WEBVTT
00:10.325 --> 00:16.315
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey folks, welcome to Florida Uncut, the podcast that's all about the people who are connecting and protecting a wild Florida.
00:16.496 --> 00:18.439
[SPEAKER_01]: Today we're talking with KT Brighton.
00:18.599 --> 00:34.206
[SPEAKER_01]: KT is the executive producer and film director, had wild path, and wild path is the organization founded by the Florida Wildlife Coordor Foundation's founder, Carlton Ward Jr., and KT has made a number of films there, including the Little Brown Bird,
00:34.186 --> 00:36.430
[SPEAKER_01]: floor to bear tracks and deer Tampa Bay.
00:36.571 --> 00:38.334
[SPEAKER_01]: There's links in the show notes for all of those.
00:38.795 --> 00:50.638
[SPEAKER_01]: Back in September, when we premiered our new documentary here at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, we did kind of this triple feature with the little brown bird and the book of George by George McKinsey.
00:50.918 --> 00:53.443
[SPEAKER_01]: You may remember we had on the show a while pack.
00:53.423 --> 00:59.393
[SPEAKER_01]: So Wild Path's big mission is telling stories through science about wildlife.
00:59.693 --> 01:14.959
[SPEAKER_01]: So their best known story is what path of the Panther, which came out a couple years ago, went in any and was just a huge deal for the momentum around the Florida Wildlife corridor and the level of high-quality storytelling that can be told from Florida Stories.
01:14.939 --> 01:17.904
[SPEAKER_01]: So in this episode, we dive deep into KT's background.
01:18.124 --> 01:21.629
[SPEAKER_01]: How she got to floor to how she got into this, ways to get involved.
01:21.890 --> 01:25.255
[SPEAKER_01]: I've interviewed her before briefly at the premiere of the film.
01:25.295 --> 01:31.284
[SPEAKER_01]: And she's not one that was going to totally share her story constantly, like someone like me who can't just stop talking.
01:31.404 --> 01:33.267
[SPEAKER_01]: So this was a really cool opportunity.
01:33.287 --> 01:40.558
[SPEAKER_01]: There was so much I learned about KT and about the way she tells stories and how she crafts them over many, many years.
01:40.538 --> 01:45.964
[SPEAKER_01]: just such a cool process to me that I have just no one patience for or ability to do.
01:46.204 --> 01:49.348
[SPEAKER_01]: So this was a really insightful, really inspiring conversation.
01:49.368 --> 01:56.215
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're someone young out there who wants to learn more about how to do this work, KT offers some great resources and advice.
01:56.556 --> 02:03.523
[SPEAKER_01]: In the last thing I'll say, go check out the films that KT has directed in the show notes on Wild Path's website.
02:03.623 --> 02:05.145
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a brand new website.
02:05.125 --> 02:31.977
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of cool information on there, but that's brand new and that's launched and something else that's new as of this week is a really cool new collaboration between Wild Path and National Geographic Society called Connected Planet, which uses storytelling to inspire the protection of wildlife corridors all across the globe and they're going to be slowly piecing together, showing the connectedness between the entire planet, the land and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea
02:31.957 --> 02:37.329
[SPEAKER_01]: That story of a connect and entirely connected planet starts right here in Florida, which is so cool.
02:37.569 --> 02:41.418
[SPEAKER_01]: No where else on Earth is pursuing a conservation vision.
02:41.638 --> 02:48.193
[SPEAKER_01]: Quite as robustly, quite as audaciously and making so much progress as we are here in Florida.
02:48.173 --> 02:57.878
[SPEAKER_01]: due to so many people that listen to the show, it's so many partners and really the whole conservation community here in the state is becoming a template for, honestly, everywhere else in the world.
02:57.958 --> 02:58.519
[SPEAKER_01]: It's pretty cool.
02:58.680 --> 03:00.865
[SPEAKER_01]: Storytelling is one of the big pillars of that.
03:01.126 --> 03:05.136
[SPEAKER_01]: Science, the storytelling, then comes the implementation.
03:05.116 --> 03:08.781
[SPEAKER_01]: And also this episode was edited by Zach Franco.
03:09.142 --> 03:12.988
[SPEAKER_01]: This is the second one he's done and curious to hear how he did.
03:13.048 --> 03:18.356
[SPEAKER_01]: So reach out to me and let him know you're gonna be hearing more from Zach soon and more details to come.
03:18.376 --> 03:21.100
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll probably do a show update here soon to talk about that.
03:21.220 --> 03:23.263
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, thank you so much Zach for editing.
03:23.564 --> 03:24.425
[SPEAKER_01]: Getting better and better.
03:24.645 --> 03:27.630
[SPEAKER_01]: But if there's any edit issues going on, just blame it on him.
03:27.770 --> 03:28.491
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I'm gonna do.
03:28.471 --> 03:34.099
[SPEAKER_01]: And also this episode was recorded at the headquarters of the Florida Wildlife Court or Foundation in St. Petersburg, Florida.
03:34.259 --> 03:37.865
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're ever in the area, our office is an art gallery, so you can always stop by.
03:38.105 --> 03:39.928
[SPEAKER_01]: Exhibits come and go every couple months.
03:39.948 --> 03:43.413
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a really cool space, beautiful space, and that's where we recorded.
03:43.513 --> 03:46.036
[SPEAKER_01]: So, not really built for podcasts, but a great place to meet.
03:46.257 --> 03:47.138
[SPEAKER_01]: Alright, let's dive in.
03:54.880 --> 03:57.585
[SPEAKER_01]: KT Bride and welcome to Florida Uncut, how you doing?
03:57.906 --> 03:59.569
[SPEAKER_00]: Good, thank you for having me.
03:59.749 --> 04:02.975
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's a cool, we're both wearing our jackets.
04:03.015 --> 04:06.342
[SPEAKER_01]: You might hear a little ruffling, those in Listenerland.
04:06.382 --> 04:11.271
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you like these like cool Florida mornings, sunny days?
04:12.092 --> 04:12.754
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't get many.
04:13.315 --> 04:14.577
[SPEAKER_01]: How's your feelings with those?
04:14.742 --> 04:15.743
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I love it.
04:16.304 --> 04:19.308
[SPEAKER_00]: I love being outside and I feel like it's perfect.
04:19.328 --> 04:22.913
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I have been in Florida like five years now.
04:23.114 --> 04:26.659
[SPEAKER_00]: So I am a little bit used to the warm weather.
04:26.779 --> 04:29.162
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm like, I need my jackets.
04:30.304 --> 04:30.764
[SPEAKER_00]: That's nice.
04:31.866 --> 04:36.132
[SPEAKER_01]: They are musty when you pull them out once a year.
04:36.452 --> 04:38.255
[SPEAKER_01]: So basically for a couple of weeks.
04:38.855 --> 04:39.637
[SPEAKER_01]: Where were you before?
04:40.478 --> 04:43.602
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I was born in New Jersey.
04:44.375 --> 04:49.589
[SPEAKER_00]: and then lived in DC for about nine years before moving to Florida.
04:49.629 --> 04:50.972
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
04:51.574 --> 04:56.848
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell me a little bit about, you know, you've filmed so many things around the world.
04:57.622 --> 05:03.868
[SPEAKER_01]: all sorts of different stories and I've got a list of like your works here and all the things you've done which is just like a mile long.
05:04.088 --> 05:07.331
[SPEAKER_01]: It's multiple pages of notes.
05:07.352 --> 05:13.698
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you go all the way back to like the early seeds of conservation storytelling in your life?
05:13.758 --> 05:23.207
[SPEAKER_01]: Like some of those early inspirations, personal or you know even people that we're doing this, where did it start for you
05:23.609 --> 05:25.372
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I'll take you on a journey.
05:25.592 --> 05:26.554
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, sweet.
05:26.574 --> 05:27.896
[SPEAKER_01]: Sweet, yeah, take your time.
05:27.956 --> 05:30.720
[SPEAKER_01]: Do we got people are very forgiving and audio-land.
05:30.780 --> 05:34.106
[SPEAKER_01]: They're listening while they're driving, while they're doing the dishes.
05:34.246 --> 05:37.952
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not like film where it's tight.
05:37.972 --> 05:39.594
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, that'd be perfect.
05:39.835 --> 05:40.636
[SPEAKER_01]: People love a story.
05:40.917 --> 05:41.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, great.
05:41.878 --> 05:44.803
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, like I said, I was born in New Jersey.
05:45.203 --> 05:49.971
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people think of New Jersey, you know, most densely populated state, but where I grew up,
05:50.609 --> 06:02.842
[SPEAKER_00]: You had to wait for the cast across the street for the ducks, across the street, three farms and walking distance right next to the rarity river, which is the largest watershed in New Jersey, longest river in New Jersey.
06:03.803 --> 06:19.300
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had an actual environment wildlife around me, always just this innate connection to nature and wildlife, any book report I had, I always wanted it to be.
06:19.583 --> 06:27.001
[SPEAKER_00]: on an animal, I remember making a diorama, clay, diorama of a platypus, doing a book or a port on a harbor seal.
06:27.021 --> 06:32.715
[SPEAKER_00]: I recently found a piece of artwork I made in third grade that said.
06:34.282 --> 06:38.610
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a dream that pollution will stop in the ocean for animals.
06:39.752 --> 06:42.617
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think it just kind of was always in me.
06:42.637 --> 06:47.365
[SPEAKER_00]: I, you know, didn't have parents in the environmental field.
06:47.385 --> 06:49.288
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to ask where they introducing you to these things?
06:49.509 --> 06:53.576
[SPEAKER_00]: No, but I think I just had this curiosity and they let me go with it.
06:53.616 --> 06:58.264
[SPEAKER_00]: I have two older sisters and I remember on like family vacations.
06:58.244 --> 07:02.130
[SPEAKER_00]: I would always be the one, like, hiking up front.
07:02.230 --> 07:05.595
[SPEAKER_00]: They would be in the back and be like, ah, can we go on the bugs?
07:05.835 --> 07:07.918
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be like, can we go horseback riding?
07:07.978 --> 07:09.721
[SPEAKER_00]: And my sister would be like, it's too smelly.
07:09.761 --> 07:12.785
[SPEAKER_01]: And is that, is that held true?
07:13.627 --> 07:14.308
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
07:14.368 --> 07:15.469
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
07:15.489 --> 07:18.233
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're still like that, is that wild child?
07:18.333 --> 07:18.714
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
07:18.754 --> 07:20.997
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just, yeah, always loved animals.
07:21.077 --> 07:24.082
[SPEAKER_00]: And had this connection to nature.
07:24.122 --> 07:27.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And then kind of fast forward too.
07:27.607 --> 07:32.553
[SPEAKER_00]: high school, trying to make a decision of, what am I going to do?
07:32.593 --> 07:43.067
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought career-rock career-wise environmental science, that made sense to me, like maybe I could pursue some sort of career being outside.
07:43.147 --> 07:51.818
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know what, and my school was so small, it didn't offer an environmental science course, so I had to enroll in the community college.
07:52.079 --> 07:54.542
[SPEAKER_00]: So at 17, I would leave high school early,
07:54.522 --> 07:58.269
[SPEAKER_00]: drive over to the community college and then take a college course.
07:58.589 --> 08:00.292
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, all this in New Jersey.
08:00.533 --> 08:01.735
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, this is New Jersey.
08:01.795 --> 08:08.507
[SPEAKER_01]: And what were you, I mean, how much was it just blowing your mind like what you were learning about your home state?
08:08.527 --> 08:14.758
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I think New Jersey is such an under appreciated place for its natural beauty.
08:15.076 --> 08:24.106
[SPEAKER_01]: a couple years ago, I went hiking all over the country for this project and my favorite place in the whole country, and it was like the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains.
08:24.126 --> 08:25.607
[SPEAKER_01]: It was New Jersey, a hiking New Jersey.
08:26.488 --> 08:36.800
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't even know what town, but it was gorgeous, and no one was out there, and it totally changed the way I looked at that state, and it sounds like that was the New Jersey you knew.
08:36.860 --> 08:40.864
[SPEAKER_01]: But you're probably learning so much of this community college course.
08:41.131 --> 09:09.417
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, no, it really, really opened my eyes because as I said, I grew up, you know, right next to the Rarity River and then I learned in this college course that the Rarity River is the 14th most polluted river in the nation that has over a like 200 year legacy of industrial pollution that New Jersey is known for having the most super fun sites, toxic waste sites in the entire nation and I was just like, what?
09:09.397 --> 09:11.579
[SPEAKER_00]: How did I not know this?
09:12.120 --> 09:13.221
[SPEAKER_00]: Like this is in my backyard.
09:13.241 --> 09:14.462
[SPEAKER_00]: I was so mad.
09:14.542 --> 09:16.784
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, why didn't they teach this in school?
09:16.804 --> 09:28.015
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I remember being taught in school that George Washington wrote down the road in front of my school during the Revolutionary War and Yadayada, and I'm like, well, who cares?
09:28.055 --> 09:32.620
[SPEAKER_00]: I should know about my plant and animal neighbors.
09:32.940 --> 09:34.081
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, today.
09:34.101 --> 09:34.922
[SPEAKER_01]: Today.
09:34.962 --> 09:38.205
[SPEAKER_01]: And the ones suffering today, wow.
09:38.489 --> 09:49.393
[SPEAKER_01]: then what's kind of learnings one thing and then action usually precedes that or follows that what what did you start doing then?
09:49.711 --> 09:56.563
[SPEAKER_00]: So the environmental science course, a big part of the curriculum was watching environmental documentaries.
09:57.424 --> 10:09.065
[SPEAKER_00]: So one that really stood out to me was who killed the electric car, blue vinyl, and they were all about environmental injustice in communities and how people were affected.
10:09.305 --> 10:14.875
[SPEAKER_00]: But watching those documentaries just like really lit fire in my belly of like,
10:15.631 --> 10:16.753
[SPEAKER_00]: How could this be happening?
10:16.833 --> 10:17.874
[SPEAKER_00]: I was so naive.
10:17.894 --> 10:24.744
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought the government will look out for the health of people and longterm interests over short-term profitability of corporations.
10:25.745 --> 10:33.456
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just couldn't believe that this was the case that the environment was being destroyed and people were getting sick.
10:33.536 --> 10:36.580
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's when I realized this is what I want to do.
10:36.600 --> 10:39.544
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to tell stories, I want to raise awareness.
10:40.285 --> 10:43.950
[SPEAKER_00]: I think facts don't always change people's minds, but stories can.
10:44.538 --> 10:47.765
[SPEAKER_01]: and you were seeing that personally through this storytelling.
10:48.788 --> 10:52.877
[SPEAKER_01]: So how do you begin taking those steps into that world?
10:53.058 --> 10:54.962
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, you know, there's a lot to learn.
10:55.022 --> 11:00.214
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's really cool that you said, wow, this is changing my mind, opening my eyes.
11:00.254 --> 11:01.116
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to do the same.
11:01.758 --> 11:02.800
[SPEAKER_01]: So then what?
11:02.813 --> 11:09.541
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so I went to American University, studied Film Media Arts and Environmental Science.
11:09.561 --> 11:12.165
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a center for environmental filmmaking program.
11:12.845 --> 11:18.533
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was enrolled in that and then had many internships, all during my school years.
11:19.033 --> 11:28.585
[SPEAKER_00]: I interned at the Wilderness Society at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Sanctuary's team.
