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 Fellows
      • 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: Silent Forests

4/28/2020

0 Comments

 
We reached out to our World Wildlife Day Film Showcase filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.

2020 WWD Finalist Trailer: Silent Forests from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.


​What inspired this story?

Director and Producer Mariah Wilson: In 2015, I completed a short documentary about rhino poaching (KAZIRANGA) and decided I wanted to take on directing a feature about poaching. But I wanted to find an aspect of the global poaching crisis that wasn’t being told by other filmmakers.

I had seen a lot of good media coverage about the elephant poaching crisis in the eastern and southern regions of Africa – but that was mostly talking about savanna elephants. Those are the large and very iconic elephants that are in the open plains and grasslands across the continent. As I began to dig in further, I realized there was much less attention being paid to the plight of the forest elephants in Central Africa. Forest elephants are a very important sub-species; they help shape the forest ecosystem and are vital to its health and existence. But they seemed to be getting mostly ignored in news and documentary coverage at that time, and their population was - and still is - being hit really hard by poaching. We have lost approximately 60% of the African forest elephant population in the last ten years. Current estimates have their population at just 40,000 – down from over 200,000 at the turn of the century. These numbers are staggering. At the current rates of slaughter, they won’t be with us very much longer.

​I had already read about Sidonie Asseme, the female eco-guard in Cameroon, in a WWF newsletter. I realized she was working in the same area where these threatened forest elephants lived.  Then I began reading about other bold conservation efforts in the area, like LAGA’s Wildlife Law Enforcement model and Arthur Sniegon’s sniffer dog team. I realized I wanted to tell the story of what was happening in this overlooked and under-resourced region of Africa.
Picture
Photo by Zeb Smith

What impact do you hope this film will have?

MW: My hope is that this documentary will shed light on the severity of the situation in central Africa, and how damaging the ivory trade is for all species -- humans included. I want audiences to leave Silent Forests with a realistic look at what its like to be on the frontlines of conservation in this region day to day… including the dangers, the rewards, the frustrations – and how good efforts are riddled with challenges from dishonest and inept government entities.  

One unique thing about this film is that three of the four main characters are from either Cameroon or Congo. So this isn't just a story about figures from the international conservationist community going to save Africa's wildlife. This is about African activists, scientists, and eco-guards and who care deeply about what is happening in their own backyards. The very nature of their work can oftentimes put them at odds with their fellow countrymen, and the risks they assume to protect the animals of the Congo Basin are significant.  

A way in which I hope SILENT FORESTS will help to transform discourse around the subject of poaching is through telling the story of someone who used to be involved in the ivory trade. I think that the viewpoint of a person who has been on the poaching side will bring nuance to an issue that is normally seen as very black-and-white. Former poacher Jean Paul’s story will hopefully allow viewers to see that those at the bottom level of this criminal trade are not just terrible people who have a bloodlust for slaughtering elephants, but that they are driven to commit an extreme and awful act by grinding and endemic poverty. The regret expressed by Jean Paul represents an often-unheard perspective, and his anti-poaching “support” group highlights one unique solution to the problem of poaching – rehabilitating former poachers by offering them alternate forms of income, and getting them involved on the anti-poaching side with financial incentives.  
​

The eventual goal of this project is to invoke a sense of urgency about the plight of the forest elephant, and to show the root causes that keep poaching as problematic as it currently is in Africa  -- poverty and corruption. My desire is for SILENT FORESTS to educate the public about this overlooked elephant subspecies, and engage audiences to support groups dedicated to ending the forest elephant poaching epidemic before it’s too late.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Silent Forests, Pralesni elephant in river

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.


MW: It was incredibly hard to film the forest elephants at all! It may sound strange, since they are large animals, but the forest is so dense that they are able to hide very well amongst the trees. They are only really visible in the clearings, where they go to drink water. But our first two shoots were in Southeast Cameroon, where the forest elephant population has been exceptionally hard hit. In general, the estimates are that the entire population of forest elephants has dropped over 60% in the last decade - but in Southeast Cameroon it might be closer to 75% gone.

We saw signs of elephants on those first two shoots… their tracks, their dung… but we did not actually see a single forest elephant in Cameroon. The ones that were still there were increasingly wary about coming out into the clearings. It was really distressing – both from a conservation perspective, and a production perspective – I was starting to get nervous that we would never get footage of a forest elephant!


Finally, on our third shoot in Congo-Brazzaville, we went out with an elephant biologist who studies the elephants at particular clearings. There, we finally were able to capture footage of them (at nighttime with an infrared camera). It was worth the wait – I think the scenes we got are some of the most magical and powerful in the whole film.


But I would say that the difficulties we had filming the elephants in Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville speak to the effect that poaching has had on their population across Central Africa.

Picture
Photo courtesy of Silent Forests, Sidoni in the fog

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on biodiversity?

