment of the bush meat market, the fish market was a welcome success. We arrived on schedule and were greeted with cheers and applause. The entire Kumasi market was bustling with activity on a grand scale, and everywhere people were shoulder to shoulder. Among our crew, it was probably the most crowded place we have ever collectively shot. (I'm estimating that the market is about one square mile in size.) We followed our three lead scientists among the fish stalls as they recreated their survey work. The scientists were interested in investigating if the lack of fish in markets like Kumasi was fueling the bush meat trade. After years of work monitoring twelve markets in Ghana, they did saw a correlation: when fish supplies were down, the bush meat trade was booming, and when fish supplies were up, the bush meat trade appeared to wane.
Packed like sardines in a can, we made our way through the Kumasi market. This is probably one of the more difficult places I've ever had to shoot. Setting up shots, following our scientists and general communication were a big challenge.
The Queen Mother of the Fish Market. As you might guess from her smile, she was a delight. There are many Queen Mothers in the Kumasi market, and this one granted us permission to shoot in her domain.
Michael Afranie, Ghanaian film and television star, guided us through the markets. Everywhere we went, people cheered, applauded and reached out to touch him. He was a very cool guy.
Michael guides our crew through a labyrinth of stalls. Without his help we would have been lost in seconds.
One section of the Kumasi market, as seen from a an outdoor sewing factory. This was one of the only spots that we could find from above where you could actually see people because most of the market is packed so tightly.
A wider shot of the market. The market is all outdoors, with the vendors sitting under the shelter of metal roofs which obstructed any great wide shots.

Africa Shoot: Ghana Part 3

2007-07-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

We rolled out promptly from Accra at nine this morning, in a small caravan of three vehicles, packed to the brim for our trip to the North. Our route actually took us Northwest through a number of towns, large and small -- many of which are not on our driving map. From Accra we headed Northwest to Nsawan and then to Apadwa. From there we went to Suhum, and after a brief stop at Bunso Junction we went to Osino, Anyinam, Nkwankwan, Konogo and finally to Kumasi. The route for the most part is a very well paved two lane highway that cut through endless forest and grasslands that were broken up by towns. It had all the makings of a pleasant drive that wasn't meant to be.

For somebody like myself that spends much of his time commuting by bicycle, I'm not afraid to admit that the trip was hair raising. Our speeds were usually very fast on the highway between 70 and 90 m.p.h and people passed at will along the two-way roads--around blind corners, over blind hills, and between lanes, squeezing other cars to the edge of the road. Along the highway there were the corpses of other cars and trucks that obviously didn't fare well on our route. I'm no mechanic, but as I listened to the sound of our transmission rolling and winding out between gears, I could imagine the drive shaft spinning like a lathe producing piles of metal shavings. In fact, the floor beneath my feet was so hot that I couldn't put my bare feet on the floor mat and had to wear shoes.

As we drove, passing cars, tailgating, breaking fast, swerving to avoid on coming vehicles, I knew that I was not alone in my fears. There were sighs, gasps, swearing, and often I looked behind me to Chad, our assistant camera to share a quick look of disbelief. "That was the worst @!#$% car ride I ever had in my life!" Chad told me later. Justin Brashares, the scientists we're filming, advises his graduate students coming to work in Ghana, that the most dangerous thing they need to be aware of is not crime, and not the animals in the bush . . . it is driving on the roads. Passing through one of the many small towns on our way to Kumasi.

At the top of a hill, our driver cuts back into position and decides not to pass.

Our trip grinds to a completely stop and our driver Ernest, our soundman Chris, and assistant camera Chad pose for a picture on the side of the road.

A recent accident. A familiar site on the road to Kumasi.

Africa Shoot: Kumasi July 13, 2007

2007-07-13T13:20:00.001-07:00

It's five in the morning, just before sunrise and the dawn service of the Scripture Union Church School has begun with a morning song sung by the children of the boarding school. Their cherubic voices mark the beginning of a new day. It's a simple, soulful song, accompanied by a chorus of crickets and the calls of roosters that are waking near and far. I've been up since four thirty, and I don't think that I've started a day in such a beautiful way in a long time -- young voices under a still dark sky speaks clearly to me of the innocence of morning.