11:28.565 --> 11:45.325
[SPEAKER_00]: I worked on a Smithsonian channel show, worked for Washington Post Photographer, was a video engineer on an exploration vessel called the EV Nautilus, and was on that for five weeks operating cameras on ROVs in the deep sea.
11:46.047 --> 12:00.900
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had a variety of experiences from government to nonprofit to live broadcast, and I just showed me all the different ways you can communicate and target your messages to audiences.
12:01.690 --> 12:23.403
[SPEAKER_01]: That's such an, that's a wide range of experiences early on where you also let me ask this, what were the people around you thinking like family and friends as you pursued this path where they, you know, hey, this is just, this is what KT does, you know, this is the way she goes on her own path or was it, you know, where it was her support and sounds like your parents from pretty supportive early on.
12:24.085 --> 12:25.707
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think there's always been
12:25.855 --> 12:38.418
[SPEAKER_00]: support all of us, my sisters, and I are very creative, so my parents have always supported that we're creative people, and these are our passions.
12:38.518 --> 12:48.657
[SPEAKER_00]: I opened their eyes to a lot of things that they didn't know, so I think they've always been really interested to learn from me and learn about the environment.
12:48.637 --> 12:49.378
[SPEAKER_01]: That's so cool.
12:49.618 --> 12:57.987
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, with the wide range of those experiences early on, were you feeling pulled into any certain direction or media type or like issue?
12:58.027 --> 13:00.390
[SPEAKER_01]: Frankly, because that's the one thing.
13:00.430 --> 13:02.172
[SPEAKER_01]: Even focused on a state.
13:03.113 --> 13:04.694
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to like almost choose your battles.
13:05.055 --> 13:11.562
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, because it's all urgent, you can burn yourself out or just kind of grow, desensitized to it.
13:11.962 --> 13:17.428
[SPEAKER_01]: How did you approach kind of the vastness of what you could pursue?
13:17.594 --> 13:33.932
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know during that time at school I really was kind of just focused on learning as much as I can developing as many skills as I could learning motion graphics and cinematography and marketing and so it was really
13:33.912 --> 13:35.857
[SPEAKER_00]: just learn everything.
13:35.897 --> 13:40.247
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I felt like I refined a little bit more of stories.
13:40.307 --> 13:42.553
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to focus on with my first job.
13:42.713 --> 13:49.710
[SPEAKER_00]: I worked at Conservation International, worked my way up from like coordinator to senior video producer, and
13:50.028 --> 13:53.551
[SPEAKER_00]: I picked my own stories, developed a series called Women on a Mission.
13:53.571 --> 13:57.655
[SPEAKER_00]: I got it right here.
13:57.695 --> 14:08.866
[SPEAKER_00]: With my travels for conservation international and working with communities, indigenous peoples and the conservation projects that they were initiating.
14:08.966 --> 14:14.191
[SPEAKER_00]: It just became so clear to me that women were the stewards of the natural world.
14:14.272 --> 14:19.917
[SPEAKER_00]: They were the one staying home, taking care of the kids, going to fetch water, going to
14:20.740 --> 14:26.552
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, grow plants, a grow food, while the men were off trying to find work.
14:26.692 --> 14:35.230
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they were seeing these daily changes to the environment, but their voices weren't being recognized in community meetings, only men were allowed.
14:35.771 --> 14:36.994
[SPEAKER_00]: And so...
14:37.683 --> 14:57.852
[SPEAKER_00]: I think if the core of all this is worldwide worldwide, I think at the core of all of this is like injustice really bothers me Yeah, I'm so Yeah, I was just like we I'm why I really want to create a video series that elevates women's voices in conservation helps put them on a higher
14:57.832 --> 15:05.307
[SPEAKER_00]: Petal Stulf, you know, for the community that they're being recognized at conservation international that their stories are being told.
15:05.788 --> 15:16.650
[SPEAKER_00]: And it really helped, it really improved a lot of the access that women had to these conversations and opportunities they had from creating these short films.
15:17.137 --> 15:25.331
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so you saw impact through that first, that experience when that was about 10 years ago, I think?
15:26.393 --> 15:32.163
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, and what part of that creative process did you find maybe the most rewarding?
15:32.424 --> 15:40.157
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it, you know, the capturing of the stories, the production of that series, or is it like,
15:40.897 --> 15:44.461
[SPEAKER_01]: playing it to a crowd and watching the reactions and watching the impact.
15:44.481 --> 15:51.930
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I'm sure every bit of it's rewarding, but is there kind of a moment or a part of that figure, like, yes, I want to repeat this?
15:52.811 --> 15:53.432
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:53.452 --> 16:02.483
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I always love being in the field and working with people and going into other worlds and ways of life.
16:03.087 --> 16:09.356
[SPEAKER_00]: So, that's so rewarding to me to get to hear other people's stories and learn about the way that they live.
16:10.138 --> 16:21.494
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also incredibly rewarding to see the impact happen and show people the film, but I think honestly, as a filmmaker, sometimes he walks the film so many times.
16:21.515 --> 16:28.365
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's like, it's a little repetitive and then you like notice all the little problems that aren't the film and you know.
16:28.966 --> 16:32.571
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, vegan the field to me is probably the best part.
16:32.551 --> 16:34.757
[SPEAKER_01]: though it's not watching it in theater.
16:35.319 --> 16:41.076
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, by the time, because I'm only on the brand or the kind of the initiation of the project side and
16:41.900 --> 16:44.604
[SPEAKER_01]: editing from a, you know, organizational point of view.
16:44.665 --> 16:48.110
[SPEAKER_01]: And by the time we're screening, I can't sit and watch the film.
16:48.271 --> 16:49.913
[SPEAKER_01]: I got it in my, I'm going to go help set up chairs.
16:49.953 --> 16:51.836
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to go help, you know, clean up this table.
16:51.937 --> 16:53.539
[SPEAKER_01]: I just can't watch this again.
16:53.780 --> 16:54.741
[SPEAKER_01]: I need some time away.
16:54.781 --> 17:03.115
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can only imagine how much more has the producer, editor, director that you feel that, which is so interesting.
17:03.095 --> 17:08.285
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, as someone from New Jersey, my next question is about, how did you get to Florida?
17:08.826 --> 17:13.214
[SPEAKER_01]: And for most people from New Jersey, it's pretty obvious, I answer it.
17:13.234 --> 17:14.416
[SPEAKER_01]: But what was your trajectory?
17:14.436 --> 17:18.985
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you've had, you just, we're all over the world, like what, what led you here, of all points?
17:19.005 --> 17:20.708
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you know, it's really funny.
17:21.269 --> 17:22.892
[SPEAKER_00]: My first,
17:22.872 --> 17:29.027
[SPEAKER_00]: Traveling with Conservation International was to St. Pete for the Blue Ocean Film Festival.
17:29.408 --> 17:39.092
[SPEAKER_00]: I was showing our first virtual reality film, Balance Reef, and who did I meet Carlton Ward Jr. and Sylvia Arral?
17:39.072 --> 17:41.417
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, I know full circle.
17:42.159 --> 17:43.020
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like circle.
17:43.040 --> 17:47.329
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's what you're doing now Holy cow, so you met them.
17:47.450 --> 17:47.991
[SPEAKER_00]: I met them.
17:48.552 --> 17:48.993
[SPEAKER_01]: When was that?
17:49.494 --> 17:54.705
[SPEAKER_00]: And that oh gosh 2016-17 so I like that around 10 years ago.
17:54.745 --> 17:55.847
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, holy cow.
17:55.867 --> 17:59.916
[SPEAKER_01]: So what was your impression of the sunset shine state then?
18:00.048 --> 18:09.254
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so funny, because I don't remember this Saint Pete that I live in now, but I guess it has changed a lot over the past 10 years.
18:09.896 --> 18:15.070
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, it was very quick visit for the film festival, but yeah.
18:15.050 --> 18:15.631
[SPEAKER_00]: It was great.
18:15.731 --> 18:21.063
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there any thoughts of, like, huh, I could see myself there one day working on these stories?
18:21.103 --> 18:25.132
[SPEAKER_01]: Or was it just another, another place on the map?
18:25.172 --> 18:33.289
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was just, you know, coming here for the film festival, I didn't think twice about this would be my next step.
18:33.510 --> 18:35.033
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, you know,
18:35.013 --> 18:55.401
[SPEAKER_00]: Traveling around the world, filming all of these stories for conservation international, and I thought I would continue doing that but then that pandemic came around and well international travel was not a thing and I Since that film festival meeting Carlton and
18:55.651 --> 18:56.612
[SPEAKER_00]: until the pandemic.
18:56.632 --> 19:03.861
[SPEAKER_00]: I had worked with Carl to a few times filming different stories with him, chasing ghosts, another national geographic piece.
19:04.201 --> 19:11.450
[SPEAKER_00]: So we had worked together as I did as like a side job on the weekends, coming to Florida and filming for him.
19:11.570 --> 19:20.161
[SPEAKER_00]: So, the pandemic happened and he was like, we need someone that lives in Florida, the production company filming path of the Panther.
19:20.581 --> 19:23.785
[SPEAKER_00]: It's based on Montana and they needed someone in Florida to
19:24.018 --> 19:27.922
[SPEAKER_00]: Film things, make sure they're on the ground to capture last minute things for the film.
19:28.323 --> 19:30.465
[SPEAKER_00]: He was like, will you move here?
19:30.485 --> 19:33.668
[SPEAKER_00]: And I did.
19:33.688 --> 19:35.430
[SPEAKER_00]: I honestly didn't know.
19:35.450 --> 19:35.951
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I don't know.
19:35.971 --> 19:39.414
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you, I mean, was that an exciting?
19:39.475 --> 19:41.336
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there, you know, reluctance?
19:42.017 --> 19:42.818
[SPEAKER_01]: What was going to your head?
19:43.118 --> 19:47.443
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I was very excited to,
19:49.229 --> 20:13.026
[SPEAKER_00]: embed myself in a place and tell its story because I was so used to traveling and having a week or two weeks to capture everything and then come back home and to move to a place where I was going to be a part of a community and part of a story that was really exciting to me and yeah I did not know
20:14.170 --> 20:15.773
[SPEAKER_00]: But what to expect at all?
20:15.833 --> 20:22.004
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I have no, I knew no one here, no family close by.
20:22.064 --> 20:27.734
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was definitely quite a shock to move here during the pandemic and then.
20:27.754 --> 20:33.464
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I moved back here from out west and just happened to be the same time.
20:33.484 --> 20:35.588
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you know, you're often,
20:36.867 --> 20:59.398
[SPEAKER_01]: like a move you're thinking about it for a little while and we were already like selling our house and by another one in Colorado and boom two months before this thing happened I'm like oh my gosh how's this going to change so but yeah it was a wild time wow time oh my gosh can't believe that was six years a kind of like two weeks yeah when it kicked off but so so
21:00.357 --> 21:12.578
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it almost was going to give you a chance to highlight stories like the women that you highlight in your original series of like being somewhere every day and seeing those changes in real time and looking at being that.
21:12.659 --> 21:16.864
[SPEAKER_01]: almost canary in the coal mine of like, oh my gosh, I'm like, I'm understanding a place.
21:16.904 --> 21:18.245
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm totally no experience.
21:18.265 --> 21:25.173
[SPEAKER_01]: It sounds like versus hopping in a place for two weeks and coming and going and trying to get as much as you can down there.
21:25.233 --> 21:28.657
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you learning about Florida?
21:28.677 --> 21:34.124
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, chasing ghosts and some of those other projects that you were helping with before moving.
21:34.164 --> 21:37.087
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure we're really eye-opening to life.
21:37.107 --> 21:39.670
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh my gosh, this place is maybe not what I expected.
21:39.690 --> 21:41.552
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that happening to you?
21:41.532 --> 21:49.143
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, absolutely, I mean, I remember, you know, getting on the swamp buggy, which I didn't even know swamp buggy's were a thing.
21:49.364 --> 21:49.604
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
21:50.024 --> 21:50.285
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
21:51.006 --> 21:55.012
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what comes to mind when someone says swamp buggy and you don't know what it is?
21:55.092 --> 21:55.753
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
21:55.913 --> 21:56.434
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
21:56.454 --> 21:57.996
[SPEAKER_01]: I do do that a monster.
21:58.277 --> 22:03.304
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the swamp buggy and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and
22:04.600 --> 22:08.725
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just the scenery, I was like, is this Florida?
22:08.805 --> 22:11.708
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it seems like I should be in another country.
22:11.969 --> 22:13.050
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just incredible.
22:13.671 --> 22:26.646
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, getting the opportunity to move here and kind of embed myself and tell us stories, filming the last part of Path of the Panther, then we're talking about, well, how do we keep the momentum going?
22:27.086 --> 22:30.490
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep the message of the Florida Wildlife corridor,
22:30.672 --> 22:34.100
[SPEAKER_00]: progressing and keep inspiring people about the corridor.
22:34.221 --> 22:46.892
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's when things transition to bit and I started seeing on the photograph Hopper Sparrow, the Florida Black Bear, and finding stories of other species within the corridor to highlight.
22:47.210 --> 23:00.326
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the panther, starting with the panther, not starting, but like, you know, making that kind of this centerpiece almost of like that storytelling ecosystem makes it ton of sense and obviously it's, it's done really well.
23:01.648 --> 23:09.537
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you approach some of those other stories because it seems like the opportunities are just endless of what you can talk about.
23:09.958 --> 23:15.985
[SPEAKER_01]: Does that feel overwhelming or is it like an exciting challenge to say, okay, what can we focus on next?
23:16.589 --> 23:16.970
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
23:17.350 --> 23:24.340
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're right, especially in Florida, it feels like opportunities are endless first stories that need to be told.
23:25.201 --> 23:36.117
[SPEAKER_00]: But a lot of the way, you know, I'm looking at it at wild path as the executive producer and director handling all films is through an impact lens.
23:37.008 --> 23:40.212
[SPEAKER_00]: of, you know, what is the message we're trying to achieve?
23:40.312 --> 23:41.173
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's the audience?
23:41.573 --> 24:01.395
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to reach what are the outcomes and making sure we're kind of looking before we even start, you know, picking up a camera, start filming, looking at how we can make a difference and making sure we can achieve that before, you know, we start filming.
24:01.561 --> 24:23.949
[SPEAKER_01]: Talk to me a little bit about why, you know, I don't know, when you look at capturing moments through film and photography and just making visuals for people just to see what we're talking about, that has moved hearts and minds since humans started drawing in caves, you know what I mean?
24:24.009 --> 24:30.657
[SPEAKER_01]: And in like early conservation winds, we're paintings taken to Washington to show, here's what the West looks like.
24:30.822 --> 24:31.984
[SPEAKER_01]: don't let it be destroyed.
24:32.044 --> 24:36.150
[SPEAKER_01]: And that format continues to work wonders.
24:36.490 --> 24:37.372
[SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think that is?
24:37.412 --> 24:47.987
[SPEAKER_01]: Like why is it continue to be so powerful for humans to tell stories through a screen, frankly, or through a two-dimensional medium?
24:48.608 --> 25:17.181
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, I mean, film is a really cool medium because you get the visuals, you get audio, it's immersive, and I think innately humans are drawn to stories like you said since, you know, cave paintings, oral storytelling, sitting around a campfire, and film can really bring you into that space and bring you into that world in a way that other mediums maybe can't.
25:18.460 --> 25:20.643
[SPEAKER_01]: and stuff stories happening in Florida?
