Jackson Wild: Nature. Media. Impact.
  • Home
  • About
    • Get Involved >
      • Donate
      • Become a Partner
      • Volunteer
      • Internships
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Our Team
    • News Room
    • Shop
    • Contact Us
  • Summit
    • 2022 Summit >
      • Summit Photos
      • Program & Schedule
      • Transportation >
        • Airport Transportation
      • Speakers
      • 2022 Partners
      • About Burgenland
    • Summit Archive >
      • 2021 Summit >
        • 2021 Summit Sessions
        • Program & Schedule 2021
        • Speakers
        • 2021 Partners
      • 2020 Virtual Summit >
        • Speakers 2020
        • 2020 Partners
      • 2019 Summit >
        • 2019 Program & Schedule
        • 2019 Session Recordings
        • 2019 Programming
        • 2019 Exhibitors >
          • Exhibitor Workshops
          • XR Demos
        • 2019 Partners
      • 2017 Festival & Summit
      • 2015 Festival & Summit
      • 2013 Festival & Summit
  • Awards
    • Media Awards >
      • 2022 Media Awards
      • 2021 Media Awards
      • 2020 Media Awards
      • 2019 Media Awards >
        • 2019 Judges
      • Media Awards Archive
    • Special Jury Recognitions >
      • 2022 Special Jury
      • 2021 Special Jury
    • World Wildlife Day Film Showcase >
      • Conservation Heroes
      • Recovering Species
      • Forests
      • Biodiversity >
        • Biodiversity: Final Jury
      • Living Oceans >
        • Ocean Finalists & Winners
        • Living Oceans Final Jury
      • Big Cats
      • Elephants
    • Legacy Award
    • Rising Star Award
    • On Tour >
      • Films
      • Schedule
      • Host an Event
      • Tour FAQ
  • Frontiers
    • Media Lab >
      • 2022 Media Lab
      • 2021 Media Lab >
        • 2021 Media Lab Fellows
        • 2021 Media Lab: South Africa
        • 2021 Media Lab Mentors
      • 2020 Media Lab >
        • 2020 Media Lab Fellows
        • 2020 Media Lab Contributors
      • 2019 Media Lab >
        • 2019 Media Lab Fellows
    • Summit Fellowship >
      • 2022 Summit Fellows
      • 2021 Summit Fellows
      • 2020 Summit Fellows
      • 2019 Summit Fellows
    • Cinematography Lab
    • Partner Labs >
      • African Conservation Voices >
        • Kenya
        • Rwanda
      • 2020 Wild Women Media Lab: Africa
      • 2020 Summit Kenya Lab
  • Collective
    • Narration Writing Masterclass
    • Action Coalitions >
      • 2021 Action Coalitions
      • 2020 Action Coalitions
    • Gear Hub
    • Virtual Event Details
  • Blog

Wild Talk

Five Questions for Filmmakers: Nat Geo Inspires - Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions

2/27/2018

0 Comments

 
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them questions about the experience of making their films. The following questions were answered by Senior Producer Sarah Joseph, except where otherwise noted.)
Picture
Photo courtesy of Nat Geo Inspires: Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions

​What inspired this story?


This video was created as part of a series for National Geographic Education about a program called the Geo-Inquiry Process, designed to teach kids how to look at the world through a geography-based lens. Specifically, the videos are designed to help inspire teachers and students by showing them that National Geographic Explorers use similar methods in their work every day. 

In this piece, we wanted to show that collecting data – which may at first sound like a dry topic – can directly lead to the conservation of an important species such as lions in Gorongosa National Park, and that this story can be told in an engaging, emotional way. It is also important for us to feature historically underrepresented communities in our work, and Paola Bouley is a wonderful example of a strong female conservationist.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Nat Geo Inspires: Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions

​Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share?

From our Associate Producer, Elaina Kimes:

The crew tried to keep our shrieks and coos to a minimum as our cameraman filmed the tiny cub. We were told our chances of seeing it were low given the tall grass the pride had been hiding in, so we were elated when Paola whispered and gestured toward a small brown smudge in the grass. The sun had nearly set and every second of daylight we had left was precious. Next to the cub, a lioness watched us closely. We had no sense of fear - just excitement.