My second documentary film called VOLUNTEER, and was about my eco-volunteering experiences in Uganda and Fiji in 2009. It was through those eco-volunteer trips that I began to learn about the uptick in endangered species trafficking around the world. Motivated to do something, my focus in documentaries turned towards wildlife conservation, and our global poaching epidemic. In 2015 I formed House Tiger Productions to consolidate my work on projects that highlight anti-poaching activism -- particularly in areas that don’t receive as much news coverage.  I wanted to raise audience awareness about lesser-known vulnerable species – like northeast India’s one-horned rhino, featured in my short doc KAZIRANGA and Central Africa’s forest elephant, featured in SILENT FORESTS (2019) and EEYA.

​I want to continue fostering and supporting bold, unique storytelling via documentaries -- especially stories within the conservation, animal rescue, and wildlife realms. That area is a specialty niche I have carved out for myself over the last decade, and I feel more passionate about it today than ever before. We are witnessing wildfires wiping out millions of animals, oceans being emptied of marine life, endangered species falling victim to poaching and trafficking… I think species loss from human exploitation is one of the most pressing issues of our time. I want to contribute to moving this conversation forward before it’s too late. 
0 Comments

Earth Day 2020

4/21/2020

1 Comment

 
Written by Robin McGahey and Alicia Bynum, edited by Abbey Greene
April 22nd, 2020 marks the 50th Annual Earth Day. Now, more than ever, we look to our filmmakers, conservationists, advocates, and supporters for what to do next. As Toni Morrison said, “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” So, let us support the artists, the creatives, the communicators, and more and celebrate Earth Day together!

via GIPHY

We have compiled a list of events for you to attend (virtually, of course) and ways to get involved in Earth Day:
​
  • A free digital event, the Earth Optimism Summit is taking place from April 22-26, 2020. Watch the live broadcast for free right on their website, as well as on Facebook Live, Twitter, and YouTube. The digital event will be showcasing stories of both small and large-scale actions, framing the conversation and demonstrating that success is possible. Share your stories of success with #EarthOptimism and help them inspire millions of people around the world for greater impact!

    One part of their programming that you definitely don’t want to miss: Earth Optimism Film Night from 6:00pm - 11:59pm EST. Celebrate Earth Day by watching stunning films, including one-time-only live streams and world premieres, that illustrate successful individual and community conservation efforts worldwide. Curated by Jackson Wild, Earth Optimism Summit speakers, and the Smithsonian Conservation Commons.


  • Have a Jackson Wild movie marathon on us! A lot of our finalists and winners are free to stream online, or available through various streaming platforms. Just hit that play button!

  • Earth Day Live will be streaming from April 22 through April 24, showcasing activists, performers, thought leaders, and artists alike. Everyone will be coming together for an empowering, inspiring, and communal three day livestream mobilization. (Check out their list of participants, there’s a good chance you know at least a few names on the list!) Don’t forget to join the Earth Day Network while you’re at it!

  • Watch Jane Goodall: The Hope, streaming on National Geographic. Follow the inspirational activist and leader Jane Goodall through her travels spreading a message of hope. Jackson Wild is proud to have hosted the global premiere of this film in association with our World Wildlife Day celebration at UN Headquarters. If you missed the event, now you can watch the film for yourself!

  • Join Nat Geo's Explorers at Work. National Geographic's explorers in the field are working to save wildlife and wild places. Meet a few of them by watching their showcase of short videos. 

  • Dominique Gonçalves, an Elephant Ecologist, and David Quammen, an award-winning author, are going live on Facebook with NEWF for a conversation over coffee. They'll be chatting all about biodiversity, ecosystem disruption, and zoonosis.

  • WATCH! This Earth Day NEWF is sharing stories of hope told by Africa's next generation impacting conservation through film - "flooding the world with hope, optimism and action"! Visit their website and watch their Earth Day N.E.W Pitch Film Showcase, produced by the 2017 and 2018 N.E.W Pitch Winners. Films available for 24 hours only!

  • Join Conservation International for a full day of panels and discussions on their  Instagram Live! Their full schedule includes appearances from Dr. Sanjayan, Ashlan and Philippe Cousteau, and more!
    ​
  • Paul Nicklen and Dr. Sylvia Earle will be on at 11 am PST for a must-not-miss talk via his Instagram Live!
Picture
  • Lizzie Daly will be running another amazing Earth Live Lesson! On Earth Day, she’ll be starting off interviewing underwater filmmaker, Dan Abbott, about all things Great Whites. Afterwards, she’ll go on to talk to James Redcliffe & Lloyd Hopkins about tracking animal movements.

  • Full episodes of Our Planet and Chasing Coral are streaming for free on Youtube. (No Netflix subscription necessary!)

  • The International Wildlife Film Festival is going on until April 25th, so be sure to tune in. They’ve got a screening of some of our Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellows’ work, and some amazing films (that you might recognize from our own awards as well)!

  • Join the 22 Day Earth Day challenge, an initiative created by Earth Day Networks. You’ll find resources and materials on all things composting, plastic audits, green power, reducing carbon footprint, workouts, and more tools for at home action.