When we arrived at the bush meat market this morning at 5:45, it was clear that things were not going to go well for us. The doors of the small stalls were boarded and still locked and the people preparing the fires to smoke the meats looked at us suspiciously. As we stood by the roadside and awaited the arrival of the Queen Mother, sacks of dead animals were whisked by us, and ushered away so that we couldn't see them. When the Queen Mother arrived, our access to film was denied. There had been much talk between the vendors the previous night and it was decided that our intentions were not good. Recently the conservation group Conservation International had launched a campaign, "Say No to Bushmeat," which included a film. Those bush meat sellers included in the film were ostracized. Among the scientists whom we were set to film, there was a feeling that the CI campaign, while doing some good, had also produced some less than desirable results. Their point was that the the bush meat trade was becoming more underground, or at least less accessible to scientists wishing to study the trade. After approximately two hours of negotiations, we packed up our gear and moved on. Teddy, our fixer, Michael, the movie star, and Moses, one of our featured scientists, began immediately trying other avenues that might open some doors. They did their work as we moved on to the fish market.

As I write, Teddy and Michael are trying one last time to arrange a shoot at the bush meat market. If they're successful, we will be departing for our final scene of the day. If not, we will have develop another plan for covering the bush meat side of our story. Now, the crew is taking a well deserved break before heading out to capture city scenes. Everybody is exhausted after the shoot in the fish market. It was very hot and very crowded, and the air was thick with the smell of smoked and fresh fish -- and not all of the odors were pleasant.

Tomorrow we head North to our final destination, Mole National Park. (Pronounced Mole Ay.) Here we will be spending several days capturing material for the bulk of our sequence. Everybody is looking forward to getting out of the city and onto the savannahs of Ghana. This time of year, after the rains, Mole has been described to us as an Eden. We leave at 6:30 in the morning with high hopes of seeing elephants, antelope and of course, baboons! Internet access will be very sketchy if at all possible, so this might be my last entry for a little while. Our drive to Mole will take us approximately eight hours, and we all hope it is less stressful than the drive to Kumasi.

Africa Shoot: Kumasi July 12, 2007

2007-07-13T13:19:00.001-07:00

After arriving in Kumasi, we made our way to the market place, which is an experience that I will never forget. We merged with a sea of people, the likes of which I've never experienced. The markets were densely packed, and we were guided by Michael Afranie, a famous television and movie actor, through a very tight labyrinth of stalls, buildings and ally ways, passing cobblers making shoes, textile workers, and vendors selling a myriad of goods -- electronics, fruits and vegetables, live animals, smoked animals, freshly slaughtered animals, toys, etc. It's not an understatement to say the market was sensory overload, and we briskly moved forward as if swimming up stream to our destination: the Queen Mother of the fish market.

The Queen Mother was a young, attractive woman in her early forties and she received us with a big smile and warm greetings. She was glad that we had arrived, but if truth be told she was more delighted to see Michael-- everybody was! Michael is very famous and well liked, and its easy to see why. He's a very handsome man, quick to smile, who wears a floppy hat and beard, who carries himself with the laid back sense of nobility. After much discussion and laughter between The Queen Mother and Michael, she gave us her blessing to shoot the following day, and were promised the cooperation of the rows of vendors that she represented. We stayed in the market a little while, scouting positions for the camera. As we left, we were carried by the flow of people back to the streets, and I was filled with a strange sense of belonging, and let the sights and sounds wash over me.