25:21.284 --> 25:22.305
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, no.
25:22.526 --> 25:24.048
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you like organic capacity?
25:24.088 --> 25:27.072
[SPEAKER_01]: And who are the weirdness or is it just like more of the marriage?
25:27.853 --> 25:29.615
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure, the more of the marriage.
25:30.256 --> 25:39.329
[SPEAKER_00]: I am often approached by young people who want to be environmental filmmakers and they're wondering if my work is making a difference.
25:39.389 --> 25:41.652
[SPEAKER_00]: If they tell story, if that would make a difference.
25:42.774 --> 25:47.320
[SPEAKER_00]: And I consistently say stories are,
25:47.519 --> 25:50.962
[SPEAKER_00]: so powerful and they shape what we believe.
25:51.403 --> 25:54.065
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that success is individual.
25:54.606 --> 25:58.750
[SPEAKER_00]: If you buy more, work harder, you're gonna rise above the rest.
25:59.070 --> 26:07.098
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that some races are superior that others should be underpaid, exploited, erased.
26:07.178 --> 26:17.087
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that it's up to the consumer to save the planet that if you track your carbon footprint
26:17.202 --> 26:29.001
[SPEAKER_00]: you'll help the planet, but all of those narratives are coming from the same group of people, the people in power, and it's not
26:29.605 --> 26:38.618
[SPEAKER_00]: a coincidence that people know more about brands and logos than the native plants and trees in their backyard.
26:39.439 --> 26:48.532
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all because these people in power have shaped the narrative that we are not a part of the system.
26:49.293 --> 26:55.883
[SPEAKER_00]: We are individuals and it's just so important that we
26:56.234 --> 26:59.319
[SPEAKER_00]: focus on rewriting that narrative that we're all connected.
26:59.439 --> 27:05.768
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all part of this living ecosystem and tell these stories about the environment.
27:06.569 --> 27:11.697
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to rewrite the way we look at things because we're all in this together.
27:12.418 --> 27:18.407
[SPEAKER_01]: So you would encourage young storytellers to continue flooding the zone, like, get it out there.
27:18.427 --> 27:19.489
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, flood the zone.
27:20.230 --> 27:21.372
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we need more.
27:21.712 --> 27:22.834
[SPEAKER_00]: We need more.
27:22.954 --> 27:25.718
[SPEAKER_01]: We need more.
27:26.002 --> 27:30.766
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, conservation topics, and then I'm like, why is there only the third most popular state?
27:30.786 --> 27:33.989
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is there like five of us out there, you know, on this kind of medium?
27:34.049 --> 27:35.130
[SPEAKER_01]: So we need 50.
27:35.770 --> 27:52.385
[SPEAKER_01]: So please, from, in my opinion, podcasts are a little more approachable than like, I look at your skills that you have on your website and it's like your expertise and the things you're good at and the equipment you've used and I'm like, I literally don't even know what any of those means.
27:52.545 --> 27:56.008
[SPEAKER_01]: Like with the podcast, you need a mic,
27:55.988 --> 28:07.795
[SPEAKER_01]: equipment's a lot easier and you can tell stories but with wild path I know y'all focus a lot on really your kind of meeting is finding those species to tell the story too.
28:09.378 --> 28:11.483
[SPEAKER_01]: The story through.
28:11.463 --> 28:18.518
[SPEAKER_01]: but you're also just hugely recognizable organization and storytelling force nationally.
28:18.598 --> 28:20.623
[SPEAKER_01]: What are those things or globally?
28:20.683 --> 28:29.642
[SPEAKER_01]: What are those things you hear from people on the outside saying, you know, maybe misunderstandings about Florida and the conservation stories happening here?
28:29.702 --> 28:32.087
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you feel like you're constantly trying to
28:32.270 --> 28:44.355
[SPEAKER_01]: either not correct, but just kind of align them on, or say, actually this is going on or this is just something you don't quite get about the state itself, because it's an interesting place to be doing these stories.
28:44.858 --> 29:01.539
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, an arm mission at Wild Path is to bring wildlife corridors to life through story telling to move people's hearts, shape public understanding, catalyze protection and restoration of connected landscapes for the benefit of wildlife and people.
29:02.460 --> 29:09.128
[SPEAKER_00]: And that message that that mission,
29:09.327 --> 29:19.970
[SPEAKER_00]: is focusing on that wildlife corridor vision is so essential to communicate to other audiences outside of Florida.
29:19.990 --> 29:29.530
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think most people may be outside of Florida don't even understand that we have this identified geography this wildlife corridor people inside of Florida.
29:31.096 --> 29:51.661
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, starting there with that hope that in this state that has so much, I guess, against it environmentally politically and showing that what's possible here, I think it's huge and yeah, as far as yeah, what people don't understand there's a lot.
29:53.023 --> 29:55.906
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot that people don't understand what's going on in Florida.
29:56.887 --> 29:57.688
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot to know.
29:57.708 --> 29:59.010
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot to know.
29:59.497 --> 30:06.409
[SPEAKER_01]: I was excited jumping into this world a year ago to like, okay, I can think and focus on one state.
30:08.012 --> 30:22.939
[SPEAKER_01]: And even in that, I'm like, oh my God, there's so much, there's so much variety in there that that, that still feels overwhelming, I'm like, should I go down to the county level or like, topic level and it's challenging to try to
30:23.324 --> 30:24.185
[SPEAKER_01]: get this story out there.
30:24.205 --> 30:32.675
[SPEAKER_01]: And because there's so many people, such a relatively small area, not quite the same density as New Jersey, but parts of it are very similar.
30:33.175 --> 30:38.341
[SPEAKER_01]: Penelis County is as I think the most densely populated county in the southeast, which is where we're sitting right now.
30:38.361 --> 30:42.486
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of opinions when you have that many people together in one place.
30:42.766 --> 30:50.935
[SPEAKER_01]: So how do you find a balance of the way to tell the story with so many different kinds of people in this state?
30:51.218 --> 30:52.501
[SPEAKER_00]: back to what I've seen before.
30:52.541 --> 30:54.646
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, always start with the hopeful.
30:54.726 --> 30:55.688
[SPEAKER_00]: What's possible?
30:55.748 --> 30:59.316
[SPEAKER_00]: We're coming at a lens of positivity.
31:00.098 --> 31:04.287
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of environmental stories focus on the negative and the doom and gloom.
31:04.347 --> 31:08.637
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're starting hopeful, but we're also bringing in
31:08.617 --> 31:22.142
[SPEAKER_00]: multiple players into these stories, showing that conservation is collaborative, not one person can do this alone, and this is all about coming together and unifying for a cause.
31:22.563 --> 31:23.945
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that, does that come naturally to you?
31:24.386 --> 31:29.916
[SPEAKER_01]: The positive angle or the positive message, or is that something you've had to learn?
31:30.368 --> 31:40.226
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I think it comes naturally, and maybe because I've started watching these documentary since a young age that I am now, very jaded.
31:41.629 --> 31:44.714
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, oh, I'm like, hey, I'm on the doom and gloom.
31:44.835 --> 31:46.137
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, this is not helping.
31:46.778 --> 31:47.740
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you think it's true?
31:48.602 --> 31:51.567
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, do you feel like you're being un...
31:51.682 --> 32:00.426
[SPEAKER_01]: truthful with the positive angular you really think no this is the reality i'm not just trying to spur people to action this is this is it is truly hopeful
32:00.473 --> 32:01.695
[SPEAKER_00]: No, it is truly hopeful.
32:01.735 --> 32:03.539
[SPEAKER_00]: Nature is resilient.
32:03.800 --> 32:04.882
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so resilient.
32:05.322 --> 32:09.591
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you just leave it alone, it will come back.
32:10.132 --> 32:12.577
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's so much hope.
32:12.857 --> 32:15.242
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just people.
32:15.963 --> 32:19.290
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we just gotta get them that message and awareness.
32:20.632 --> 32:21.975
[SPEAKER_00]: And...
32:21.955 --> 32:23.116
[SPEAKER_00]: things will turn around.
32:23.156 --> 32:24.438
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, nature is going to continue.
32:24.498 --> 32:31.325
[SPEAKER_00]: The plan is going to continue to survive, but I mean, no matter what, will we exist on it?
32:31.525 --> 32:31.965
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
32:32.045 --> 32:49.363
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's going to, the people who have, you know, done nothing to create these, the harm for the planet are going to be the most impacted, and that comes back to the injustice that like kills me that so many people will be impacted
32:50.525 --> 32:57.733
[SPEAKER_00]: have been living with nature, have been doing things the right way and they're the ones who are going to suffer.
32:57.865 --> 33:03.413
[SPEAKER_01]: You told stories around the Florida Black Bear in the Grasshopper Spirrow and the Panther.
33:04.194 --> 33:12.306
[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of those like wishless species that you think are deserving of more storytelling?
33:12.507 --> 33:16.232
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm they all are, of course, but like, what's kind of like on your bucket list?
33:16.493 --> 33:23.082
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you can share, if it's, if this is proprietary information, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because more people need to know about the race as well.
33:23.563 --> 33:24.885
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know about the race as well?
33:25.490 --> 33:31.602
[SPEAKER_01]: I do, but you tell me why are you telling me this, that's in your mind, it's a story each other, what do people need to know?
33:31.885 --> 33:37.049
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the rice as well was identified as a species in 2021.
33:38.411 --> 33:47.418
[SPEAKER_00]: Before then, we thought it was just another bailing whale in the Gulf of Mexico, but it actually is its own species.
33:47.478 --> 33:53.083
[SPEAKER_00]: It has fewer than 100 individuals in its population.
33:53.123 --> 34:01.470
[SPEAKER_00]: Its population was totally decimated by the deep water horizon oil spill,
34:01.771 --> 34:04.095
[SPEAKER_00]: That is its year-round habitat.
34:04.615 --> 34:16.474
[SPEAKER_00]: We figured all of this out because a whale interested, like a five inch piece of plastic and washed up in the Everglades and we are able to identify the hollow tape that it was a new species.
34:16.895 --> 34:28.032
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is like a new species to science and it's almost gone and it's in our backyard and it's literally up to us, up to people in the US to save it.
34:29.362 --> 34:30.944
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, like, hello.
34:33.147 --> 34:35.551
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so crazy.
34:35.571 --> 34:44.724
[SPEAKER_01]: The crazy thing is I do remember the story like the way we realized was through it, swallowing like a, uh, I think it was stuck in it.
34:44.784 --> 34:46.847
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a soft guess was this like,
34:47.536 --> 34:53.623
[SPEAKER_01]: piece of plastic, the size of like a peanut butter jar, that was like ingested or anything in a digestive system, then it died.
34:53.924 --> 34:54.044
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:54.064 --> 34:54.204
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:54.244 --> 34:55.205
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how we found out.
34:55.366 --> 34:55.546
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:55.766 --> 34:59.631
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a 40-foot long whale, and the piece of plastic wasn't even five inches.
34:59.791 --> 35:03.736
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like a very small, it's on display at the Smithsonian, actual history museum.
35:04.817 --> 35:05.298
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know that.
35:05.518 --> 35:05.838
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah.
35:06.139 --> 35:10.043
[SPEAKER_00]: Very small piece of plastic, and it killed this 40-foot long whale.
35:10.224 --> 35:10.624
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean,
35:12.359 --> 35:18.489
[SPEAKER_00]: It is very, it is a sad story, but there is hope because we can do something about it because we know.
35:19.030 --> 35:25.641
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely now we know, and I'll say, you know, that's the world of conservation.
35:25.761 --> 35:34.956
[SPEAKER_01]: It feels like endless, endless fronts and endless fires to put out figuratively, because a lot of times the fires are good.
35:35.316 --> 35:37.540
[SPEAKER_01]: We happen out there, but
35:37.520 --> 35:57.799
[SPEAKER_01]: You go back and look through so many success stories, so many stories that are like, oh my gosh, you know, from bear to the alligator itself, kind of this iconic species and just all these stories of like, wow, we actually did turn things around and we can do that again.
35:57.899 --> 36:02.023
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's no reason we can't, but people don't even realize those trajectories have happened.
36:02.283 --> 36:03.024
[SPEAKER_01]: My self included.
36:03.044 --> 36:06.227
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like every day I learned something mind-blowingly,
36:06.730 --> 36:10.076
[SPEAKER_01]: amazing about the place that I've lived most of my life.
36:10.096 --> 36:12.640
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you feel that way about the state of Florida?
36:12.660 --> 36:15.965
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you learn things constantly that are like, I had no idea?
36:16.326 --> 36:16.526
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
36:16.807 --> 36:19.411
[SPEAKER_01]: And if I don't know, there's a good chance most people don't know.
36:19.571 --> 36:20.312
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
36:21.374 --> 36:25.241
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, is there anything in particular that the rice is well, great example?
36:26.262 --> 36:27.624
[SPEAKER_01]: What else going back to that question?
36:27.644 --> 36:30.409
[SPEAKER_01]: What else you feel like is like deserving of more attention?
36:30.777 --> 36:39.751
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, now that we're talking about the ocean, it's making me think how I'm working on this feature film about Dr. Sylvia Earl.
36:39.771 --> 36:43.456
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't know about Dr. Sylvia Earl, you need to look her up.
36:43.757 --> 36:45.540
[SPEAKER_00]: She's a legend, she's amazing.
36:46.842 --> 36:57.578
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've just been very fortunate to spend a lot of time with her in St. Martin's Keys off of Crystal River exploring the Sea Grass Meadows.
36:59.026 --> 37:05.055
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the largest contiguous Seagress Meadow in the Gulf.
37:05.616 --> 37:09.842
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what's sequestering carbon, giving oxygen.
37:09.902 --> 37:12.506
[SPEAKER_00]: It's providing nursery for so many species.
37:13.047 --> 37:17.052
[SPEAKER_00]: It's this incredible habitat.
37:18.034 --> 37:23.582
[SPEAKER_00]: And most people don't know about it when did you learn about it?
37:24.052 --> 37:25.694
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, learned about it.
37:25.775 --> 37:47.207
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess 2021 is when we started, you know, filming with Sylvia and going out there and a lot of people maybe are in that region for scalloping, but aren't really looking maybe beneath the surface and understanding how incredible of a habitat this is and maybe
37:47.947 --> 37:49.309
[SPEAKER_00]: You shouldn't take the scallops out of it.
37:51.873 --> 37:52.094
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.
37:52.114 --> 37:53.676
[SPEAKER_00]: They are the ones filtering the water.
37:55.680 --> 38:03.913
[SPEAKER_01]: What has been something that you've learned about that habitat that has been just mind blowing?
38:05.024 --> 38:13.697
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so the first thing that came to mind is that we used to have monk seals in off of Florida in that habitat.
38:14.117 --> 38:20.346
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they went extinct in the 1950s, Sylvia.
38:21.368 --> 38:21.968
[SPEAKER_01]: That recently?
38:22.169 --> 38:22.429
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:22.890 --> 38:23.110
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
38:23.651 --> 38:24.092
[SPEAKER_01]: Serious?
38:24.312 --> 38:24.652
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:25.313 --> 38:27.757
[SPEAKER_01]: My house was built by then.
38:27.797 --> 38:28.638
[SPEAKER_01]: That's crazy.
38:28.698 --> 38:28.939
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:29.099 --> 38:33.445
[SPEAKER_00]: A seal in the Gulf.
38:34.268 --> 38:35.149
[SPEAKER_01]: 18th century.