  • Not everything is movies! We’ve got some reading material for you too: check out Earth League International’s new graphic novels, depicting their work to fight wildlife crime. Earth League International (ELI), in its tradition of innovation and progressiveness, is launching a new and exciting project – graphic novels and comics designed to spark more awareness and understanding of the complex world of environmental and wildlife crime. Beginning on Earth Day, weekly issues of a longer continuous narrative about ELI’s work dealing with rhino horn trafficking will also be released.

  • For all of those with kids, National Geographic has created a fun way to make an at home safari with their Nat Geo @ home. Create a neighborhood safari for your little ones!

  • WildTrust’s Wild Oceans created at home Shark themed fun and games, including arts and crafts projects and cupcake decorating. 
    ​
  • Lastly, don’t forget: if you’re a young African filmmaker, submit your Documentary Short Pitch to NEWF for the 2020 N.E.W Documentary Short Pitch Competition!

All of these Earth Day events and activities have grown from the momentum that Earth Day has gathered over the years. Did you ever wonder how it got started?

In 1969, peace activist John McConnell proposed an idea that one whole day be dedicated towards honoring the Earth and World Peace. On April 22nd, 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin officiated America’s first official Earth Day celebration.
Picture
Photo Credit: Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
Picture
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Charles W. Harrity of Harvard.edu
Mr. McConnell founded The Earth Society Foundation as a result of lifelong efforts dedicated to “peace, justice and the care of Earth.” Mr. McConnel was the designer of the Earth Flag in preparation for the initiation ceremony of the first-ever Earth Day.

​
Twenty some odd years later- Mr. Denis Hayes, the original coordinator for the annual American event, took the concept for Earth Day internationally with events in 141 nations worldwide.


In a recent interview with Inside Climate News, Mr. Hayes states, “There is simply no substitute for a billion people in the streets- and right now, that is against the law.”
Picture
Manhattan's Fifth Avenue was closed to motor vehicle traffic for the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Bettmann—Getty Images via Time.com

50 Years Later...​

Modern-day environmental activists like Greata Thunberg are stepping up to address climate change issues that our world continues to face in 2020. Ms. Thunberg’s legacy all started with a single school strike and has since spread to several country’s school systems adopting her “Fridays for Futures.” Thunberg has spoken at climate rallies and attended many noteworthy eco-conferences like the United Nations COP24. In 2019, TIME magazine named her Person of the Year.
Picture
Photo Credit: Thunberg with Jane Goodall/ Photograph: Benedikt von Loebell/World Economic Forum

​It is easy to see with the naked eye that Ms. Thunberg’s actions have led to substantial influence in today’s society. However, this eco-rockstar also walks the talk. Great Thunberg lives a low-carbon life, refuses to fly by plane, and is a known vegan. She is an inspiration and proves that anyone can do their part from wherever they are, right now, right this very moment.

​
Peace Activists, Environmentalists, and Politicians united together 50 years ago to create this one day out of the year that brings nations together to celebrate the one and only planet that all call home. The message that stands out as clear now as it did then is this -

"(The) key is local participation."


The Year is 2020...

What a time to be alive. The novel coronavirus has struck our society, pulling us closer together and teaching us new ways to adapt together. As we practice social distancing as a nation, we feel in unison the tension that grows with the unknown. And with that tension, we see so many new ideas being cultivated and humane leaders emerging from our communities.

The struggles we face as a nation with coronavirus and our climate are parallel. The ways that many of our small businesses and individuals are adapting throughout this pandemic are native to some and unheard of to others.
Picture
Photo Credit: Jamie Dove

​This small business owner in Northeast Tennessee delivered his farm’s first batch of “no contact deliveries” on April 17th, 2020 to locals around the community. Jamie Dove stepped up as the first restaurant owner in the region to voluntarily close down due to COVID-19. With little time to adjust frugal needs with business costs, River Creek Farm is out delivering fresh garden veggies to the locals of the Northeast Tennessee regions. Per the farm’s standards, they sell “clean, responsibly grown, local produce as priority” eliminating the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical herbicides, chemical pesticides, and GMOs.

Present Day: April 22nd- 24th

Picture
“... As we work to flatten the curve of this pandemic, we must strive toward the longer term goal of building a society rooted in sustainability and justice.” - Earth Day Live

Earth Day Live and more are joining together with activist brands like Ben & Jerry’s (featured in our Oceans, Whales, & Ice Cream) to launch a livestream event available to millions of people. Celebrities, musicians, and citizens alike will join hands in pledging to save the world.

Happy 50th Earth Day, see you there!
1 Comment

Five Questions for Filmmakers: Rare - Creatures of the Photo Ark: Episode 1

4/15/2020

1 Comment

 
We reached out to our World Wildlife Day Film Showcase filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.

2020 WWD Finalist Trailer: Rare: Creatures of the Photo Ark: Episode 1 from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.