After a short drive through people and cars all jostling for position, we arrived at the bush meat market, where animals are brought from the countryside to be butchered and prepared for sale. In stark contrast to the fish market, the Queen Mother of the bush meat market was more reserved, guarded and cynical. She was an old woman, dressed in a black dress and black scarf, which she wore on her head. She sat on a wooden bench with one bare foot on the ground and the other leg stretched out in front of her. She told me to sit beside her and placed her finger on the bench to tell me exactly where to sit. As I sat, Michael and Teddy, our fixer, negotiated our shooting permit. The Queen was very reluctant. Bush meat is largely illegal and she feared that we had come in part to help shut down her businesses. Both Michael and Teddy took their time, listening to all of her concerns as well as those of her constituents. It was touch and go for a while and all I could do was sit and smile. At one point the conversation turned to me. The Queen Mother seemed to recognize me. She'd seen me before and was convinced I had been in Kumasi. Despite the efforts of Teddy and Michael, she was convinced that she knew me. She fixed me in her gaze as the conversation continued around her. How could I tell her that I felt the same way, that I'd been here before? In my dreams before my trip I'd travelled many times, alone at night, flying through sky before arriving to walk the streets and countryside of Ghana. Abruptly, the Queen looked away from me. She spoke to Michael and Teddy. Our request to film had been granted.

Africa Shoot: Ghana Part 2

2007-07-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

This morning we arrived back in Jamestown to shoot the return of the local fishing fleet. We gained permission to shoot from the Fisheries Council and were guided by two ambassadors, Akonte and Niikommey. We were also met by Lamtui (a.k.a. Apna). Apna is a bit of a local celebrity. Officially he would be called a Canoe Group Leader. Unofficially, he is a gang leader, and it was obvious that he was held in very, very high esteem. As we filmed, our guides and our production fixer, Teddy Sabutey, negotiated with each canoe group, paying tribute as we moved.

Typically, we were met with a great deal of shouting, anger and hand waving, which lasted about a minute until everybody realized that we were being escorted. As soon as nerves were settled, we were then greeted by big smiles, cheers and laughter. This scene repeated itself over and over again during our shoot. At first, the rough and tumble atmosphere was a little unnerving, but very quickly we got into what would become the dominant rhythm of the day. (Incidentally, and it should come as no surprise, but it was pointed out that most Ghana's great boxers come from fishing communities. Having spent a few short hours in Jamestown, it's easy to see why that's the case.)

As the boats were being pulled in, the fishers sang beautiful sounding chants that were actually typically very off-color and vulgar. Many of the chants were made up on the spot, but some catch on and become part of the local "tradition."

The Jamestown community is predominantly made up of the Ga Tribe, approximately 85%. The other large majority come from the Fente Tribe.

Virtually all of the fishers are men. It was pointed out that in Jamestown there is one woman who goes out on the boats. Women make up the majority of the buyers and they await the return of the fleet each morning. Negotiations take place right on the shore as the boats land and the women load the fish that they buy into large metal pots. Many of the fish wind up at the market, which is less than a mile away, although we did film a woman buy from a fisher, turn around, take two steps and sell her entire take. (Sometimes the lines of commerce are very short!)

Among the fish we saw coming off the boats: tuna, mud crab, shrimp, giant sea snails, cassava, red fish, herriing, baracuda, and octopus.
As were were finishing our shoot, we were approached by a very angry fisher who shouted at us in native Ga, "When you are finished and get what you want, put fish back in the ocean!" In essence, he was trying to tell us that he had gained nothing from our presence. If only he knew our goal.

Among the fishers of Ghana, we came across another Pittsburgh Steeler fan!

In the afternoon, we headed north looking for baboons in the countryside about 45 minutes of Accra.

Moses Sam, Cole Burton and Justin Brashares, our featured scientists, join the search.

Stephen Aflo, a five year field guide of the Ghana Wildlife Division served as our guided. Stephen helped us try to find any of the fifteen troops that live within the Shai Hill Reserve.

With luck and skill, Stephen lead us to a troop of baboons that are habituated to humans.

Africa Shoot: Ghana Part 1

2007-07-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

One hour into our first flight, and nine more hours to go before reaching London. In all it would take us 17 hours of flying time to reach Ghana, our first shooting leg in our trip to Africa.

On our first day in Accra, Ghana's capital, we scouted a local fish market near the town of Jamestown. The market is one of the biggest in the area and sold lots of fresh and dried fish. People were very reluctant to have their pictures taken here. Even taking pictures of the food was off limits.