38:35.630 --> 38:36.011
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, no.
38:36.912 --> 38:37.954
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, are you kidding me?
38:38.995 --> 38:41.499
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, gosh.
38:41.660 --> 38:42.160
[SPEAKER_00]: OK. Holy cow.
38:42.180 --> 38:45.165
[SPEAKER_00]: So Sylvia talks about, like, we used to have this monk seal.
38:45.205 --> 38:48.110
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, this is a similar story, too.
38:48.410 --> 38:51.555
[SPEAKER_00]: I made the film The Little Brown Bird about the Florida Grasshopper's room.
38:51.795 --> 38:53.358
[SPEAKER_00]: We had the desky sea-sites barrel.
38:53.658 --> 38:56.783
[SPEAKER_00]: We've had these species go extinct in Florida.
38:56.763 --> 38:58.528
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've learned our lesson here.
38:58.588 --> 39:00.894
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it will so much.
39:01.155 --> 39:01.636
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
39:01.656 --> 39:03.581
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've learned the lesson here.
39:03.682 --> 39:06.128
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, let's not do that again.
39:06.188 --> 39:11.262
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's make sure we're protecting our habitats, restoring what's left.
39:11.663 --> 39:14.428
[SPEAKER_01]: Tell us a little bit about what to expect with that story.
39:14.688 --> 39:17.493
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, sounds like you've been filming for a handful of years.
39:18.756 --> 39:27.572
[SPEAKER_01]: That's something I've learned about conservation story telling is how long these stories take to fully tell, and that they overlap in timelines like you're, you know what I mean?
39:27.612 --> 39:30.617
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really wild, like the pipeline of, of,
39:30.597 --> 39:33.527
[SPEAKER_01]: ideation to out there in the world.
39:33.607 --> 39:37.098
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a greater part of a decade, a lot of the time.
39:37.179 --> 39:43.138
[SPEAKER_01]: So where are we with this story and what can people expect to engage with this one on Sylvia Rale?
39:43.608 --> 39:50.098
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you're right, there's multiple phases, there's development, there's pre-production production, post-production, distribution impact.
39:50.118 --> 39:52.021
[SPEAKER_00]: So like I'm constantly switching on and off hats.
39:52.041 --> 39:54.745
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, what phase we're in?
39:55.486 --> 40:04.300
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, with Sylvia, the film's about her coming back to the Gulf of Mexico, the place where she first fell in love with the sea where she grew up.
40:05.343 --> 40:14.196
[SPEAKER_00]: and not just looking back on it at it, but being a witness to the change over time and looking for what's at stake.
40:14.216 --> 40:19.123
[SPEAKER_00]: She has been an advocate for the ocean for her lifetime.
40:19.183 --> 40:23.309
[SPEAKER_00]: She is 90 years young, but she is still diving.
40:23.389 --> 40:25.232
[SPEAKER_00]: She's still fighting for the ocean.
40:25.292 --> 40:28.297
[SPEAKER_00]: She is still in it.
40:29.138 --> 40:32.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's just a lesson for,
40:32.022 --> 40:37.889
[SPEAKER_00]: everyone that, you know, they're still hope they're still time if she can do it, you can do it.
40:38.029 --> 40:39.391
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's up to us.
40:41.274 --> 40:47.161
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, no, when any projected timeline when people were going to get just that.
40:47.241 --> 40:48.062
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're looking at 2028.
40:48.783 --> 40:50.545
[SPEAKER_00]: So stay tuned, follow wild path.
40:51.146 --> 40:52.107
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a good one.
40:52.407 --> 41:06.094
[SPEAKER_01]: That tracks 20, 20, maybe that's the time to early, no, that is exciting, and I know that's that's going to be hugely impactful.
41:06.114 --> 41:07.817
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't wait to see that.
41:07.898 --> 41:13.426
[SPEAKER_01]: And as a storyteller, you know, I get a jump from story story pretty easily.
41:13.647 --> 41:15.269
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'll interview you, talking about this.
41:15.309 --> 41:16.351
[SPEAKER_01]: I can interview someone tomorrow.
41:16.371 --> 41:20.577
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll talk about some of the different in this episode can be out to the world in a day.
41:21.378 --> 41:22.760
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can kind of hop around.
41:23.521 --> 41:30.151
[SPEAKER_01]: How does it feel to have to in, can I invest this long into one story for so long?
41:30.211 --> 41:34.438
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it, is it, do you find that natural as a hard to stay in that lane?
41:34.478 --> 41:36.100
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you deal with that?
41:37.582 --> 41:49.066
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I have actually really appreciated the time I have with Sylvia and investing in this longer project because things develop.
41:49.627 --> 41:57.042
[SPEAKER_00]: You build a relationship, you get closer, you get more access to certain things, maybe you
41:57.022 --> 42:00.087
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, wouldn't have with just meeting for one day.
42:00.127 --> 42:01.649
[SPEAKER_00]: You get comfortable.
42:01.669 --> 42:22.521
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's not just with Sylvia, that's with other films too, with the little brown bird and, you know, working with Fabi in the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow thought that was just going to be a day or two short film, but then I kind of kept coming back to it, kept revisiting and a lot of things developed in it and made this story better.
42:22.541 --> 42:24.143
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I
42:24.747 --> 42:29.172
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I've really appreciated the process of longer timelines.
42:29.192 --> 42:32.056
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't always get that luxury when it comes to budgets.
42:32.837 --> 42:36.441
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's right, there's factors out of your controls.
42:36.561 --> 42:37.562
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, right.
42:37.963 --> 42:41.006
[SPEAKER_00]: So I've been, yeah, really fortunate that we've been able to do this.
42:41.967 --> 42:51.058
[SPEAKER_01]: So for aspiring filmmakers or people that might be pursuing this and wondering, you know, how, what, what have been some of those key skills for you?
42:51.646 --> 43:00.492
[SPEAKER_01]: that you've been able to acquire, you know, besides the camera operation and the work and in the cool side of things, what have been some of those key.
43:00.623 --> 43:02.326
[SPEAKER_01]: skills that have helped you do this.
43:03.067 --> 43:04.430
[SPEAKER_01]: This line of work that is right.
43:04.871 --> 43:14.148
[SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned the different phases of film production and I have had experience in all of those phases in a detailed level.
43:14.188 --> 43:24.066
[SPEAKER_00]: So that has really helped progress me because I can look at everything holistically and understand what a camera person is going through and what the editor wants to see.
43:24.046 --> 43:35.845
[SPEAKER_00]: when it comes to putting a whole film together, so starting with the development phase and raising money, creating pictures, writing creative briefs.
43:36.888 --> 43:39.071
[SPEAKER_00]: that's phase one.
43:39.111 --> 44:05.663
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of experience with that, but then pre-production, getting to know your characters, interviewing, making schedules, lining up everything, getting equipment, knowing what your equipment is, and then production actually going out with your team, or if it is just you learning all of the drone, the underwater topside gimbal,
44:06.402 --> 44:11.189
[SPEAKER_00]: all of those different aspects of production.
44:11.790 --> 44:24.327
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been post, I think, one thing that really leveled me up when I got that job at conservation international out of college was that I knew how to animate and create motion graphics.
44:25.249 --> 44:30.917
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was really attractive because social media video was like kind of just becoming a thing.
44:30.957 --> 44:34.722
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was able to use that skill set and editing short films.
44:35.866 --> 44:55.297
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, there's the whole post-cited knowing, you know, how are you going to put this story together right this script, get the interviews transcribed and kind of form that narrative, but then the different layers of mixing sound, doing your graphics, final color correction, and then you get into the distribution.
44:55.417 --> 44:59.443
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's another aspect that maybe a lot of people don't think about, like,
44:59.423 --> 45:21.482
[SPEAKER_00]: Once your film's done, it's not done, you've got to market it, you've got to enter film festivals, you have to create collateral material, like on social media, posters, stickers, maybe merch, and do Q&As and get other people to rally around the film and really spread its message.
45:21.901 --> 45:28.353
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of different skills that go into all of that, but hopefully that gives you a sense of the type of skills you need.
45:28.413 --> 45:44.263
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be kind of a one-person team and really push a movement forward in conservation, you know, there aren't typically big budgets in this world, so it's really helpful if you understand the whole scope of what it takes to create a film and how to make it happen.
45:44.480 --> 45:44.761
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
45:45.745 --> 45:51.307
[SPEAKER_01]: So it sounds like holding the camera is like 3% of all this.
45:51.327 --> 45:53.516
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's probably fun at the time point.
45:53.596 --> 45:54.861
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, right.
45:55.229 --> 46:25.236
[SPEAKER_01]: great great overview that's that's really helping probably a lot of people listening that I give a concrete understanding of what goes into this you know something that I've noticed again I'm I host this podcast really as a way to learn more myself from the people doing the work and what it means in conservation in Florida and so it's led to this career the question of like okay how do you how do people do what are they dealing like who are these
46:25.216 --> 46:33.293
[SPEAKER_01]: And from my understanding, which is, again, limited, but it seems like there is quite a decent amount.
46:34.376 --> 46:44.457
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, I'm not an expert on other regions, but like lots of female leadership in Florida, around conservation storytelling and organizations.
46:44.673 --> 46:52.964
[SPEAKER_01]: Where is it in your mind because I know that you have focused a lot on female leadership as, you know, the human element of a lot of these stories.
46:53.745 --> 46:56.388
[SPEAKER_01]: Where does Florida rank in your mind with your experience globally?
46:57.430 --> 46:59.232
[SPEAKER_00]: Hmm, that's a really interesting question.
46:59.252 --> 47:04.319
[SPEAKER_00]: I honestly haven't thought about that, but I do think you're right.
47:04.379 --> 47:14.612
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there is a good representation in Florida and the spaces that I've been when it
47:15.200 --> 47:18.703
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's definitely could always be more.
47:18.723 --> 47:28.693
[SPEAKER_00]: I've definitely seen that even when there still is representation, it still may be not valued in the same way.
47:28.713 --> 47:32.337
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's always can be improvement.
47:33.338 --> 47:36.961
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of like conservation storytelling itself, there's always more to do.
47:36.981 --> 47:38.623
[SPEAKER_00]: It's always more to do.
47:38.643 --> 47:39.223
[SPEAKER_01]: We need more.
47:39.244 --> 47:39.564
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:39.784 --> 47:39.984
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:40.144 --> 47:40.785
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:41.474 --> 47:51.471
[SPEAKER_01]: I love to hear that now I just it seems of her story like like Hilary Swain for Marshall said like she was denied her first job because they didn't have female bathrooms.
47:51.712 --> 47:53.415
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
47:53.435 --> 47:54.737
[SPEAKER_01]: Insane, you know what I mean?
47:54.837 --> 47:55.679
[SPEAKER_01]: Like what does that even mean?
47:55.819 --> 47:57.782
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's like like is it a toilet?
47:57.842 --> 48:01.970
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's like we could or not all use it at the same time.
48:02.030 --> 48:06.317
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just like an excuse and now it's like the pendulum is swung to where it's like
48:06.837 --> 48:17.806
[SPEAKER_01]: her interests, she'll go to speak at colleges as predominantly female, which is just one lifetime of swing, which is really interesting here and see change, and it's speaking of change.
48:18.647 --> 48:23.651
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the last things you mentioned, which I loved after post-industribution is measuring impact.
48:24.272 --> 48:26.514
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you know a story has made change?
48:26.574 --> 48:28.996
[SPEAKER_01]: Or how do you know you've made a difference?
48:29.076 --> 48:36.102
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you looking at to know that we change hearts and minds, or we got it out there to the right people?
48:36.402 --> 48:56.233
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of that comes before you can pick up the camera is outlining in that, you know, creative brief and talking about the impact you want for the film is figuring out what are you going to measure is it that you reached a certain audience is it that you just reached one person that's going to make the change is it that
48:57.479 --> 49:06.148
[SPEAKER_00]: the film is going to get into a certain film festival that it's going to win the award that you know what are you measuring against that you want to create that impact.
49:06.188 --> 49:22.305
[SPEAKER_00]: So it kind of depends on what the film is and what the goal is with path of the panther and the the shorter 10 minute 30 minute version of the Florida Wildlife Court or path of the panther you know
49:22.673 --> 49:39.383
[SPEAKER_00]: the films called Saving the Florida Wildlife Court, or that goal was to really push legislation for the Florida Wildlife Court or Act, and Saving the Florida Wildlife Court, or was screened to legislators in Tallahassee.
49:39.363 --> 49:40.766
[SPEAKER_00]: to get people aware.
49:40.906 --> 49:43.812
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know, that's a very measurable thing.
49:43.832 --> 49:46.457
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the act passed unanimously.
49:48.020 --> 49:51.486
[SPEAKER_00]: And that film really inspired a lot of lawmakers.
49:51.727 --> 49:56.055
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was, you know, a clear win.
49:56.474 --> 50:21.688
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's not always super clear, but it is important to kind of keep track of who are you screening to how many people are seeing this film, the audiences that you are reaching if it's within the state or outside of the state, and the conversations that come from that for the short film, I made about Florida Black Bears, that all originated because
50:21.668 --> 50:32.581
[SPEAKER_00]: the bear hunt was coming up and being decided if that was going to happen after ten years of no hunt happening.
50:33.201 --> 50:43.033
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just noticed a lot of media attention was on bears and people's backyards bears at the airport bears in Disneyland.
50:43.253 --> 50:46.917
[SPEAKER_00]: All about, you know, these conflicts with bears
50:47.437 --> 50:50.482
[SPEAKER_00]: bears weren't being shown in the wild.
50:51.864 --> 50:53.106
[SPEAKER_00]: And in their natural habitat.
50:53.727 --> 51:00.538
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, I happen working on this longer bear film, but there is this one scene that I really feel like I could.
51:00.878 --> 51:08.090
[SPEAKER_00]: This one moment with this all female biologist team in Big Cypress that I feel like I could make a short film.
51:08.110 --> 51:12.096
[SPEAKER_00]: And at least just put out the message of wild bears in Florida.
51:12.436 --> 51:14.760
[SPEAKER_00]: What bears need to survive?
51:14.740 --> 51:19.225
[SPEAKER_00]: and, you know, not talking about the hunt at all, but just show people wild Florida.
51:19.526 --> 51:21.308
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was really the goal with that.
51:21.408 --> 51:25.473
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think it did help.
51:25.613 --> 51:28.597
[SPEAKER_00]: We got a lot of media attention.
51:28.697 --> 51:30.739
[SPEAKER_00]: I went on multiple talk shows.
51:31.400 --> 51:35.685
[SPEAKER_00]: Did a lot of interviews and hopefully that, I mean,
51:36.155 --> 51:51.718
[SPEAKER_00]: the number say that it reached a lot of people and hopefully that message resonated that we have black bears in the state, but they are in seven separate subpopulations and they need a connected corridor to be sustainable into the future.
51:52.619 --> 51:58.167
[SPEAKER_01]: Which should matter to anyone on either side of that hunt.
51:58.287 --> 51:58.768
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
51:59.569 --> 52:05.638
[SPEAKER_01]: Those that didn't want the hunt, that should matter for
52:06.631 --> 52:09.878
[SPEAKER_01]: I have a vested interest in a sustainable population too, right?
52:09.938 --> 52:11.902
[SPEAKER_01]: So, great way to approach that.
52:12.403 --> 52:16.292
[SPEAKER_01]: I totally agree that was very wise in the great film.
52:17.054 --> 52:19.138
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that's on YouTube now, right?