​What inspired this story?

Executive Producer John Bredar: Joel Sartore inspired this story. His spectacular work and tireless commitment to opening our eyes to the beauty and value of biodiversity, makes this irresistible. We’d follow him anywhere.

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

Executive Producer Laurie Donnelly: One of the many poignant moments included the filming of a rare Northern White Rhinoceros named Nabire -- one of only five of this subspecies remaining in the world -- Joel and the crew filmed her just a week before she died.


What impact do you hope this film will have?
​

Director Chun-Wei Yi: We want to show folks that the place we call home is also the home to LOTS of other creatures. And they’re beautiful. Joel Sartore’s photographs of them really get us to stop and fall in love with something we never knew even existed. 

Joel often says that 'you can’t save what you don’t love,’ so this is his way of getting animals in front of people, showing us what we stand to lose, and hopefully saving the planet and us, one photograph and one species at a time.

And personally, I’d be really happy if people came away with a new favorite animal. Mine was the world’s second smallest chameleon, the Madagascan dwarf chameleon (Brookesia minima).  Joel photographed it in his hand to give a sense of scale and even fully grown, it barely fit on Joel’s thumbnail.
Picture
A critically endangered Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) at Zealandia, in Wellington, New Zealand

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.

Director Chun-Wei Yi: Just keeping up with Joel was one of the biggest challenges! I mean, the guy came up with a 25-year long project to photograph 15,000 species. Joel’s on another level when it comes to big goals, so trying to stay one step ahead of him in order to film his process meant the crew and I got very little sleep during some intense shooting days while juggling time zones.

Besides Joel, keeping up with the other animals in our midst presented challenges. The great thing about his photographs is that all creatures — big and small — are the same size in a photograph. In real life, some are as big as a car (rhino), while others can easily fit on your fingertip (chameleon), so having a wide variety of camera equipment to capture each animal’s essence and beauty was crucial but a lot to manage.

​We also developed a high tolerance for poop and pee. Not Joel’s thankfully, but of the animals with whom we worked.  Now Joel uses a lightweight, nylon photography tent for smaller animals and we modified a bunch of them to give our cameras more access into the box.  These tents are white. Feces from most animals are not white. Now nature calls and calls often, so the novelty of wiping, un-smearing, and cleaning without cleaning supplies (for animal safety) quickly wears off and eats up precious time.  I’m a good hand washer.
Picture
Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on biodiversity?

 
Director Chun-Wei Yi: Biodiversity is not typical water cooler talk and it’s definitely not something that trends on social media.  Yet understanding and prioritizing biodiversity is critical as we spread into the remaining corners of our planet. The good thing is, people love animals and the Photo Ark is an amazing look at our planet’s biodiversity. Picture after picture shows us the variety and beauty of creatures out there, so you can really capture and hold people’s attention.
 
So while they're looking at a South China tiger, Decken’s sifaka, or the naked mole rat, we can eventually lead folks to a conversation about biodiversity. First, you share a little bit about this animal — where it is from, what it eats, and it's amazing adaptations — and pretty quickly, we’re talking about its role in their ecosystem and how its survival is tied to ours and all life on Earth.  
 
As more and more people live in denser cities and lead more digital lives, we get removed from and can forget about the wider world out there. Yet our dependence upon it doesn’t change, so Joel’s photographs and this film serves as a reminder of what’s out there and why we need to protect it.
Picture
Nabire, a Northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) was one of the last five northern white rhinos left on Earth. She died on Monday, July 27, 2015, just one week after this photo was taken at the Dvur Kralove Zoo.
1 Comment

Five Questions for Filmmakers: Grasslands - North America's Hidden Wilderness

4/12/2020

0 Comments

 
We reached out to our World Wildlife Day Film Showcase filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.

2020 WWD Finalist Trailer: Grasslands North America's Hidden Wilderness from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.


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

Director, Co-Producer and Writer Alex Burr: Perhaps the biggest take-away from the process of making this film was just how much people are intertwined with this place, for better or worse. Indigenous people harvested their food off the land while using fire to shape the landscape for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. These new settlers eventually converted much of this place to cropland, disrupting the natural systems beyond recognition. And now, anywhere where this is room for optimism for the future of the grasslands as a wild place, people are there. Whether it is ranching families adjusting their practices to make life better for sage grouse, biologists reintroducing extirpated swift foxes, or volunteer groups removing modifying barbed wire fences to allow pronghorn antelope safe passage, human intervention is of particular importance to the success of grassland conservation. People have been at the centre of this place’s ills, sure. But people will also be at the centre of fixing them. ​
Picture
© Terra Mater Factual Studios and River Road Films Ltd, Darren West