We did manage, with guarded permission, to get this picture of dried fish from the market. Fish is a major source of animal protein for people living on the coast, which should come as no surprise. But what is surprising is that fish is a primary source of animal protein for people living thousands of miles from the coast in the desert regions of the Sahel -- and in some desert communities it is THE primary source of animal protein.

Moses Sam is a biologist working for the Ghana Wildlife Division. Moses is interested in large terrestrial animals, such as elephants, and the pressures that they're under do to fishing. Moses helps lead the effort of surveying and tracking Ghana's terrestrial wildlife, and he was part of the team that documented a sharp decline in land animals, linked to lack of fish. As fish is less available, people turn to "bush meat," as a source of protein.

The harbor at Jamestown in Accra, just down the hill from the market, is a major launching site for the Ghana fishing fleet, which consists largely of heavy wooden boats that are made by hand. We hope to shoot the return of the fleet on Wednesday morning and we are in negotiations with the local fishing chief for permission to do so. The harbor is extremely colorful and very crowded with ships, people, small homes and small shops. We've been told that this location can also be a little dangerous, but all of the people that we met were happy to see us and talk about their lives.

The fleet fishes everyday except Tuesday, which according to local custom is a day of rest for the fishers (and the fish.) Here fishers prepare for departure Tuesday night, when they will head for the waters around two in the morning.

A boat under construction at the Jamestown harbor. The wood is very light weight and called Wa Wa. It comes from the interior on trucks is guided down a very precarious road to the coast.
James Amarfey Qudye has been fishing here for more than 30 years. He was delighted to speak with us on our visit. He told us that at times from Jamestown he can look out across the waters to see the trawlers from the EU that sneak into Ghana's waters from neighboring countries where they are fishing legally to illegally fish in Ghana. Illegal fishing is a big problem for Ghana -- and in fact the world. The FAO has estimated that as much as 25% of the world's fish catch is landed and sold by illegal fishers.

During the scout, our assistant camera, Chad Djubek, and our Director of Photography, Mark Knobil, were enlisted to help bring in one of the smaller boats. (Both Chad and Mark are from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In fact 4 out 5 of our crew our from Pittsburgh, which caused the Ghana government concern, having so many Steeler fans in their country.)

Mexico Shoot: Strange Days and Coral Connections

2007-06-07T14:20:00.001-07:00

As we are winding up a spectacular shoot here in Mexico - here are some highlights:

• the first day we were here we scouted the cenote called "Yaax Muul" (mayan word) in the jungle. It was raining and we were EATEN by mosquitos. It was a toss up who had more bites - David Elisco or our sound guy, Dino . . .

• day two- We had a great shoot in Cancun and decided to stay overnite to be near the Cancun airport to shoot aerials the next morning.

• day three - When we woke up it was POURING RAIN - we got up at 5:30 am to go to the airport and ended up talking to the pilot for awhile and canceling the helicopter . . . oh well! We moved on to other things!

• It's Saturday, and this is the first day both the topside and underwater crews are working . . . The topside crew gets up again at 5:30 am to go to the Cancun airport, and the weather is really iffy.

Mark Shelly and I are with the underwater crew, and we are giving the topside crew weather reports by phone. We recommended they wait for awhile, which was great because the weather cleared up and the topside crew had a great aerials shoot!!!!

When Mark, our guest, Shari Sant Plummer, and I get to the marina to load boats - the boat owned by the scientific institute that our scientist, Roberto Iglesias-Prieto is with, that is on loan to use for the day, doesn't look good. The crew is bailing out the back with coffee cups, and the scientist we are shooting that day, Mario Rebelledo, tells me we have a "little situation," but it should be cleared up "soon!"
Miraculously, the boat finally gets bailed out and works, and we head out - to shoot Mario and his assistants taking water samples from a zone in the ocean where the fresh water is coming up. Mark and Ernie are both shooting, and all goes great!

Ernie is shooting the boat going overhead, and Mark keeps telling the boat captain to "get closer! get closer!" The captain is shaking his head and says something in spanish to our support diver - I ask him what he said, which was "that crazy man in the water with the camera has a death wish!" But of course Ernie gets the shot, no problem.

