Do you have a project you want to discuss? Call us on 0117 924 3433
On Monday 20th June WWF is launching an exciting short film competition called Life. Nature. You. Make the Connection to promote their 50th anniversary and to engage creative, talented filmmakers to help them reach new audiences. The competition is being hosted on Vimeo and will be live at http://panda.org/videocomp from 20th June.
| PRESS RELEASE | Embargoed to 00.01 CET 20th June 2011 |
FILMMAKERS URGED TO CONNECT WITH NATURE
Gland, Switzerland: 20th June 2011 – Creative filmmakers are being urged to use their talent to help WWF celebrate its 50th anniversary by making the connection with nature.
A new short film competition – Life. Nature. You. Make the Connection – launches today [20.06.11] with WWF offering commissions to the best directors and the chance to pick up their award at one of Asia’s top film festivals.
“Film and video are increasingly important to reach mass audiences and inspire people to love nature,” said Martin Atkin, WWF International’s Media Director. “We want the cream of the filmmaking world to help us celebrate 50 years of conservation by producing engaging, innovative and creative short films which make the connection between people and the natural world.”
The competition – which runs until October – is aimed at both emerging talent and established names. “Anyone can enter and the rules are very simple. Films must be completely original, can be up to two minutes long and use any medium – live action, animation, fiction or documentary. It’s a great opportunity for filmmakers to use their imagination and skill to get people back in touch with the environment,” said Atkin.
Two prizes are on offer – one decided by WWF and the other chosen by popular vote. Each winner will be commissioned by WWF to make a short film with a minimum budget of 10,000 USD. In addition, the two winners will be invited to the prestigious CMS Vatavaran film festival in New Delhi, India, in December to receive their awards and present their films. A selection of the best films will also be showcased at the festival.
Life. Nature. You. Make the Connection is being hosted on Vimeo and is run in association with CMS Vatavaran. For more details on how to enter see http://panda.org/videocomp.
ENDS
For further information:
Martin Atkin, Media Director, WWF International. matkin@wwf.panda.org +41 796982985
About WWF
WWF was founded in 1961 by a group of concerned naturalists and conservationists. Since then WWF has grown into one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations, with more than 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries.
WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
www.panda.org/videocomp
When Kevin set off to Serbia to work on a series of environmental reports, we told him to be sure to find a story for our web site. The next thing we know, he’s all over the telly and on the front page of the Guardian too.
Kevin was working with a Serbian colleague, Srdjan Papic, on a story about genetically-modified crops when word came through that Ratko Mladic – a Serbian general accused of the murder of thousands in the war with Bosnia – had been arrested in a village nearby.
Kevin, Srdjan and Srdjan’s wife Maria hotfooted it to the village, Lazarevo, where they found villagers demonstrating in support of General Mladic. Before long, Kevin – who is a former BBC reporter – found himself broadcasting live from his mobile phone on the BBC News Channel.
This didn’t go down too well with many of the locals, who urged Kevin to go home and leave them alone. They hung a giant flag across the street to prevent reporters from seeing the house where General Mladic had hidden away.
As Kevin took photos of a protest march – which was led by a priest swigging from a can of beer – a policeman grabbed his camera and started to delete photos he didn’t like. The situation was disarmed by the off-duty chief of police, and Kevin continued to take pictures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgbbristol/sets/72157626813832796/) and video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2gwyHAEiTY).
When the Guardian learnt that Kevin was the first and only international journalist on the scene, they asked him to write his impressions from the scene. The story was published immediately on the Guardian’s web site (http://gu.com/p/2pcg2 ) and the next day in the paper.
Kevin was also interviewed by BBC Radio Cumbria, the station where he began his broadcasting career 22 years ago.
So how did he feel about being back on the news beat again?
“I felt a bit rusty,” he told us. But no one could have prepared for this story – not even Gen. Mladic himself! I just slipped into auto-pilot. But it was very exciting to be at the heart of an international story – and to be live on a world news channel and on the front page of a national paper was an added bonus!”
The next day, Kevin was back on schedule, this time reporting on the European roller, a brilliant blue bird that is being rescued from extinction in the plains either side of the River Danube.
And what about the run-in with the policeman?
“Tensions subsided pretty quickly. I was soon being asked about my favourite football team. Funnily enough, Srdjan and I were in a neighbouring town the next day when the difficult policeman passed us in the street. ‘Hello, lads,’ he said.”
Green Talk
Thinking green is part of our day-to-day business at Back To The Planet and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve been chosen to provide live film and online event support to Green Talk.
Green Talk is part of Bristol’s Good Living Week which is aiming to raise Bristol’s aspirations as a European Green Capital. It will take place at the Arnolfini, here in good ole Bristol on Tuesday 14th June 2011, 1830h-2045h.
Green Talk will be stuffed full of some of the most influential speakers to air our feelings and latest thoughts on climate, environment, energy security and impacts on society on our doorsteps and further a field.
Tickets will sell out quickly so make sure you get hold of yours at
http://www.climate-works.co.uk/projects-clients/green-talk/
Our team are really pleased to have been chosen to take part in this call to action for a greener Bristol and look forward to seeing you there!
At lunchtime today Second Step had a launch party for their Moving Ahead project which included a DVD produced by Back To The Planet productions. The project was created to inspire temporary supported housing providers and service users in Bristol and to promote hope and belief in moving onto greater independence.
This was the first showing of the DVD and I’m happy to say that it went down very well. We even got a WOW from the audience at the end of the film!
Back To The Planet is producing a short promotional film for the Herefordshire Nature Trust with Sir David Attenborough kindly agreeing to speak about the benefits of The Wildlife Trusts. The film is part of a series working with the Media Trust that is due to be broadcast on the Community Channel, presented by Sir Trevor MacDonald.
After watching Sir David laugh out loud while watching our film about ‘Wild play’, featuring children from Herefordshire, we filmed a short interview. Sir David Attenborough was as you’d imagine, completely charming, professional and a pleasure to have worked with. We are all feeling very honoured!
We’d also like to thank Big Bang Post Productions for hosting us and for being so friendly and accommodating on the day. With our deadline fast approaching we hope to have the film finished by the end of January leaving an additional interview with Kate Humble to filmed in early February.
So far the crew have filmed 150 million year old Dinosaur Footprints, Giant Crystal Caves and at the Badghyz Nature Reserve!