The cub play-stalked us for a moment, then proceeded to jump onto its mother’s back. As the lioness stood up and began walking away, we were shocked to see the cub hitch a ride for a few paces. Even Lion Biologist Paola Bouley was surprised by this unusual behavior.

Then, just like that, they were gone. We sat in awe, reflecting on why we were making this film and who we were fighting for: the next generation of lions in Gorongosa National Park.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Nat Geo Inspires: Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions
Picture
Photo courtesy of Nat Geo Inspires: Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions
What impact do you hope this film will have?

We hope this film will help inspire educators to teach their students the power of thinking globally, and that those students will in turn become the next generation of change-makers in the world. We also want to show students that explorers don’t all look one way (throughout the series, we feature diverse scientists, photographers, artists, etc.), and that anyone can get out and make a difference in the world. And finally, we hope that this video can be used in a number of places to share Gorongosa’s conservation message with the world and help protect incredible species like lions.

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.

As is often the case (particularly in short-form video where budgets tend to be smaller) we were working with limited resources, including time in the field. We were very fortunate to work closely with Gorongosa National Park on this film, who already own a ton of beautiful wildlife/scenic imagery that they shared with us. This allowed us to focus our resources on Paola and her work, rather than having to make the huge time investment required to capture some of the spectacular wildlife footage scene in the piece.

For me, this shoot was especially challenging because I went into it with a bad case of the flu! I found the 3 flights to get there followed by a 5-hour car ride on rough roads pretty grueling, but I wasn’t about to let an illness stop me from going to Mozambique. Fortunately, I felt better within a couple of days of arriving and it was an amazing experience overall.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Nat Geo Inspires: Collecting Data to Save Gorongosa's Lions

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on the big cat species?
​

Africa’s lion population has decreased by 90% in the last 75 years – a pretty staggering, and dismal, statistic. But Gorongosa National Park is an amazing example of what can happen when a dedicated, passionate team applies solid research to a conservation challenge.

By collecting data on Gorongosa’s lion population, Paola’s team was able to figure out that snares are one of the biggest threats to lion recovery. And through a concerted on-the-ground effort to remove snares from the park, Gorongosa is seeing a tangible increase in lion numbers, helping to ensure at least one lion stronghold in Africa.

As important as it is to share the plight of endangered species, I believe it’s equally important to share these success stories, particularly when it comes to inspiring the next generation of conservationists.
0 Comments

Five Questions for Filmmakers: Big Cats - Episode 3

2/20/2018

6 Comments

 
We reached out to our festival filmmakers to ask them questions about the experience of making their films. The following questions were answered by Gavin Boyland, Director and Producer of Big Cats: Episode 3, A BBC Natural History Unit Production for BBC and PBS with THIRTEEN Productions LLC co-produced by France Télévisions​, a finalist in the Conservation, People and Big Cats, and Science in Behavior categories of the International Big Cats Film Festival. 
What inspired this story?

When we set out to make the definitive series on the entire cat family we were obviously conscious of the threats cats face across the planet. It was incredible important that we were honest with our audience on the endangered status of many cats. We also wanted to highlight the incredible dedication scientists and conservationists have and the cutting edge work they’re doing.

Were there any surprising or meaningful experiences you want to share?

I think what surprised us time and again was the sheer passion and determination people have for cats. So many people have dedicated their lives to making a difference and that resolve really inspired our audience too.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Big Cats - Episode 3
What impact do you hope this film will have?

The series was made for a very broad and popular audience, airing in the UK in p
rimetime on the BBC’s flagship entertainment channel. The hope primarily was to create awareness of the challenges cats face. But also to give people hope, hope that something cat be done by supporting the people battling to protect cats.

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film. 

The biggest challenge was actually deciding what stories to cover in the first place. There were many complex issues that we could have gone into in much more detail but I was always conscious in keeping the story relevant to our audience. To overview all of contemporary cat science and conservation in one hour was hard to say the least, I only hope we’ve done justice to the incredible endeavour going on right now.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Big Cats - Episode 3

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on big cats?