• Sunday - this is our big CENOTE SHOOT DAY - the day we're all secretly dreading! However, all goes really well. Ernie shoots the cave divers (Sam Meacham and Trish Beadows) in the cavern of this beautiful cave - the topside crew shoots in the cave and on land - with jibs, rafts, and all of our lights powered by generators in the jungle! Great day for everyone.

• Monday - everyone has an off day. The topside crew is shooting in Roberto Iglesias's lab in Puerto Morelos and the Underwater Crew is shooting coral reefs. Must have been an odd moon phase . . . topside crew wrestles with pouring rain, Roberto just got in the night before from the Czech republic, cameraman Mark Knobil hasn't slept because he keeps moving rooms to find one with an air conditioner that works! The underwater crew is wrestling with huge currents and then some of their gear is stolen! But . . . Ernie and his local AC (Pietro) prevail with getting their gear back without a fist fight!

• Tuesday - MUCH better day for both crews!!
Both crews are together shooting Roberto Iglesias Prieto topside and underwater researching the coral reef. Roberto's 15 year old son is with us, as he is an aspiring director! Both crews get great footage. We go to Roberto's very beautiful home in Puerto Morelos this evening and shoot him singing - it is a special evening as his whole family is there, and the kids are very excited to have a movie crew in the living room! Roberto's wife is fantastic and shows us the dance for the music he is playing.

• Wednesday - is INTERVIEW day for the topside crew, and the underwater crew goes to the biosphere to shoot the beautiful mangrove forest. Ernie just rolled in tonight and says the mangroves are great . . . they would have shot a beautiful coral reef but were blown out by wind and rain - oh well!

• thursday - the topside crew is going to Sian Kaan to shoot Mayan Ruins, and then we are WRAPPED.

Scout Trip: Canada (Day 1)

2007-05-02T18:20:00.000-07:00

ON A GRAY DAY IN THE BAY OF FUNDY
Thierry Chopin and Shawn Robinson head down the dock on their way to check on their kelp and mussel rafts that adjoin some of the salmon pens on a fish farm in the Bay of Fundy.
A rope of kelp almost ready for harvest. Completely ready for snacking, and not bad either.
Net pens like these can hold thousands of fish. Unlike most of the fish farm pens in this part of the Bay of Fundy, these pens are filled with cod.

At Yale's Institute for Biospheric Studies

2007-05-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

Mark Shelley (Executive Director) checking in today from New Haven, Connecticut, where I will be on a panel with other environmental media producers at the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies. The panel is going to discuss the problems we face in bringing good environmental science in the mass media-- and why there isn't more/better coverage of environmental science.

I'm going to show a short segment from Strange Days that worked well with audiences and shows one way we've tackled the challenge. But it also helps question of why we don't see more/better environmental science coverage: the simple answer is because it's hard to do well. This sequence I'll show was one of the most difficult for us to produce. It involved atmospheric modeling that is trying to simulate and predict the effects of CO2 on major global weather patterns. Mathematical modeling has been a taboo for most television broadcasting as being to nerdy, boring, esoteric. It seems that modeling represents all that is horrible in people's minds about bad science classes (it is both science AND math-- ouch). So we boldly took it on for a couple of reasons: they are critical in our ability to evaluate our role in affecting climate (and other systems), they can provide scientific veracity to the naysayers of climate change, they can help to predict how we need to react and prepare for the future scenarios, and they can be incredibly cool and visually interesting. Here is the sequence:

The sequence ended up working well with audiences, and helped literally tens of millions of people worldwide understand why climate change has the potential to create all kinds of problems for us we might never have imagined. But making that sequence work wasn't easy.