52:19.258 --> 52:21.162
[SPEAKER_01]: So, please watch that Florida Bear Tracks.
52:21.964 --> 52:23.307
[SPEAKER_01]: Is there a shot that got away?
52:24.653 --> 52:26.937
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.
52:27.198 --> 52:27.518
[SPEAKER_01]: Really?
52:27.799 --> 52:28.961
[SPEAKER_01]: Something comes in my mouth.
52:28.981 --> 52:30.264
[SPEAKER_01]: Is this, am I supposed to know this?
52:30.644 --> 52:31.746
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I mean, I can share.
52:31.867 --> 52:31.967
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
52:32.227 --> 52:34.291
[SPEAKER_00]: But, oh, my hand.
52:35.454 --> 52:41.585
[SPEAKER_00]: Because we're talking about Florida bear tracks, there's one shot specifically that still bugs me.
52:41.705 --> 52:44.130
[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't make it into the film, but it could have been way better.
52:44.110 --> 52:44.912
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
52:44.932 --> 52:59.487
[SPEAKER_00]: It could be way better because I was out in the blazing summer heat waiting for a mom and her cubs to kind of like come out of this shrubby area.
52:59.939 --> 53:02.865
[SPEAKER_01]: and they were, they were running late, missed their call time.
53:04.108 --> 53:06.152
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I saw them and they were coming out.
53:06.573 --> 53:15.332
[SPEAKER_00]: But like, just a second before I had moved my camera a little bit more into the shade because I was like, I'm baking out here.
53:15.312 --> 53:17.656
[SPEAKER_01]: and the camp and the equipment again.
53:17.676 --> 53:18.257
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, exactly.
53:19.178 --> 53:26.089
[SPEAKER_00]: And so in that same moment that I move, the cub comes running at me.
53:26.149 --> 53:29.194
[SPEAKER_00]: The mom is like, what?
53:29.515 --> 53:34.823
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, is this thing that I smelled that my cub's about to interact with?
53:35.544 --> 53:37.888
[SPEAKER_00]: And so then it became this very like tense scenario.
53:37.908 --> 53:41.674
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not really focused on the camera at this point.
53:41.654 --> 53:57.670
[SPEAKER_00]: but because I moved into like a shaded spot there's like a few branches in front of the lens and there's some like green haze It could have been so great seeing that whole thing play out.
53:57.810 --> 54:08.100
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean without the green haze I mean I still got it but that that shot got away for me and you probably didn't realize that until right to laughter and I was like no
54:09.852 --> 54:13.596
[SPEAKER_01]: Geez, so that's super interesting too.
54:13.636 --> 54:30.716
[SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned bear interactions, and I don't realize this, and I read the somewhere New Jersey, is the highest human and bear interaction per capita of any state, like more people are interacting physically with black bears and coming in close encounters than any state.
54:31.817 --> 54:34.441
[SPEAKER_01]: That blew my mind when I saw that stat a few years ago.
54:34.701 --> 54:35.742
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you ever heard that.
54:36.228 --> 54:39.333
[SPEAKER_00]: I did not realize that, but it makes sense.
54:39.513 --> 54:48.027
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a specific memory growing up that my dad was outside, mowing the lawn, and all of a sudden the car stopped and was waving their hands.
54:48.087 --> 54:51.553
[SPEAKER_00]: He can't hear, like we're all in the front yard.
54:51.573 --> 54:52.294
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on?
54:52.334 --> 54:54.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is this car stopping and like yelling at my dad?
54:55.099 --> 54:57.242
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, there's a bear behind you.
54:57.262 --> 55:00.868
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a bear in our backyard next to our swing set.
55:01.405 --> 55:03.887
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't really like, oh my gosh, didn't even know.
55:03.907 --> 55:05.609
[SPEAKER_00]: Good thing we didn't let the dog out.
55:05.709 --> 55:08.331
[SPEAKER_01]: Holy cow, you probably wanted to go right out to it.
55:08.451 --> 55:11.975
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, as the naturalist in the family.
55:12.655 --> 55:13.716
[SPEAKER_01]: That's so crazy.
55:13.736 --> 55:14.877
[SPEAKER_01]: So what a good start.
55:14.897 --> 55:19.281
[SPEAKER_01]: So the bear was walking on, going back to the film, the bear was coming right up to you.
55:19.641 --> 55:20.642
[SPEAKER_01]: Did it get to you?
55:21.163 --> 55:22.324
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, the bear cup.
55:22.764 --> 55:24.986
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, it didn't get to me.
55:25.066 --> 55:31.412
[SPEAKER_00]: But it ran at me and then turned around.
55:31.392 --> 55:42.104
[SPEAKER_01]: keeping out eye out for me of like what is right there so it's about the only situation that's can be dangerous for what it is exactly.
55:43.045 --> 55:43.425
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
55:43.465 --> 55:44.687
[SPEAKER_01]: What was your heart pounding?
55:44.747 --> 55:46.689
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you what was going through your mind?
55:47.930 --> 55:56.059
[SPEAKER_00]: I was going through my honestly what's like I hope I captured.
55:56.079 --> 55:56.419
[SPEAKER_01]: True.
55:56.640 --> 55:57.080
[SPEAKER_01]: True.
55:57.120 --> 55:57.440
[SPEAKER_01]: Perfect.
55:57.460 --> 55:58.902
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't I dare.
55:59.725 --> 56:00.447
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me get this.
56:01.690 --> 56:11.136
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's because I had spent so much time with bears and with scientists that I and like
56:12.179 --> 56:17.627
[SPEAKER_00]: seeing a bluff charge before that I was maybe feeling more comfortable.
56:17.647 --> 56:37.174
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I should have felt more comfortable, but in that moment I feel like everything kind of just freezes for a second and you're just kind of assessing everything, you know, with this longer bear film that I'm working on, I crawled into, you know, bear dense and
56:37.458 --> 56:38.399
[SPEAKER_00]: two pairs.
56:39.059 --> 56:45.485
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, in that moment, I wasn't feeling an immediate, let's get out of this situation.
56:45.545 --> 56:53.333
[SPEAKER_00]: There was somebody in a, like, Ranger nearby that, you know, could make noise and like, assist.
56:53.953 --> 56:54.794
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
56:54.954 --> 56:55.294
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
56:55.314 --> 57:04.663
[SPEAKER_00]: But yet, um, I did end up lifting up my tripod and like, making myself bigger and then, I mean, they ran away, which was also sad because then I,
57:06.145 --> 57:08.568
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, didn't get the shot.
57:08.588 --> 57:11.692
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's just, you know, you'll be thinking about that forever.
57:13.374 --> 57:16.819
[SPEAKER_01]: I saw recently a, it was a real non-instagram.
57:17.500 --> 57:26.411
[SPEAKER_01]: Someone had their camera in one of those waterproof housings for underwater, which I know have seen plenty of pictures you're using and their lens cover was on.
57:27.392 --> 57:32.659
[SPEAKER_01]: And they were like in the field already and they were making a video about how.
57:33.044 --> 57:35.467
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, look, stuff doesn't go well sometimes.
57:35.507 --> 57:38.271
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, oh my gosh, that never had to do that.
57:38.311 --> 57:39.513
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like a big problem.
57:40.214 --> 57:42.197
[SPEAKER_01]: Can't really get rid of anything like that.
57:42.237 --> 57:49.848
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I didn't charge my batteries or didn't take the lens cover off or forgot something.
57:49.908 --> 57:51.390
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I've made some...
57:51.826 --> 57:57.295
[SPEAKER_01]: very dumb as days with biogastic, but I can imagine the complexity of filmmaking.
57:57.936 --> 58:02.884
[SPEAKER_01]: You have to be extremely diligent in your checklist and preparation.
58:03.605 --> 58:06.449
[SPEAKER_01]: And those kinds of things cannot happen.
58:07.030 --> 58:07.291
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:07.611 --> 58:09.214
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, especially when they do happen.
58:09.294 --> 58:09.514
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:09.654 --> 58:10.195
[SPEAKER_01]: You learn.
58:10.516 --> 58:10.896
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:10.916 --> 58:12.579
[SPEAKER_00]: And yep, you're in the field.
58:12.799 --> 58:15.724
[SPEAKER_00]: You're nowhere close to some
58:16.278 --> 58:17.960
[SPEAKER_00]: store or anything that could help.
58:19.141 --> 58:21.323
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, you got to make sure you have what you need.
58:21.343 --> 58:22.864
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's prep the right way.
58:22.904 --> 58:24.706
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure those things have happened.
58:24.986 --> 58:28.449
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm sure the right way I'm sure that's a big one.
58:28.610 --> 58:29.350
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you know what?
58:29.610 --> 58:30.691
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, some things coming to mind.
58:32.293 --> 58:32.393
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
58:32.413 --> 58:45.205
[SPEAKER_00]: I, when I was working for Conservation International, I was on an expedition in the
58:45.522 --> 58:59.238
[SPEAKER_00]: drives and my computer out on the table in one of the like front rooms and the waves were so large that they were crashing into the boat into the room.
58:59.278 --> 59:03.743
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when I woke up in the morning the driver ruined.
59:04.564 --> 59:11.532
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like oh my gosh but like good thing I backed it up on another drive that I had in a different room.
59:11.872 --> 59:14.095
[SPEAKER_00]: But like the things like that where you're like
59:14.480 --> 59:22.531
[SPEAKER_00]: Holy cow like the what if the what if like also it was my bad for leaving my computer in that Ram, I should have not done that.
59:23.252 --> 59:26.616
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, smart of you, though, to think to back it up, right.
59:26.736 --> 59:31.302
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if it was intentional to have it in a separate room, but you learned the lesson.
59:31.322 --> 59:31.583
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
59:31.603 --> 59:32.103
[SPEAKER_01]: Learned the lesson.
59:32.123 --> 59:32.904
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
59:32.924 --> 59:34.326
[SPEAKER_01]: Make that intentionally next time.
59:34.346 --> 59:34.647
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
59:34.727 --> 59:35.308
[SPEAKER_01]: But things away.
59:35.368 --> 59:39.373
[SPEAKER_01]: Holy cow, I can't even imagine the sinking feeling of
59:40.585 --> 01:00:08.196
[SPEAKER_01]: that kind of pressure right and like did I just lose everything I did back it up right like yeah I've lost I've lost interviews before so far so good on this one but I've had that had that awkward conversation like this didn't go through and we do the conversation again we'll give it some time right so let me ask you this just I got a couple more than we can jump into those last three if that's okay it's 1103 even with short films
01:00:08.328 --> 01:00:16.679
[SPEAKER_01]: And in things under half an hour, that's considered just such an eternity these days with people's attention span.
01:00:17.320 --> 01:00:27.194
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you approach kind of that pressure to make everything quick and easy social media content while still trying to dive deeper into a story?
01:00:27.574 --> 01:00:30.218
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you integrate social media into your approach?
01:00:30.586 --> 01:00:42.030
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think there's a place for all types of stories, but at Wild Path, we are focused on targeted impact and reaching certain audiences.
01:00:42.110 --> 01:00:51.750
[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of that time, we're not putting a lot of our energy into social media because there is so much content and it's hard to
01:00:51.730 --> 01:00:57.276
[SPEAKER_00]: Create impact from that, you know, it's kind of like real impact exactly.
01:00:57.296 --> 01:00:58.137
[SPEAKER_01]: Get a lot of attention.
01:00:58.597 --> 01:00:58.838
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
01:00:59.298 --> 01:01:00.940
[SPEAKER_01]: You might be a lot of sizzle.
01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:02.662
[SPEAKER_01]: Not a lot of steak is more insane.
01:01:03.182 --> 01:01:03.683
[SPEAKER_01]: There we go.
01:01:05.085 --> 01:01:05.425
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
01:01:05.445 --> 01:01:08.288
[SPEAKER_00]: So that takes off the pressure a little bit.
01:01:08.408 --> 01:01:14.335
[SPEAKER_00]: It's we're using social media more as a tool to show, you know, what's possible.
01:01:14.455 --> 01:01:17.518
[SPEAKER_00]: And the impact we've created, but our
01:01:17.498 --> 01:01:31.306
[SPEAKER_00]: Materials are films are of their collateral material around films and photography that we're doing we're being specific with who our audience is in reaching lawmakers and communities in partners.
01:01:31.486 --> 01:01:34.933
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's the strategy.
01:01:36.398 --> 01:01:45.233
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, all strategy is hard to stick to it, certain times, is that like, you know, algorithm, the algorithms are strong, the gravitational forces are strong.
01:01:45.253 --> 01:01:45.773
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, right.
01:01:46.294 --> 01:02:01.259
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, another part of our work at Wild Path is we partner with National Geographic, and that has really helped elevate our work and get it to a big audience, and our films are on National Geographic's YouTube.
01:02:01.359 --> 01:02:01.900
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it.
01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:22.572
[SPEAKER_00]: massive amount of people who are subscribed to that YouTube are a lot of our work gets shared on national geographic so in a way we are we do have a big social media push but through national geographic and that's kind of our strategy too is using a partner like that to elevate the message.
01:02:22.940 --> 01:02:47.142
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, yeah, of course, if you follow National Geographic, which I think it for the longest time, it was the largest Instagram account that wasn't a celebrity, or I think maybe Nike was bigger, but it was Kim Kardashian and a few others, and they were like the fifth largest account with like 300 million followers, which is just so encouraging in the world of,
01:02:47.122 --> 01:02:55.730
[SPEAKER_01]: Short attention spans that these kinds of stories and topics are still so popular like I'm glad it's popular You know, I'm glad it's not niche in a lot of ways.
01:02:55.770 --> 01:03:14.648
[SPEAKER_01]: So That's they they're really proven the concept of like these stories people still crave this and want to know and that's really cool So cool story and Fiji and I know you've been all over the world Does Florida still continue to to
01:03:16.248 --> 01:03:38.070
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, draw you in the beauty that this the the I'm always trying to tell people not from here like I can explain it, but if you got here and you spent time here, you would love it in the same level that these other places around the world that so many of us go to like I've seen some of the greatest wonders in the world with my own eyes and
01:03:38.540 --> 01:03:41.825
[SPEAKER_01]: Florida still up there with it, like parallel in my mind.
01:03:41.865 --> 01:03:44.549
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know how to explain it to people that've never experienced it.
01:03:45.410 --> 01:03:46.472
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you feel of it?
01:03:46.492 --> 01:03:47.233
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I'm saying?
01:03:47.513 --> 01:03:47.814
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
01:03:47.834 --> 01:03:48.194
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
01:03:48.214 --> 01:03:50.237
[SPEAKER_00]: No, yes, absolutely.
01:03:50.718 --> 01:03:54.844
[SPEAKER_00]: I am constantly feeling like I need to pinch myself that I get to live here.
01:03:54.884 --> 01:03:56.346
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm...
01:03:56.326 --> 01:04:02.457
[SPEAKER_00]: I've just went to the beach last weekend and I was like, I can't believe this is my backyard.
01:04:02.917 --> 01:04:17.743
[SPEAKER_00]: This is beautiful and I still I step outside every morning and I'm like, oh my gosh, the wildlife here, it's just unreal that there are some even as you said the most densely populated county were in Penelis and
01:04:17.723 --> 01:04:30.861
[SPEAKER_00]: They're still wildness, they're still so much beauty, and I mean even more when you go to the hidden wild parts of Florida, I mean it is an incredible state.