What impact do you hope this film will have?
​

AB: The North American grasslands are the most endangered, least protected ecosystem on the continent and yet, are often overlooked as a wild place worth saving. Most people think of the prairies as fly-over places - nothing but farmland and wheat-fields. But beyond the continent’s cropland, there is still enough wildness left in the prairies to inspire awe, and some optimism. Our hope is that by showcasing the efforts of people working to save the wild prairie, and highlighting some incredible and unexpected wildlife stories, we may in our own way, help to protect what’s left of this amazing place.
Picture
© Terra Mater Factual Studios and River Road Films Ltd, Jon Groves

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on biodiversity?
​

AB: I believe that the best way to appreciate something as a whole is by gaining an understanding of its individual components. The film aims to shine a light on the biodiversity that exists at every scale on the North American grasslands - from pollinator moths to grizzly bears and everything in between. It is an ecosystem that has been irrevocably altered, with huge losses in biodiversity. From the removal of bison to the loss of grizzly bears and wolves to ongoing declines in species across the board, this is a system where the importance of each component is urgent and in clear view (without any trees or mountains obscuring the view!).
0 Comments

Have a Movie Marathon On Us

4/6/2020

2 Comments

 
Lately, movie marathons are all we want to indulge in (besides another fridge raid of course). So, to aid in your movie search, we’ve put together our Jackson Wild social distancing binge watching list! It’s a combination of films from our 2019 Jackson Wild Media Awards and 2020 WWD Finalists and Winners. We hope you all enjoy and stay safe during this time!

(Please note: the research was done in the United States, so streaming services apply.)

Watch now for free (in alphabetical order):

2019 Jackson Wild Media Awards Finalists Highlight Reel from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.

​
  • Anointed, Mainspring Media, PREL
  • The Anomalies: Venom Race, Day's Edge Productions for bioGraphic
  • Ay Santa Ana, Pongo Media
  • The Birdman of Chorao, Shashank Bhosale
  • Blood Island, Lindsey Parietti in association with the University of the West of England
  • The Burrowers, Yasmine Ellis
  • Chungungo: A Mentor's Tale, Visionhawk Films, Aquaterrafilms, Nedo Producciones Ltda.
  • Cowboys & Scientists, Grizzly Creek Films, Archbold Biological Station
  • Cuba's Wild Revolution, A Crossing the Line Film for ORF Universum, PBS Nature, France Télévisions, BBC, SVT, RTÉ, ORF-Enterprise and WNET/Thirteen Productions LLC Sound Mixer: Paul Finan, Original Music: Badhands
  • From Asia to Antarctica, Eco-Business
  • Gajah Borneo, Shervin Hess, Oregon Zoo
  • Hunting the Helmeted Hornbill, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Geographic Magazine and Rangkong Indonesia
  • The Last Green Thread, Grizzly Creek Films, Danny Schmidt Films
  • Last Wild Places: Gorongosa, Nat Geo Society
  • March of the Newts, Freshwaters Illustrated
  • Mexico City and its Sacred Salamanders, Katie Garrett, bioGraphic
  • #NatureNow, A @tommustill Film for Gripping Films, Greta Thunberg and writer/climate activist George Monbiot with support from Conservation International, Nature4Climate, The Food and Land Use Coalition and Gower Street
  • Nigerians Fight to Protect the World's Most Trafficked Mammal, Coral and Oak Studios, National Geographic
  • Okavango - River of Dreams - Episode 3: Inferno, A Terra Mater Factual Studios / Wildlife Films production in co-production with Thirteen Productions LLC, Doclights/NDR Naturfilm in association with PBS, CPB, Arte France / Unité Découverte et Connaissance, National Geographic Channels and SVT
  • (Re)Connecting Wild - Restoring Safe Passage, NineCaribou Productions, LLC
  • Second Chances, Eilidh Munro
  • Second Genesis, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Market Road Films for PBS
  • Serengeti: Nature's Living Laboratory, Day's Edge Productions for Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • Sides of a Horn, Whirlow Park Pictures, Broad River Productions, YKMD Productions, The Televisionaries, Frame 48
  • Sounds of Survival, Katie Garrett, bioGraphic
  • Space's Deepest Secrets: Cassini's Grand Finale, BBC Worldwide and Science Channel
  • Tigerland, Produced for Discovery by RadicalMedia
  • Unraveling the Monarch Butterfly Migration Mystery | It's Okay to be Smart, PBS Digital Studios, Spotzen
  • Whales and SETI, A Rebel Media Productions film, made in partnership with Long Story Short Media, in association with The Templeton World Charity Foundation.
  • What is Biodiversity?, Silverback Films, Netflix, WWF UK
  • 1 Million Species Could Go Extinct... Here's Why, Spotzen, PBS Digital Studios

2020 World Wildlife Day Film Showcase: Biodiversity from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.


Others that can be rented or found through Streaming Services:


