Five Questions for Filmmakers: What is Biodiversity?

We reached out to our Jackson Wild Media Awards filmmakers to ask them five questions about the experience of making their films.

2019 Finalist Trailer - What is Biodiversity? from Jackson Wild on Vimeo.

Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film.

Supervising Producer Jonnie Hughes: Our whole project (Our Planet) revolved around revealing that “biodiversity loss” is at least as big a threat to our future as climate change, yet it doesn’t get anything like the coverage.  This is partly because the word “biodiversity” is so poorly understood as a term.  It’s also partly because climate change has a black and white numerical target – “2 degrees Celsius warmer” – what’s our biodiversity target?  Rather than avoid using the term, we decided to take it on, and make this short film to explain and express the true value of biodiversity – “our planet’s vital statistic”.

How do you approach storytelling?

JH: In this discussion there is a very real need to relate what is out there – the wilds beyond – to the everyday lives of ordinary people.  Most people would just say that biodiversity is “nice to have”, but the truth is that it is fundamental to every aspect of the lives we lead, because biodiversity creates the very stability that our species relies upon to thrive.  We tried to make that connection for people by exploring some of the multitudinous ways in which the living world helps us to live the lives we take for granted.

Photo courtesy of What is Biodiversity?

Anything else you would like people to know?
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JH: The rate of biodiversity decline on Earth is absolutely terrifying.  I’m not that old (50) and in my life time wild populations of vertebrates have decreased by, on average, 60%.  At this rate, we will trigger a mass extinction within my next 50 years!  We have to bend this curve, and rewild the world, for all our sakes!  I can’t think of a more important message to spread.

Photo courtesy of What is Biodiversity?