01:04:31.542 --> 01:04:37.791
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how to tell people like our filmmaker for our next expeditions from Seattle, and they're just like...
01:04:38.615 --> 01:04:43.901
[SPEAKER_01]: inundated with beauty, you know, the same interaction of mountains and ocean and they just have so many speed.
01:04:43.921 --> 01:04:48.086
[SPEAKER_01]: They have mountain lines and links and so many cool things.
01:04:48.447 --> 01:04:52.792
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, spend some time here and you will think it's weird.
01:04:52.812 --> 01:04:57.258
[SPEAKER_01]: It just takes time to sink in for a lot of people, but once it does, the love is deep.
01:04:57.378 --> 01:05:01.723
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like a deep fashion for it versus the very obvious beauty.
01:05:02.224 --> 01:05:03.385
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
01:05:03.405 --> 01:05:03.986
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're right.
01:05:04.146 --> 01:05:05.027
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it will.
01:05:05.817 --> 01:05:28.163
[SPEAKER_00]: Florida does have a certain perspective, and I get this a lot of times because a lot of my family and friends are in the Northeast and they're like, you live in Florida, like it just doesn't get the best rep, but also same as New Jersey New Jersey doesn't have a good rep either.
01:05:28.143 --> 01:05:35.942
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I have a lot of friends from New Jersey and expensive time there, it's a beautiful place, but yeah, it's outside looking in, it's not always positive.
01:05:35.962 --> 01:05:37.726
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, so you got to spend time and you'll love it.
01:05:38.187 --> 01:05:40.994
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we talked a little bit about what stories you're telling next.
01:05:41.937 --> 01:05:45.004
[SPEAKER_01]: Anything else you want to share with folks about what's coming up?
01:05:45.676 --> 01:05:58.056
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so, you know, we did talk about Sylvia Arolf film coming in 2028, but another big initiative that we have coming with National Geographic Society is called the Connected Planet Initiative.
01:05:58.737 --> 01:06:02.583
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a vision of globally connected wildlife corridors.
01:06:03.745 --> 01:06:10.215
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now we have less than 15% of our land in water around the world protected.
01:06:11.022 --> 01:06:20.296
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a goal of having 30% protected by 2030 from, I think, 113 nations.
01:06:21.338 --> 01:06:23.100
[SPEAKER_00]: But how are we going to get there?
01:06:23.501 --> 01:06:29.450
[SPEAKER_00]: And wildlife corridors are that vision for how we can achieve that.
01:06:30.251 --> 01:06:37.182
[SPEAKER_00]: So with this initiative, we're going to be putting out grants for national geographic explorers.
01:06:37.567 --> 01:06:46.255
[SPEAKER_00]: to tell stories about wildlife corridors, because the science is often there for why we need wildlife corridors, but the story is missing.
01:06:46.936 --> 01:06:55.023
[SPEAKER_00]: And we need that story to build consensus to raise awareness and get people on board to protect and connect the planet.
01:06:56.225 --> 01:07:04.232
[SPEAKER_01]: I tell me if I'm wrong, but I often tell people that kind of next,
01:07:05.191 --> 01:07:13.098
[SPEAKER_01]: phase of conservation is connection, and Florida is really the testing ground.
01:07:13.318 --> 01:07:14.179
[SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome.
01:07:14.199 --> 01:07:14.539
[SPEAKER_02]: It is.
01:07:15.140 --> 01:07:15.921
[SPEAKER_01]: How cool is that?
01:07:16.561 --> 01:07:17.943
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're right, you're confirming.
01:07:17.963 --> 01:07:31.695
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I mean, I know there's a lot of initiatives that are, you know, happening around the world that are caught in a wide, but a lot of them and from what I can tell are still kind of on paper or a landing page somewhere.
01:07:32.175 --> 01:07:34.978
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not really
01:07:35.212 --> 01:07:36.013
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not the case here.
01:07:36.173 --> 01:07:37.215
[SPEAKER_01]: It's happening.
01:07:37.675 --> 01:07:38.176
[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening.
01:07:38.196 --> 01:07:38.496
[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening.
01:07:38.897 --> 01:07:48.349
[SPEAKER_01]: And what does that feel like for like a global initiative to really be really the litmus test right here, right here, right where we're sitting?
01:07:48.829 --> 01:07:53.095
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, this is the little bit.
01:07:53.115 --> 01:08:04.830
[SPEAKER_00]: No, this is the most ambitious large scale landscape corridor initiative in the country, in the world.
01:08:05.772 --> 01:08:13.842
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the framework for how we can expand this and so it's yeah incredibly
01:08:13.990 --> 01:08:21.603
[SPEAKER_00]: cool to be a part of it and hopefully scale that around the world so we can have a connected planet.
01:08:21.683 --> 01:08:37.830
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have to have isolated fragmented habitats where wildlife can't move freely and we don't have access to clean water and climate resilience and like you know we need corridors to have a healthy sustainable life into the future.
01:08:37.950 --> 01:08:38.631
[SPEAKER_00]: So
01:08:39.472 --> 01:08:47.372
[SPEAKER_00]: It's cool that it's happening here that people on both sides of the aisle get it that it's resonating.
01:08:49.917 --> 01:08:54.103
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just, it's like, world-changing to think about it.
01:08:54.164 --> 01:08:56.427
[SPEAKER_01]: Isn't that crazy happening right here?
01:08:56.768 --> 01:09:15.857
[SPEAKER_01]: This might be author record, but like, I try to tell people that all the time that there's other big ideas, Yellowstone, the U-Con, and there's like huge elephant migration corridors across the continent of Africa and in a lot of pockets and big things and the Amazon, like all these corridors, but nothing's really
01:09:16.715 --> 01:09:35.736
[SPEAKER_01]: even close to actionable like it's happening here and we're well past the halfway mark of success here and it's like and I also feel that anywhere else in the world I mean there's obviously examples all over but like if Florida can do it
01:09:36.003 --> 01:09:39.648
[SPEAKER_01]: You can do it because we are a tiny, most beautiful land.
01:09:39.688 --> 01:09:39.928
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
01:09:40.750 --> 01:09:44.635
[SPEAKER_01]: And we have 1,000 people today moving here for the years.
01:09:44.795 --> 01:09:50.403
[SPEAKER_01]: The political will is like people are like, how are you doing that amidst the sentiment?
01:09:51.164 --> 01:09:55.530
[SPEAKER_01]: And so many people that don't even have a clue that's happening right under their nose.
01:09:56.911 --> 01:10:05.205
[SPEAKER_01]: There's like all these elements of the story that are like, we're playing the video game for the first time on the hardest difficulty, right?
01:10:06.087 --> 01:10:10.975
[SPEAKER_01]: Because anywhere else are adjacent states to adjacent regions.
01:10:11.857 --> 01:10:16.905
[SPEAKER_01]: Do not have those same levels of challenges at that difficulty level.
01:10:16.966 --> 01:10:20.151
[SPEAKER_01]: There might be one or two of those pillars that it's like,
01:10:20.232 --> 01:10:25.783
[SPEAKER_01]: similar, but Texas doesn't have this kind of challenge, a lot of private land, you know?
01:10:25.924 --> 01:10:27.627
[SPEAKER_01]: But hey, we're dealing with that now.
01:10:27.948 --> 01:10:31.936
[SPEAKER_01]: And so they've got a lot of pathways to connection for those big cats.
01:10:32.237 --> 01:10:34.461
[SPEAKER_01]: And can I ask you the last three questions?
01:10:34.782 --> 01:10:35.022
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
01:10:36.646 --> 01:10:38.770
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there anything else you wanted to share while we're talking?
01:10:38.790 --> 01:10:41.295
[SPEAKER_01]: Like anything like, I need to make sure I make a point about this.
01:10:42.305 --> 01:10:50.219
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, actually, we have some film screenings coming up.
01:10:50.580 --> 01:10:50.960
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
01:10:50.980 --> 01:10:52.483
[SPEAKER_00]: Film screenings coming up.
01:10:52.503 --> 01:10:56.610
[SPEAKER_00]: So the gas gorilla film festival is next week in Tampa.
01:10:56.951 --> 01:10:59.976
[SPEAKER_00]: We have Florida bear tracks screening there.
01:10:59.956 --> 01:11:06.425
[SPEAKER_00]: We also have Florida Bear Tracks screening next week at the St. Augie Shorts Film Festival and St. Augustine.
01:11:07.206 --> 01:11:21.304
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the little Brumberg screening at the American Conservation Film Festival in mid-March and then end of March we have Florida Bear Tracks screening at the DC Environmental Film Festival.
01:11:21.965 --> 01:11:28.073
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are always great opportunities get going to film festival
01:11:28.053 --> 01:11:31.117
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, getting to engage in conversation around these films.
01:11:31.177 --> 01:11:36.184
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're in those areas, please go attend or just watch the film.
01:11:36.244 --> 01:11:37.946
[SPEAKER_00]: Share the stories.
01:11:38.827 --> 01:11:43.453
[SPEAKER_00]: And, yes, stay tuned with Wild Path because there are more screenings coming up.
01:11:43.533 --> 01:11:47.118
[SPEAKER_00]: We, I just heard this morning, we might have a screening at Archpool soon.
01:11:47.158 --> 01:11:48.860
[SPEAKER_01]: So, sweet.
01:11:49.020 --> 01:11:49.481
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay tuned.
01:11:50.242 --> 01:11:54.027
[SPEAKER_01]: Alright, and where can you follow if you do want to see?
01:11:54.175 --> 01:12:00.380
[SPEAKER_01]: upcoming screenings because I this might come out in like two or three weeks maybe a month so we might be past some of those.
01:12:00.981 --> 01:12:05.825
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh okay yeah go to wildpath.com.
01:12:05.845 --> 01:12:08.428
[SPEAKER_01]: All right last three questions and this has been great.
01:12:08.448 --> 01:12:09.649
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for the additional time.
01:12:09.809 --> 01:12:11.490
[SPEAKER_01]: This is uh this is fun.
01:12:13.392 --> 01:12:15.314
[SPEAKER_01]: Place in Florida that's most special to you.
01:12:16.054 --> 01:12:22.680
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay the place in Florida that's most
01:12:23.352 --> 01:12:34.626
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it feels incredibly honored that I get to have Carlton Ward, Jr. and Sylvia Earl, as my mentors and get to experience this place with both of them and learn from both of them.
01:12:34.666 --> 01:12:40.973
[SPEAKER_00]: And, I mean, Sylvia has just changed the way I look at things so much.
01:12:41.053 --> 01:12:49.984
[SPEAKER_00]: I already feel like I have section innate curiosity when it comes to the natural world, but Sylvia looks at the
01:12:50.639 --> 01:13:16.444
[SPEAKER_00]: tiniest things and doesn't when we're scuba diving barely moves a foot because she's just investigating one patch of sea grass and it has totally yet changed the way I look at this area and the things that I'm seeing, the algae, the little critters, the scallops, oh my gosh, I love scallops
01:13:18.010 --> 01:13:18.932
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
01:13:18.952 --> 01:13:25.284
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I love the water, so right now, that's my favorite place.
01:13:26.887 --> 01:13:27.709
[SPEAKER_01]: It's frustrating.
01:13:27.969 --> 01:13:34.281
[SPEAKER_01]: I tell people like we have to pay bills and you know, drive places and
01:13:35.476 --> 01:13:50.937
[SPEAKER_01]: feet ourselves, and there's all this magic that when you just stop, it starts to blow the mind, and I feel like I've said that ten times this interview, but like, that's really cool to hear even from your point of view, because because people feel like,
01:13:50.917 --> 01:13:52.040
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I feel like I should know this.
01:13:52.140 --> 01:13:56.451
[SPEAKER_01]: I should know this, but you're like looking at a scallop and like looking at the eyes and looking at the eyes.
01:13:56.471 --> 01:13:58.235
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like this is the blue eyes.
01:13:58.837 --> 01:14:00.020
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just there.
01:14:00.060 --> 01:14:00.761
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh-huh.
01:14:00.942 --> 01:14:05.994
[SPEAKER_01]: Without me noticing my whole life and then it's just beauty everywhere you look.
01:14:06.014 --> 01:14:07.879
[SPEAKER_01]: I've never been to the same Martin's keys.
01:14:09.344 --> 01:14:10.305
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems really unique.
01:14:11.386 --> 01:14:15.030
[SPEAKER_00]: It is like an incredible underwater forest is so cool.
01:14:15.050 --> 01:14:22.458
[SPEAKER_00]: The nurse sharks that come to the St. Martin's keys, the sea turtles, oh my gosh.
01:14:22.878 --> 01:14:25.721
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, and for you one that there's like, where is that?
01:14:26.021 --> 01:14:32.708
[SPEAKER_01]: Just off of the crystal river and crystal river and that whole area, unbelievable.
01:14:33.869 --> 01:14:35.891
[SPEAKER_01]: What, how do people get involved?
01:14:36.412 --> 01:14:37.393
[SPEAKER_01]: Or how do people
01:14:38.251 --> 01:14:42.278
[SPEAKER_01]: Either get involved or get into what you do.
01:14:42.960 --> 01:14:47.548
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, the simplest answer to get involved is to watch the films.
01:14:48.270 --> 01:14:52.097
[SPEAKER_00]: Share the films, share the stories, start conversations.
01:14:53.179 --> 01:14:57.627
[SPEAKER_00]: I think, you know, I've mentioned this before how important stories are in the power of stories.
01:14:58.670 --> 01:15:00.152
[SPEAKER_00]: get those messages out there.
01:15:00.192 --> 01:15:03.577
[SPEAKER_00]: Next step is you can always support us.
01:15:03.637 --> 01:15:05.019
[SPEAKER_00]: You can support Wild Path.
01:15:05.039 --> 01:15:06.281
[SPEAKER_00]: You can become a partner.
01:15:06.321 --> 01:15:24.909
[SPEAKER_00]: And then if you don't want to do either of those things, which I think you should, just get involved with your landscape, learn your plant and animal neighbors, support Wild Life Court or initiatives, support conservation policy, and get outside.
01:15:25.750 --> 01:15:27.833
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, do you still get outside?
01:15:28.268 --> 01:15:30.939
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes, yeah, getting outside is very important.
01:15:31.039 --> 01:15:33.248
[SPEAKER_01]: Despite working in it, it can sometimes.
01:15:33.308 --> 01:15:33.931
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I can.
01:15:33.951 --> 01:15:34.513
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not that forget.
01:15:35.477 --> 01:15:38.028
[SPEAKER_00]: I am on the board at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.
01:15:38.108 --> 01:15:38.650
[SPEAKER_00]: So.
01:15:58.964 --> 01:16:02.170
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to sound conceited, but it's kind of us.
01:16:05.135 --> 01:16:20.483
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we already talked about how amazing it is that the Florida Wildlife Court or is happening and the progress we've made, and this is the largest, most ambitious conservation plan.
01:16:20.463 --> 01:16:24.632
[SPEAKER_00]: And the United States, and I mean, we're making it happen.
01:16:24.753 --> 01:16:34.354
[SPEAKER_00]: So I feel very hopeful by the work that we're all doing for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, the Coalition of Partners that have come together, all of the...
01:16:35.077 --> 01:16:50.993
[SPEAKER_00]: people who know about the quarter her spreading the message and I'm just really excited for where this is going to continue to go and grow and hopefully become scalable for other states and eventually the world because we're going to make it happen.
01:16:56.474 --> 01:17:02.646
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, there you have it folks, you can learn more about KT and the stories that she's told on Wild Path's brand new website.