  • Nature: The Serengeti Rules, A Production of HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and Passion Planet in association with Sandbox Films, Thirteen Productions Llc and WNET
  • Watson, Local Hero, Participant Media, Terra Mater Factual Studios for Animal Planet
  • Gorillas of Gabon, Earth Touch, Smithsonian Networks
  • Fantastic Fungi, Moving Art
  • Biggest Little Farm, NEON and LD Entertainment present a FarmLore Films production in association with Diamond Docs and Impact Partners & Artemis Rising
  • Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey To Tomorrow, Discovery presents a Moxie Firecracker Films Production
  • Sea of Shadows, Terra Mater Factual Studios in association with Appian Way, Malaika Pictures, The Wild Lens Collective for National Geographic Documentary Films
  • Ghost Fleet, Vulcan Productions, Seahorse Productions
  • STROOP - journey into the rhino horn war, SDBFilms
  • Human Nature, Wonder Collaborative, News & Guts Films, Sandbox Films

CuriosityStream:

  • Living Universe: The Explorers, Essential Media Entertainment, ZED, CuriosityStream, ARTE France
  • The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World, Smith & Nasht, Real to Reel Productions In association with CuriosityStream, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, ZDF/ARTE, SVT Sweden
  • Attenborough´s Ant Mountain, A production of TERRA MATER FACTUAL STUDIOS in association with BBC and ABC Australia produced by AMMONITE LTD., Writers: Martin Dohrn, Joe Loncraine

AMC Networks:

  • Dynasties: Painted Wolves, BBC Studios Natural History Unit, BBC America, Tencent, France Télévisions, CCTV9

Disney +:

  • Kingdom of the White Wolf, Nat Geo Wild 
  • Free Solo, National Geographic Documentary Films Presents A Little Monster Films Production, an Itinerant Media Production and a Parkes+MacDonald/Image Nation Production
  • Disneynature Penguins, Disneynature / Silverback Films

Amazon Prime:

  • Sharkwater Extinction, Sharkwater Pictures
  • Silent Forests, House Tiger Productions
  • Artifishal, Liars & Thieves
  • Inventing Tomorrow, A Fishbowl Films Production in association with Motto Pictures, 19340 Productions, Shark Island Institute, HHMI | Tangled Bank Studios.

Netflix:

  • Our Planet, Silverback Films, Netflix, WWF UK

Apple TV+:

  • The Elephant Queen, An Apple Original and A Deeble, Stone and Oliff Production​
2 Comments

Five Questions for Filmmakers: Queen without Land

4/5/2020

1 Comment

 
We reached out to our World Wildlife Day Film Showcase filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.

2020 WWD Finalist Trailer: Queen Without Land from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.


​What inspired this story?

​Director, Producer, and Cameraman Asgeir Helgestad: The average temperature has increased +5.6 degrees C at the Arctic islands of Svalbard. For an ecosystem formed around the ice, this is nothing less than a crisis. You get reminded of it every day, and get sad. For me there is nothing more important than documenting and telling the world about what we lose every day.

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

AH: I think one of the most rewarding and surprising experiences with this work was to be able to film the vibrant and diverse life under the ice.  A green field of algae forms in the tempered zone under the ice, where tiny crustaceans transform protein and sugar into fat, which actually feeds the whole ecosystem. When filming this beautiful, hidden landscape, I realized that when the ice melts away, the whole ecosystem is also melting away. Ice is so much more than a platform for seals and polar bears to rest, give birth and hunt. Having said that, what has touched my heart the most was the wonderful character of this clever, caring, playful empathic polar bear mother, Frost, that I have known since 2013. It does not matter if polar bears can be dangerous for us. We are actually the dangerous ones!
Picture
Photo courtesy of Queen without Land

​What impact do you hope this film will have?

AH: I hope that it can help bring more attention and focus to the fact that we are not the only species on earth, and every day we lose something vulnerable on this planet due to climate change.

“A beautiful and sad film at the same time” is what people tell me. I think many of us feel the same way. And I hope our awareness can grow and motivate us to take the steps needed to save our home. I also hope that we can stop using this crisis as an excuse to exploit even more nature in the name of climate. Our planet cannot survive the insistence on this ideology of continuous economic growth. It’s time to be clever and make the right choices.

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.

The fact that I follow a polar bear for many years is of course a challenge in itself. I still follow this wonderful bear, and I wish I could have more time to be out there instead of sitting in an office using my time to raise money for my projects. Svalbard is a cold, rough and expensive place to work, but in the end this film depends on having time to observe. And I don’t push the limits to get the closeups of claws and jaws. This film is primarily about understanding this place and how to communicate in an engaging way what happens when the ice is melting under her paws.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Queen without Land

What drove you as a filmmaker to focus on biodiversity?