​When the NHU set out to make this series we wanted to show Big Cats in a new light. These are familiar animals but we want to reveal a different side, bring them out the shadows and emphasizing the lesser known species. The cats are an incredible animal family, charismatic, fascinating and beautiful.
6 Comments

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Astronomy
    Bajau
    Conservation
    Documentary
    Film Festival
    Filmmaking
    Fishing
    Grand Teton
    Indonesia
    Jackson Hole
    Jago
    National Park
    Nonprofit
    Observatory
    Ocean
    Oceanconservation
    Physics
    Planetarium
    Science
    Solar Eclipse
    Stargazing
    Tetons
    Tourism
    Wildlfie
    Wyoming

    RSS Feed

Subscribe to our e-newsletter
Support us with a donation
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

About Us

Board of Directors
​Shop
Get Involved
Our Team
Privacy Policy
Join our Mailing List
​News Room
​Donate
​
Code of Conduct

Summits

2022 Summit
2021 Summit

2020 Summit
2019 Summit
Become a Partner
Volunteer
​Archive

Awards

Media Awards
Special Jury Recognitions
2022 Media Awards
​2021 Media Awards
2020 Media Awards
2019 Media Awards
​Legacy Awards
​
On Tour
World Wildlife Day Film Showcase

Frontiers

Media Lab
​​African Conservation Voices
​Summit Fellowship

Contact Us

Jackson Wild
240 S. Glenwood, Suite 112
PO Box 3940
Jackson, WY 83001
307-200-3286

info@jacksonwild.org

SITEMAP

  • Home
  • About
    • Get Involved >
      • Donate
      • Become a Partner
      • Volunteer
      • Internships
    • Board of Directors
    • Advisory Council
    • Our Team
    • News Room
    • Shop
    • Contact Us
  • Summit
    • 2022 Summit >
      • Summit Photos
      • Program & Schedule
      • Transportation >
        • Airport Transportation
      • Speakers
      • 2022 Partners
      • About Burgenland
    • Summit Archive >
      • 2021 Summit >
        • 2021 Summit Sessions
        • Program & Schedule 2021
        • Speakers
        • 2021 Partners
      • 2020 Virtual Summit >
        • Speakers 2020
        • 2020 Partners
      • 2019 Summit >
        • 2019 Program & Schedule
        • 2019 Session Recordings
        • 2019 Programming
        • 2019 Exhibitors >
          • Exhibitor Workshops
          • XR Demos
        • 2019 Partners
      • 2017 Festival & Summit
      • 2015 Festival & Summit
      • 2013 Festival & Summit
  • Awards
    • Media Awards >
      • 2022 Media Awards
      • 2021 Media Awards
      • 2020 Media Awards
      • 2019 Media Awards >
        • 2019 Judges
      • Media Awards Archive
    • Special Jury Recognitions >
      • 2022 Special Jury
      • 2021 Special Jury
    • World Wildlife Day Film Showcase >
      • Conservation Heroes
      • Recovering Species
      • Forests
      • Biodiversity >
        • Biodiversity: Final Jury
      • Living Oceans >
        • Ocean Finalists & Winners
        • Living Oceans Final Jury
      • Big Cats
      • Elephants
    • Legacy Award
    • Rising Star Award
    • On Tour >
      • Films
      • Schedule
      • Host an Event
      • Tour FAQ
  • Frontiers
    • Media Lab >
      • 2022 Media Lab
      • 2021 Media Lab >
        • 2021 Media Lab Fellows
        • 2021 Media Lab: South Africa
        • 2021 Media Lab Mentors
      • 2020 Media Lab >
        • 2020 Media Lab Fellows
        • 2020 Media Lab Contributors
      • 2019 Media Lab >
        • 2019 Media Lab Fellows
    • Summit Fellowship >
      • 2022 Summit Fellows
      • 2021 Summit Fellows
      • 2020 Summit Fellows
      • 2019 Summit Fellows
    • Cinematography Lab
    • Partner Labs >
      • African Conservation Voices >
        • Kenya
        • Rwanda
      • 2020 Wild Women Media Lab: Africa
      • 2020 Summit Kenya Lab
  • Collective
    • Narration Writing Masterclass
    • Action Coalitions >
      • 2021 Action Coalitions
      • 2020 Action Coalitions
    • Gear Hub
    • Virtual Event Details
  • Blog