01:17:02.786 --> 01:17:09.359
[SPEAKER_01]: And also in the show, it's an information about the new collaboration between Wild Path and Natchio called Connected Planet.
01:17:09.540 --> 01:17:11.443
[SPEAKER_01]: And the story starts right here in Florida.
01:17:11.644 --> 01:17:12.846
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, talk to you soon.
00:10.325 --> 00:16.315
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey folks, welcome to Florida Uncut, the podcast that's all about the people who are connecting and protecting a wild Florida.
00:16.496 --> 00:18.439
[SPEAKER_01]: Today we're talking with KT Brighton.
00:18.599 --> 00:34.206
[SPEAKER_01]: KT is the executive producer and film director, had wild path, and wild path is the organization founded by the Florida Wildlife Coordor Foundation's founder, Carlton Ward Jr., and KT has made a number of films there, including the Little Brown Bird,
00:34.186 --> 00:36.430
[SPEAKER_01]: floor to bear tracks and deer Tampa Bay.
00:36.571 --> 00:38.334
[SPEAKER_01]: There's links in the show notes for all of those.
00:38.795 --> 00:50.638
[SPEAKER_01]: Back in September, when we premiered our new documentary here at the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, we did kind of this triple feature with the little brown bird and the book of George by George McKinsey.
00:50.918 --> 00:53.443
[SPEAKER_01]: You may remember we had on the show a while pack.
00:53.423 --> 00:59.393
[SPEAKER_01]: So Wild Path's big mission is telling stories through science about wildlife.
00:59.693 --> 01:14.959
[SPEAKER_01]: So their best known story is what path of the Panther, which came out a couple years ago, went in any and was just a huge deal for the momentum around the Florida Wildlife corridor and the level of high-quality storytelling that can be told from Florida Stories.
01:14.939 --> 01:17.904
[SPEAKER_01]: So in this episode, we dive deep into KT's background.
01:18.124 --> 01:21.629
[SPEAKER_01]: How she got to floor to how she got into this, ways to get involved.
01:21.890 --> 01:25.255
[SPEAKER_01]: I've interviewed her before briefly at the premiere of the film.
01:25.295 --> 01:31.284
[SPEAKER_01]: And she's not one that was going to totally share her story constantly, like someone like me who can't just stop talking.
01:31.404 --> 01:33.267
[SPEAKER_01]: So this was a really cool opportunity.
01:33.287 --> 01:40.558
[SPEAKER_01]: There was so much I learned about KT and about the way she tells stories and how she crafts them over many, many years.
01:40.538 --> 01:45.964
[SPEAKER_01]: just such a cool process to me that I have just no one patience for or ability to do.
01:46.204 --> 01:49.348
[SPEAKER_01]: So this was a really insightful, really inspiring conversation.
01:49.368 --> 01:56.215
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're someone young out there who wants to learn more about how to do this work, KT offers some great resources and advice.
01:56.556 --> 02:03.523
[SPEAKER_01]: In the last thing I'll say, go check out the films that KT has directed in the show notes on Wild Path's website.
02:03.623 --> 02:05.145
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a brand new website.
02:05.125 --> 02:31.977
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of cool information on there, but that's brand new and that's launched and something else that's new as of this week is a really cool new collaboration between Wild Path and National Geographic Society called Connected Planet, which uses storytelling to inspire the protection of wildlife corridors all across the globe and they're going to be slowly piecing together, showing the connectedness between the entire planet, the land and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea and the sea
02:31.957 --> 02:37.329
[SPEAKER_01]: That story of a connect and entirely connected planet starts right here in Florida, which is so cool.
02:37.569 --> 02:41.418
[SPEAKER_01]: No where else on Earth is pursuing a conservation vision.
02:41.638 --> 02:48.193
[SPEAKER_01]: Quite as robustly, quite as audaciously and making so much progress as we are here in Florida.
02:48.173 --> 02:57.878
[SPEAKER_01]: due to so many people that listen to the show, it's so many partners and really the whole conservation community here in the state is becoming a template for, honestly, everywhere else in the world.
02:57.958 --> 02:58.519
[SPEAKER_01]: It's pretty cool.
02:58.680 --> 03:00.865
[SPEAKER_01]: Storytelling is one of the big pillars of that.
03:01.126 --> 03:05.136
[SPEAKER_01]: Science, the storytelling, then comes the implementation.
03:05.116 --> 03:08.781
[SPEAKER_01]: And also this episode was edited by Zach Franco.
03:09.142 --> 03:12.988
[SPEAKER_01]: This is the second one he's done and curious to hear how he did.
03:13.048 --> 03:18.356
[SPEAKER_01]: So reach out to me and let him know you're gonna be hearing more from Zach soon and more details to come.
03:18.376 --> 03:21.100
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll probably do a show update here soon to talk about that.
03:21.220 --> 03:23.263
[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, thank you so much Zach for editing.
03:23.564 --> 03:24.425
[SPEAKER_01]: Getting better and better.
03:24.645 --> 03:27.630
[SPEAKER_01]: But if there's any edit issues going on, just blame it on him.
03:27.770 --> 03:28.491
[SPEAKER_01]: That's what I'm gonna do.
03:28.471 --> 03:34.099
[SPEAKER_01]: And also this episode was recorded at the headquarters of the Florida Wildlife Court or Foundation in St. Petersburg, Florida.
03:34.259 --> 03:37.865
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're ever in the area, our office is an art gallery, so you can always stop by.
03:38.105 --> 03:39.928
[SPEAKER_01]: Exhibits come and go every couple months.
03:39.948 --> 03:43.413
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a really cool space, beautiful space, and that's where we recorded.
03:43.513 --> 03:46.036
[SPEAKER_01]: So, not really built for podcasts, but a great place to meet.
03:46.257 --> 03:47.138
[SPEAKER_01]: Alright, let's dive in.
03:54.880 --> 03:57.585
[SPEAKER_01]: KT Bride and welcome to Florida Uncut, how you doing?
03:57.906 --> 03:59.569
[SPEAKER_00]: Good, thank you for having me.
03:59.749 --> 04:02.975
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, it's a cool, we're both wearing our jackets.
04:03.015 --> 04:06.342
[SPEAKER_01]: You might hear a little ruffling, those in Listenerland.
04:06.382 --> 04:11.271
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you like these like cool Florida mornings, sunny days?
04:12.092 --> 04:12.754
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't get many.
04:13.315 --> 04:14.577
[SPEAKER_01]: How's your feelings with those?
04:14.742 --> 04:15.743
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I love it.
04:16.304 --> 04:19.308
[SPEAKER_00]: I love being outside and I feel like it's perfect.
04:19.328 --> 04:22.913
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I have been in Florida like five years now.
04:23.114 --> 04:26.659
[SPEAKER_00]: So I am a little bit used to the warm weather.
04:26.779 --> 04:29.162
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm like, I need my jackets.
04:30.304 --> 04:30.764
[SPEAKER_00]: That's nice.
04:31.866 --> 04:36.132
[SPEAKER_01]: They are musty when you pull them out once a year.
04:36.452 --> 04:38.255
[SPEAKER_01]: So basically for a couple of weeks.
04:38.855 --> 04:39.637
[SPEAKER_01]: Where were you before?
04:40.478 --> 04:43.602
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I was born in New Jersey.
04:44.375 --> 04:49.589
[SPEAKER_00]: and then lived in DC for about nine years before moving to Florida.
04:49.629 --> 04:50.972
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
04:51.574 --> 04:56.848
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell me a little bit about, you know, you've filmed so many things around the world.
04:57.622 --> 05:03.868
[SPEAKER_01]: all sorts of different stories and I've got a list of like your works here and all the things you've done which is just like a mile long.
05:04.088 --> 05:07.331
[SPEAKER_01]: It's multiple pages of notes.
05:07.352 --> 05:13.698
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you go all the way back to like the early seeds of conservation storytelling in your life?
05:13.758 --> 05:23.207
[SPEAKER_01]: Like some of those early inspirations, personal or you know even people that we're doing this, where did it start for you
05:23.609 --> 05:25.372
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I'll take you on a journey.
05:25.592 --> 05:26.554
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, sweet.
05:26.574 --> 05:27.896
[SPEAKER_01]: Sweet, yeah, take your time.
05:27.956 --> 05:30.720
[SPEAKER_01]: Do we got people are very forgiving and audio-land.
05:30.780 --> 05:34.106
[SPEAKER_01]: They're listening while they're driving, while they're doing the dishes.
05:34.246 --> 05:37.952
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's not like film where it's tight.
05:37.972 --> 05:39.594
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, that'd be perfect.
05:39.835 --> 05:40.636
[SPEAKER_01]: People love a story.
05:40.917 --> 05:41.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, great.
05:41.878 --> 05:44.803
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, like I said, I was born in New Jersey.
05:45.203 --> 05:49.971
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people think of New Jersey, you know, most densely populated state, but where I grew up,
05:50.609 --> 06:02.842
[SPEAKER_00]: You had to wait for the cast across the street for the ducks, across the street, three farms and walking distance right next to the rarity river, which is the largest watershed in New Jersey, longest river in New Jersey.
06:03.803 --> 06:19.300
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had an actual environment wildlife around me, always just this innate connection to nature and wildlife, any book report I had, I always wanted it to be.
06:19.583 --> 06:27.001
[SPEAKER_00]: on an animal, I remember making a diorama, clay, diorama of a platypus, doing a book or a port on a harbor seal.
06:27.021 --> 06:32.715
[SPEAKER_00]: I recently found a piece of artwork I made in third grade that said.
06:34.282 --> 06:38.610
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a dream that pollution will stop in the ocean for animals.
06:39.752 --> 06:42.617
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think it just kind of was always in me.
06:42.637 --> 06:47.365
[SPEAKER_00]: I, you know, didn't have parents in the environmental field.
06:47.385 --> 06:49.288
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to ask where they introducing you to these things?
06:49.509 --> 06:53.576
[SPEAKER_00]: No, but I think I just had this curiosity and they let me go with it.
06:53.616 --> 06:58.264
[SPEAKER_00]: I have two older sisters and I remember on like family vacations.
06:58.244 --> 07:02.130
[SPEAKER_00]: I would always be the one, like, hiking up front.
07:02.230 --> 07:05.595
[SPEAKER_00]: They would be in the back and be like, ah, can we go on the bugs?
07:05.835 --> 07:07.918
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be like, can we go horseback riding?
07:07.978 --> 07:09.721
[SPEAKER_00]: And my sister would be like, it's too smelly.
07:09.761 --> 07:12.785
[SPEAKER_01]: And is that, is that held true?
07:13.627 --> 07:14.308
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.
07:14.368 --> 07:15.469
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
07:15.489 --> 07:18.233
[SPEAKER_01]: So you're still like that, is that wild child?
07:18.333 --> 07:18.714
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
07:18.754 --> 07:20.997
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just, yeah, always loved animals.
07:21.077 --> 07:24.082
[SPEAKER_00]: And had this connection to nature.
07:24.122 --> 07:27.627
[SPEAKER_00]: And then kind of fast forward too.
07:27.607 --> 07:32.553
[SPEAKER_00]: high school, trying to make a decision of, what am I going to do?
07:32.593 --> 07:43.067
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought career-rock career-wise environmental science, that made sense to me, like maybe I could pursue some sort of career being outside.
07:43.147 --> 07:51.818
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know what, and my school was so small, it didn't offer an environmental science course, so I had to enroll in the community college.
07:52.079 --> 07:54.542
[SPEAKER_00]: So at 17, I would leave high school early,
07:54.522 --> 07:58.269
[SPEAKER_00]: drive over to the community college and then take a college course.
07:58.589 --> 08:00.292
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, all this in New Jersey.
08:00.533 --> 08:01.735
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, this is New Jersey.
08:01.795 --> 08:08.507
[SPEAKER_01]: And what were you, I mean, how much was it just blowing your mind like what you were learning about your home state?
08:08.527 --> 08:14.758
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I think New Jersey is such an under appreciated place for its natural beauty.
08:15.076 --> 08:24.106
[SPEAKER_01]: a couple years ago, I went hiking all over the country for this project and my favorite place in the whole country, and it was like the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains.
08:24.126 --> 08:25.607
[SPEAKER_01]: It was New Jersey, a hiking New Jersey.
08:26.488 --> 08:36.800
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't even know what town, but it was gorgeous, and no one was out there, and it totally changed the way I looked at that state, and it sounds like that was the New Jersey you knew.
08:36.860 --> 08:40.864
[SPEAKER_01]: But you're probably learning so much of this community college course.
08:41.131 --> 09:09.417
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, no, it really, really opened my eyes because as I said, I grew up, you know, right next to the Rarity River and then I learned in this college course that the Rarity River is the 14th most polluted river in the nation that has over a like 200 year legacy of industrial pollution that New Jersey is known for having the most super fun sites, toxic waste sites in the entire nation and I was just like, what?
09:09.397 --> 09:11.579
[SPEAKER_00]: How did I not know this?
09:12.120 --> 09:13.221
[SPEAKER_00]: Like this is in my backyard.
09:13.241 --> 09:14.462
[SPEAKER_00]: I was so mad.
09:14.542 --> 09:16.784
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, why didn't they teach this in school?
09:16.804 --> 09:28.015
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I remember being taught in school that George Washington wrote down the road in front of my school during the Revolutionary War and Yadayada, and I'm like, well, who cares?
09:28.055 --> 09:32.620
[SPEAKER_00]: I should know about my plant and animal neighbors.
09:32.940 --> 09:34.081
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, today.
09:34.101 --> 09:34.922
[SPEAKER_01]: Today.
09:34.962 --> 09:38.205
[SPEAKER_01]: And the ones suffering today, wow.
09:38.489 --> 09:49.393
[SPEAKER_01]: then what's kind of learnings one thing and then action usually precedes that or follows that what what did you start doing then?
09:49.711 --> 09:56.563
[SPEAKER_00]: So the environmental science course, a big part of the curriculum was watching environmental documentaries.
09:57.424 --> 10:09.065
[SPEAKER_00]: So one that really stood out to me was who killed the electric car, blue vinyl, and they were all about environmental injustice in communities and how people were affected.
10:09.305 --> 10:14.875
[SPEAKER_00]: But watching those documentaries just like really lit fire in my belly of like,
10:15.631 --> 10:16.753
[SPEAKER_00]: How could this be happening?
10:16.833 --> 10:17.874
[SPEAKER_00]: I was so naive.
10:17.894 --> 10:24.744
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought the government will look out for the health of people and longterm interests over short-term profitability of corporations.
10:25.745 --> 10:33.456
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just couldn't believe that this was the case that the environment was being destroyed and people were getting sick.
10:33.536 --> 10:36.580
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's when I realized this is what I want to do.
10:36.600 --> 10:39.544
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to tell stories, I want to raise awareness.
10:40.285 --> 10:43.950
[SPEAKER_00]: I think facts don't always change people's minds, but stories can.
10:44.538 --> 10:47.765
[SPEAKER_01]: and you were seeing that personally through this storytelling.
10:48.788 --> 10:52.877
[SPEAKER_01]: So how do you begin taking those steps into that world?
10:53.058 --> 10:54.962
[SPEAKER_01]: Because, you know, there's a lot to learn.
10:55.022 --> 11:00.214
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's really cool that you said, wow, this is changing my mind, opening my eyes.