AH: Frustration. We destroy the Arctic with climate change. Then we use climate as an excuse to cut down the rainforest to produce “green” palm oil, while we pump up more fossil oil than ever. We lose the Arctic, the rainforest and the coral reefs… What is left then? And it seems like we don’t even want to change. Everyone who is in government talks about growth, while this planet actually needs the opposite. Right now I also work with another project on biodiversity, and I cross my fingers that I will be able to realize it. Making films about why we should not destroy this diverse and wonderful planet is the only meaningful thing I can do.
Picture
Photo courtesy of Queen without Land
1 Comment

Ten Things You Need to Know About Tiger King

4/3/2020

62 Comments

 
Written by: Sarika Khanwilkar, PhD researcher with Columbia University and The Fulbright Program, and Founder of Wild Tiger, a nonprofit committed to conserving India’s Bengal Tigers and their habitat. She was a Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow in 2019.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness is a new docu-series on Netflix. The outlandish characters, mainly Joseph Maldonoda-Passage (better known as Joe Exotic), Kevin ‘Doc’ Antle, and Carole Baskin (of Big Cat Rescue), make it a noteworthy conversation piece and have inspired meme-makers everywhere. I have been doing research on wild tigers in India and America’s captive tigers for years. Here are the ten most important things I want you to know about Tiger King. (Please note: Spoiler alert! Stop reading if you want to avoid spoilers and finish watching The Tiger King on Netflix.)
Picture
1. Tiger King missed an opportunity to make impactful media and misrepresented the work of a legitimate conservation organization. The filmmakers started the Tiger King project with the intention of making something like Blackfish, which ignited public outcry over the confinement of whales as entertainers in places like SeaWorld. The ‘Blackfish Effect’ led to decreased SeaWorld attendance and stock prices, and they subsequently stopped orca breeding and theatrical shows. 

Tiger King ended up being a sensationalized narrative that pitted narcissistic tiger breeders and owners against seemingly hypocritical animal rights advocates. The series failed to communicate the conservation issues related to the uncontrolled breeding and ownership of tigers in the United States (US). We rarely hear about wild tigers throughout any of the seven episodes. Tiger King also fails to get the perspectives from people in countries like India or Russia where wild tigers are found. Does anyone, anywhere, think Americans breeding and owning tigers helps save wild tigers? 

Although Tiger King has started a national conversation about captive tigers in the US, there is a moral obligation to share a more informed story on this subject. Tiger King’s portrayal of Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue leads viewers to question the legitimacy of her organization’s work. Tiger King has committed an injustice to efforts to stop illegitimate breeding and ownership of tigers in the US by misrepresenting Big Cat Rescue, and leaving out critical information about operations run by Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle and how wild tigers are impacted by America’s captive tiger trade. 

2. 
Tigers bred by Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle have no value to conservation and their commercial operations undermine efforts to conserve wild tigers. There are an estimated 5,000 -10,000 captive tigers in the US, which is more tigers than the estimated 3,200 that are left in the wild. In the US, tigers in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) are valuable to conservation because their breeding is well-managed. These tigers are bred to maximize genetic diversity and adhere to a Species Survival Plan, which carefully records the genetic history of individual tigers. These tigers are a last resort for conservation in case we lose our wild tigers and need to start a reintroduction program. Unfortunately, less than 300 of the tigers held in captivity in the US are found in AZA-accredited zoos. 

3. The majority of captive tigers in the US are owned by private households, and breeders like Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle, who provide a seemingly endless supply of cubs to these owners. Tigers bred in non-AZA accredited zoos are generic tigers, meaning they aren’t of any particular tiger subspecies. For example, a generic tiger might be a mix of a Bengal tiger (Tigris panthera panthera) and a Sumatran tiger (Tigris panthera sumatrae), which has no value to species conservation. Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle claim to help save wild tigers by breeding generic tigers. They make this misleading claim in an attempt to conceal the fact that they are running purely commercial operations. In misrepresenting that their work benefits wild tigers, Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle displace money away from legitimate tiger conservation efforts. ​

Picture

4. It is legal for Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle to commercially own and breed tigers. Inadequate policy has allowed tiger breeders and owners to exploit tigers for commercial and personal purposes. There is no federal law that prohibits the private ownership of tigers. Laws at state and local levels vary widely and there is no cohesive strategy towards managing the US captive tiger population. Currently, four states have no laws pertaining to breeding and owning tigers, and ten other states have permit procedures which somewhat regulate tiger breeding and ownership. 
​
Until 2016, a generic tiger, like those bred by Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle, could be sold between states without federal oversight. Although a permitting procedure is now in place for all tigers traded across state lines, fraudulent paperwork is widespread. It’s fairly easy to breed and sell tigers for profit in the US as ‘Doc’ Antle continues to do. 