In trying to communicate any environmental science issue, we know from research that it's important to help audiences put complex information into a bigger context. Our role is to turn science into story-- to convey the information in ways that help people connect the dots, to make sense of the details, to help see why the science matters. And doing that right requires navigating a minefield between concepts and what comes out the tv screen. And it involves working with a huge number of players-- funders, production partners, advisory board members, audience research, producers, the scientists, writers, editors, and finally the broadcasters themselves. In every step, we are trying to protect the original concept and take the elements from each that will enhance that concept. As much as I don't like sports analogies, it is much like carrying the football from your one yard line. In this game, however, the defenders want to change the ball, add stuff to it, and in some cases, even take it away. By the time you get over the goal, you hope that what you were carrying is in some way reflective of the ball that you had way back when you started.

That process for Strange Days took three years and an awful lot of money. But when it was delivered, we had the opportunity to present four hours of good environmental science to those millions of people. And we even got away with one very complex atmospheric model.

Scout Trip: Mexico (Day 2)

2007-05-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

PLEASURE IN CANCUN
SAND AND SUN
CANCUN is an invented city that was designed 37 years ago. The Mexican Caribbean is today a tourist destination that attracts 7 million people every year. And the number is growing… Tourists come for the white beaches, the sun, the fun…

THE OTHER SIDE TO CANCUN
In Cancun, every morning shortly after sunrise, workers rake and cart away sea grass that has washed up on the shore to make sure that the beaches are clean for the tourists. (The grasses are actually very beautiful.) Aesthetics of cleanliness are very important -- notice the man's white suit. Ironically, while the beaches are clean, scientists have real questions about water quality in both the marine and fresh water systems. (One day while swimming, David and Ana found themselves in some untreated sewage and quickly made their way to the beach.)

MEET GABRIEL, BORN IN THE YUCATAN AND HAS WORKED IN CANCUN FOR 17 YEARS. GABRIEL'S COLONY...NO WATER, NO ELECTRICITY, AND NO ADDRESSThis is the other face of Cancun: no water, no electricity, no basic services… not even addresses thirteen minutes from the beaches of Cancun.

ANA RIDES THE BUS

After a hard workday, the workers leave the ‘Zona hotelera” to go back home. A 6 pesos-bus ride connects both realities.

MEET DR. ROBERTO IGLESIAS-PRIETO, SCIENTIST
Dr. Roberto Iglesias-Prieto is concerned with water quality of both the freshwater and marine systems. He's working with colleagues to better understand the underground rivers system of the Yucatan, which is home to the largest underground river in the world. It's suspected that much of the river system is being harmed by pollutants which seep through the soil, enter the rivers, and pollute drinking water before arriving in the sea. To learn more, visit: http://www.icmyl.unam.mx/ Dr. Iglesias-Prieto has dedicated much of his life investigating the cryptic lives of corals. And his work is showing how another pollutant, CO2, may be compromising the future of coral reefs the world over by playing a factor in rising ocean temperatures. According to Dr. Iglesias-Prieto, rising ocean temperatures can inhibit coral's ability to build their hard skeletons, and it can lead to a chain of events that eventually leads to starving the coral to death.

Scout trip: Mexico (Day 1)

2007-04-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ana, Brook and our fixer Claudia plan another day as we have breakfast. Ana gets to work scouting and doing some "on the street" interviews. (Her Spanish is really good and she helps us incredibly, like . . . on the first day when we got pulled over by the police because she didn't have a seat belt on!)
On the first day, after scouting a helicopter and meeting with the pilot, the crew takes a cab ride to meet cave diver and explorer Sam Meacham at his house.

MEET SAM MEACHAM, CAVE DIVER Sam is really cool! His work exploring underwater caves is amazing, and he gives us a bunch of footage and offers to work with us in any way he can. (We like Sam. And Sam likes us.)

COZUMEL

David swims . . .
Cozumel, far from the tourist crowds . . .

Leaving for Mexico!

2007-04-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

ARE WE THERE YET? David, Ana and Brook have a coffee in San Jose as they prepare for their big adventure

Ana gets in some last minute work before heading to the gate. She doesn't like wasting any time.
Brook stands by . . . as . . .
. . David takes pictures of his feet.
On the plane, last minute preparations before departing.
David likes his snorkel and contemplates wearing it for the flight.

The team flies and sleeps.

After landing in Mexico and a long drive, the crew is lost (actually only a few blocks from the hotel.)