The Big Cat Public Safety Act is a federal law that would ban tiger breeding, pet tiger ownership, and public cub handling. There is a high chance that the bill, which has bipartisan support, will be voted on by the US Congress this year. Passing the Big Cat Public Safety Act would address the crisis of tigers in America and you can help make it a law by telling your government representatives that it matters.
PicturePictured: Joe Exotic
5. Joe Exotic illegally trafficked and killed tigers. Even before Joe Exotic attempted to hire two people to kill Carole Baskin, he was under federal investigation for wildlife trafficking. Joe Exotic sold tiger cubs for cash all over the country and made these transactions appear as donations on falsified paperwork, which exempted the activity from certain oversight. In addition to illegal tiger trade, Joe Exotic shot and killed five tigers who had gotten too old to be useful as entertainment attractions. In 2020, Joe Exotic was sentenced to federal prison for 22 years for two murder-for-hire plots and 17 wildlife trafficking charges.  ​

​6. ‘Doc’ Antle continues to profit from deception and to breed tiger cubs. ‘Doc’ Antle has no interest in legitimate wildlife conservation efforts and, as Tiger King points out, he is a doctor in mystical science. Calling himself a doctor and claiming his tigers are valuable for tiger conservation deceives people who want to support organizations that genuinely work to  conserve tigers in the wild. ‘Doc’ Antle has a long history of animal welfare violations.
PicturePictured: Carole Baskin
7. Big Cat Rescue and Carole Baskin do positive work that helps conserve tigers in the wild. Big Cat Rescue is a non-exploitative sanctuary (all legitimate sanctuaries are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries) which was formed as a band-aid for America’s captive tiger crisis. Their mission is to go out of business. Big Cat Rescue does not breed tigers. Instead, the tigers at Big Cat Rescue were transferred to the facility from private owners who can no longer take care of their pets. These pet tigers were likely purchased as cubs. When they are fully grown it can cost in excess of $10,000 per year to feed and care for them. Big Cat Rescue and Carole Baskin are leaders in supporting legislation that would end the unnecessary breeding and ownership of tigers in the US.

8. We don’t know where privately-owned tigers in the US go when they become unwanted or die. Not all unwanted pet tigers are lucky enough to snag a spot at a sanctuary like Big Cat Rescue. For commercial exhibitors like Joe Exotic and ‘Doc’ Antle, a tiger cub is only profitable between the ages of 8 and 12 weeks, when cubs are permitted to interact with the public. After 12 weeks, they become an expense. This is one of the reasons Joe Exotic shot five of his tigers. Tigers that are no longer wanted by breeders or owners are illegally killed, and many US states lack laws specific to the disposal of dead tigers. We have no knowledge of what happens to disposed tigers. 

​
Tiger skin and bones are valued at $20,000 and $7,000 on the illegal wildlife market, respectively. Seizures of illegally traded tigers and tiger parts around the world have increased since 2002 and America’s endless supply of legal captive tigers could potentially supply parts to this burgeoning illegal market. For example, in 2018, Arongkron Malasukum was sentenced to prison for selling and sending tiger skulls purchased in the US to Thailand. From 2015 to 2016, he exported 68 packages of tiger and lion skulls, claws, and other parts (valued over $150,000) from the US. Overall, law enforcement data to catch the leakage of legal tigers into the illegal trade is limited. The uncertainty surrounding this leakage requires us to take a precautionary approach to tiger breeding and ownership in the US. 

Picture
9. Tigers are held in captivity and farmed around the world to the detriment of wild tigers. Intensive tiger breeding operations, known as tiger farms, began in China in the 1990’s. Currently, China, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam operate tiger farms, even though there is substantial scientific evidence that this poses a risk to wild tiger populations. These tiger farms have supplied the illegal demand for tiger parts. The argument for meeting the demand for tiger parts with captive tigers is that this captive supply displaces poaching pressure from wild tigers. However, consumers of tiger derivatives, like tiger bone wine and medicinal products, prefer parts sourced from wild tigers and are willing to pay a premium price for wild-sourced products. Therefore, farming tigers undermines all efforts to conserve wild tigers by stimulating demand and poaching. 

America’s political negotiations that attempt to persuade other countries to regulate their tiger farms in order to reduce illegal tiger trafficking are hampered by America’s own captive tiger problem. America has the opportunity to be a global leader in phasing out captive tigers which have no benefit to wild tiger conservation, but has not done so.


10. Wild tigers have an uncertain future.
Tigers have undergone massive population declines and currently occupy only 7% of their former range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that the global tiger population is 3,159, and this population is concentrated in India. Globally, the population trend of tigers is debated. Causes of the tiger’s historical and persistent decline – which include habitat loss and fragmentation, overhunting of prey, and poaching – continues today. Addressing threats to the tiger’s survival involves reducing the demand for tiger parts to ease poaching pressure, securing habitat, mitigating human-wildlife conflict, and engaging with and empowering communities who live side by side with wild tigers. 

Picture
Bonus: You can do things today to stop illegitimate tiger breeding and ownership in America. First, contact your politicians and tell them you support the Big Cat Public Safety Act. Second, if you want to see a captive tiger in the US, only visit zoos or sanctuaries accredited by the AZA or Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. Third, spread the word and tell your friends not to visit places where cub petting is allowed in the US or abroad. Leave a comment on your friend’s Instagram picture with the drugged tiger or cub to inform them about this issue. We can all do our part to end the tiger crisis in America and improve the future for wild tigers.

62 Comments

    Archives

    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 Fellows
      • 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