11:00.254 --> 11:01.116
[SPEAKER_01]: I want to do the same.
11:01.758 --> 11:02.800
[SPEAKER_01]: So then what?
11:02.813 --> 11:09.541
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so I went to American University, studied Film Media Arts and Environmental Science.
11:09.561 --> 11:12.165
[SPEAKER_00]: They have a center for environmental filmmaking program.
11:12.845 --> 11:18.533
[SPEAKER_00]: So I was enrolled in that and then had many internships, all during my school years.
11:19.033 --> 11:28.585
[SPEAKER_00]: I interned at the Wilderness Society at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Sanctuary's team.
11:28.565 --> 11:45.325
[SPEAKER_00]: I worked on a Smithsonian channel show, worked for Washington Post Photographer, was a video engineer on an exploration vessel called the EV Nautilus, and was on that for five weeks operating cameras on ROVs in the deep sea.
11:46.047 --> 12:00.900
[SPEAKER_00]: So I had a variety of experiences from government to nonprofit to live broadcast, and I just showed me all the different ways you can communicate and target your messages to audiences.
12:01.690 --> 12:23.403
[SPEAKER_01]: That's such an, that's a wide range of experiences early on where you also let me ask this, what were the people around you thinking like family and friends as you pursued this path where they, you know, hey, this is just, this is what KT does, you know, this is the way she goes on her own path or was it, you know, where it was her support and sounds like your parents from pretty supportive early on.
12:24.085 --> 12:25.707
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think there's always been
12:25.855 --> 12:38.418
[SPEAKER_00]: support all of us, my sisters, and I are very creative, so my parents have always supported that we're creative people, and these are our passions.
12:38.518 --> 12:48.657
[SPEAKER_00]: I opened their eyes to a lot of things that they didn't know, so I think they've always been really interested to learn from me and learn about the environment.
12:48.637 --> 12:49.378
[SPEAKER_01]: That's so cool.
12:49.618 --> 12:57.987
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, with the wide range of those experiences early on, were you feeling pulled into any certain direction or media type or like issue?
12:58.027 --> 13:00.390
[SPEAKER_01]: Frankly, because that's the one thing.
13:00.430 --> 13:02.172
[SPEAKER_01]: Even focused on a state.
13:03.113 --> 13:04.694
[SPEAKER_01]: You got to like almost choose your battles.
13:05.055 --> 13:11.562
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, because it's all urgent, you can burn yourself out or just kind of grow, desensitized to it.
13:11.962 --> 13:17.428
[SPEAKER_01]: How did you approach kind of the vastness of what you could pursue?
13:17.594 --> 13:33.932
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you know during that time at school I really was kind of just focused on learning as much as I can developing as many skills as I could learning motion graphics and cinematography and marketing and so it was really
13:33.912 --> 13:35.857
[SPEAKER_00]: just learn everything.
13:35.897 --> 13:40.247
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I felt like I refined a little bit more of stories.
13:40.307 --> 13:42.553
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to focus on with my first job.
13:42.713 --> 13:49.710
[SPEAKER_00]: I worked at Conservation International, worked my way up from like coordinator to senior video producer, and
13:50.028 --> 13:53.551
[SPEAKER_00]: I picked my own stories, developed a series called Women on a Mission.
13:53.571 --> 13:57.655
[SPEAKER_00]: I got it right here.
13:57.695 --> 14:08.866
[SPEAKER_00]: With my travels for conservation international and working with communities, indigenous peoples and the conservation projects that they were initiating.
14:08.966 --> 14:14.191
[SPEAKER_00]: It just became so clear to me that women were the stewards of the natural world.
14:14.272 --> 14:19.917
[SPEAKER_00]: They were the one staying home, taking care of the kids, going to fetch water, going to
14:20.740 --> 14:26.552
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, grow plants, a grow food, while the men were off trying to find work.
14:26.692 --> 14:35.230
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they were seeing these daily changes to the environment, but their voices weren't being recognized in community meetings, only men were allowed.
14:35.771 --> 14:36.994
[SPEAKER_00]: And so...
14:37.683 --> 14:57.852
[SPEAKER_00]: I think if the core of all this is worldwide worldwide, I think at the core of all of this is like injustice really bothers me Yeah, I'm so Yeah, I was just like we I'm why I really want to create a video series that elevates women's voices in conservation helps put them on a higher
14:57.832 --> 15:05.307
[SPEAKER_00]: Petal Stulf, you know, for the community that they're being recognized at conservation international that their stories are being told.
15:05.788 --> 15:16.650
[SPEAKER_00]: And it really helped, it really improved a lot of the access that women had to these conversations and opportunities they had from creating these short films.
15:17.137 --> 15:25.331
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so you saw impact through that first, that experience when that was about 10 years ago, I think?
15:26.393 --> 15:32.163
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, and what part of that creative process did you find maybe the most rewarding?
15:32.424 --> 15:40.157
[SPEAKER_01]: Was it, you know, the capturing of the stories, the production of that series, or is it like,
15:40.897 --> 15:44.461
[SPEAKER_01]: playing it to a crowd and watching the reactions and watching the impact.
15:44.481 --> 15:51.930
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I'm sure every bit of it's rewarding, but is there kind of a moment or a part of that figure, like, yes, I want to repeat this?
15:52.811 --> 15:53.432
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
15:53.452 --> 16:02.483
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I always love being in the field and working with people and going into other worlds and ways of life.
16:03.087 --> 16:09.356
[SPEAKER_00]: So, that's so rewarding to me to get to hear other people's stories and learn about the way that they live.
16:10.138 --> 16:21.494
[SPEAKER_00]: It is also incredibly rewarding to see the impact happen and show people the film, but I think honestly, as a filmmaker, sometimes he walks the film so many times.
16:21.515 --> 16:28.365
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's like, it's a little repetitive and then you like notice all the little problems that aren't the film and you know.
16:28.966 --> 16:32.571
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, vegan the field to me is probably the best part.
16:32.551 --> 16:34.757
[SPEAKER_01]: though it's not watching it in theater.
16:35.319 --> 16:41.076
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, by the time, because I'm only on the brand or the kind of the initiation of the project side and
16:41.900 --> 16:44.604
[SPEAKER_01]: editing from a, you know, organizational point of view.
16:44.665 --> 16:48.110
[SPEAKER_01]: And by the time we're screening, I can't sit and watch the film.
16:48.271 --> 16:49.913
[SPEAKER_01]: I got it in my, I'm going to go help set up chairs.
16:49.953 --> 16:51.836
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to go help, you know, clean up this table.
16:51.937 --> 16:53.539
[SPEAKER_01]: I just can't watch this again.
16:53.780 --> 16:54.741
[SPEAKER_01]: I need some time away.
16:54.781 --> 17:03.115
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can only imagine how much more has the producer, editor, director that you feel that, which is so interesting.
17:03.095 --> 17:08.285
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, as someone from New Jersey, my next question is about, how did you get to Florida?
17:08.826 --> 17:13.214
[SPEAKER_01]: And for most people from New Jersey, it's pretty obvious, I answer it.
17:13.234 --> 17:14.416
[SPEAKER_01]: But what was your trajectory?
17:14.436 --> 17:18.985
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you've had, you just, we're all over the world, like what, what led you here, of all points?
17:19.005 --> 17:20.708
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you know, it's really funny.
17:21.269 --> 17:22.892
[SPEAKER_00]: My first,
17:22.872 --> 17:29.027
[SPEAKER_00]: Traveling with Conservation International was to St. Pete for the Blue Ocean Film Festival.
17:29.408 --> 17:39.092
[SPEAKER_00]: I was showing our first virtual reality film, Balance Reef, and who did I meet Carlton Ward Jr. and Sylvia Arral?
17:39.072 --> 17:41.417
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, I know full circle.
17:42.159 --> 17:43.020
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like circle.
17:43.040 --> 17:47.329
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's what you're doing now Holy cow, so you met them.
17:47.450 --> 17:47.991
[SPEAKER_00]: I met them.
17:48.552 --> 17:48.993
[SPEAKER_01]: When was that?
17:49.494 --> 17:54.705
[SPEAKER_00]: And that oh gosh 2016-17 so I like that around 10 years ago.
17:54.745 --> 17:55.847
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, holy cow.
17:55.867 --> 17:59.916
[SPEAKER_01]: So what was your impression of the sunset shine state then?
18:00.048 --> 18:09.254
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so funny, because I don't remember this Saint Pete that I live in now, but I guess it has changed a lot over the past 10 years.
18:09.896 --> 18:15.070
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mean, it was very quick visit for the film festival, but yeah.
18:15.050 --> 18:15.631
[SPEAKER_00]: It was great.
18:15.731 --> 18:21.063
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there any thoughts of, like, huh, I could see myself there one day working on these stories?
18:21.103 --> 18:25.132
[SPEAKER_01]: Or was it just another, another place on the map?
18:25.172 --> 18:33.289
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it was just, you know, coming here for the film festival, I didn't think twice about this would be my next step.
18:33.510 --> 18:35.033
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, you know,
18:35.013 --> 18:55.401
[SPEAKER_00]: Traveling around the world, filming all of these stories for conservation international, and I thought I would continue doing that but then that pandemic came around and well international travel was not a thing and I Since that film festival meeting Carlton and
18:55.651 --> 18:56.612
[SPEAKER_00]: until the pandemic.
18:56.632 --> 19:03.861
[SPEAKER_00]: I had worked with Carl to a few times filming different stories with him, chasing ghosts, another national geographic piece.
19:04.201 --> 19:11.450
[SPEAKER_00]: So we had worked together as I did as like a side job on the weekends, coming to Florida and filming for him.
19:11.570 --> 19:20.161
[SPEAKER_00]: So, the pandemic happened and he was like, we need someone that lives in Florida, the production company filming path of the Panther.
19:20.581 --> 19:23.785
[SPEAKER_00]: It's based on Montana and they needed someone in Florida to
19:24.018 --> 19:27.922
[SPEAKER_00]: Film things, make sure they're on the ground to capture last minute things for the film.
19:28.323 --> 19:30.465
[SPEAKER_00]: He was like, will you move here?
19:30.485 --> 19:33.668
[SPEAKER_00]: And I did.
19:33.688 --> 19:35.430
[SPEAKER_00]: I honestly didn't know.
19:35.450 --> 19:35.951
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I don't know.
19:35.971 --> 19:39.414
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you, I mean, was that an exciting?
19:39.475 --> 19:41.336
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there, you know, reluctance?
19:42.017 --> 19:42.818
[SPEAKER_01]: What was going to your head?
19:43.118 --> 19:47.443
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I was very excited to,
19:49.229 --> 20:13.026
[SPEAKER_00]: embed myself in a place and tell its story because I was so used to traveling and having a week or two weeks to capture everything and then come back home and to move to a place where I was going to be a part of a community and part of a story that was really exciting to me and yeah I did not know
20:14.170 --> 20:15.773
[SPEAKER_00]: But what to expect at all?
20:15.833 --> 20:22.004
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I have no, I knew no one here, no family close by.
20:22.064 --> 20:27.734
[SPEAKER_00]: So it was definitely quite a shock to move here during the pandemic and then.
20:27.754 --> 20:33.464
[SPEAKER_01]: So when I moved back here from out west and just happened to be the same time.
20:33.484 --> 20:35.588
[SPEAKER_01]: Because you know, you're often,
20:36.867 --> 20:59.398
[SPEAKER_01]: like a move you're thinking about it for a little while and we were already like selling our house and by another one in Colorado and boom two months before this thing happened I'm like oh my gosh how's this going to change so but yeah it was a wild time wow time oh my gosh can't believe that was six years a kind of like two weeks yeah when it kicked off but so so
21:00.357 --> 21:12.578
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it almost was going to give you a chance to highlight stories like the women that you highlight in your original series of like being somewhere every day and seeing those changes in real time and looking at being that.
21:12.659 --> 21:16.864
[SPEAKER_01]: almost canary in the coal mine of like, oh my gosh, I'm like, I'm understanding a place.
21:16.904 --> 21:18.245
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm totally no experience.
21:18.265 --> 21:25.173
[SPEAKER_01]: It sounds like versus hopping in a place for two weeks and coming and going and trying to get as much as you can down there.
21:25.233 --> 21:28.657
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you learning about Florida?
21:28.677 --> 21:34.124
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, chasing ghosts and some of those other projects that you were helping with before moving.
21:34.164 --> 21:37.087
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure we're really eye-opening to life.
21:37.107 --> 21:39.670
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh my gosh, this place is maybe not what I expected.
21:39.690 --> 21:41.552
[SPEAKER_01]: Was that happening to you?
21:41.532 --> 21:49.143
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, absolutely, I mean, I remember, you know, getting on the swamp buggy, which I didn't even know swamp buggy's were a thing.
21:49.364 --> 21:49.604
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
21:50.024 --> 21:50.285
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
21:51.006 --> 21:55.012
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, what comes to mind when someone says swamp buggy and you don't know what it is?
21:55.092 --> 21:55.753
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
21:55.913 --> 21:56.434
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
21:56.454 --> 21:57.996
[SPEAKER_01]: I do do that a monster.
21:58.277 --> 22:03.304
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, the swamp buggy and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and
22:04.600 --> 22:08.725
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just the scenery, I was like, is this Florida?
22:08.805 --> 22:11.708
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it seems like I should be in another country.
22:11.969 --> 22:13.050
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just incredible.
22:13.671 --> 22:26.646
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, getting the opportunity to move here and kind of embed myself and tell us stories, filming the last part of Path of the Panther, then we're talking about, well, how do we keep the momentum going?
22:27.086 --> 22:30.490
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep the message of the Florida Wildlife corridor,
22:30.672 --> 22:34.100
[SPEAKER_00]: progressing and keep inspiring people about the corridor.
22:34.221 --> 22:46.892
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's when things transition to bit and I started seeing on the photograph Hopper Sparrow, the Florida Black Bear, and finding stories of other species within the corridor to highlight.
22:47.210 --> 23:00.326
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the panther, starting with the panther, not starting, but like, you know, making that kind of this centerpiece almost of like that storytelling ecosystem makes it ton of sense and obviously it's, it's done really well.
23:01.648 --> 23:09.537
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you approach some of those other stories because it seems like the opportunities are just endless of what you can talk about.
23:09.958 --> 23:15.985
[SPEAKER_01]: Does that feel overwhelming or is it like an exciting challenge to say, okay, what can we focus on next?
23:16.589 --> 23:16.970
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
23:17.350 --> 23:24.340
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're right, especially in Florida, it feels like opportunities are endless first stories that need to be told.
23:25.201 --> 23:36.117
[SPEAKER_00]: But a lot of the way, you know, I'm looking at it at wild path as the executive producer and director handling all films is through an impact lens.
23:37.008 --> 23:40.212
[SPEAKER_00]: of, you know, what is the message we're trying to achieve?
23:40.312 --> 23:41.173
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's the audience?
23:41.573 --> 24:01.395
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to reach what are the outcomes and making sure we're kind of looking before we even start, you know, picking up a camera, start filming, looking at how we can make a difference and making sure we can achieve that before, you know, we start filming.
24:01.561 --> 24:23.949
[SPEAKER_01]: Talk to me a little bit about why, you know, I don't know, when you look at capturing moments through film and photography and just making visuals for people just to see what we're talking about, that has moved hearts and minds since humans started drawing in caves, you know what I mean?
24:24.009 --> 24:30.657
[SPEAKER_01]: And in like early conservation winds, we're paintings taken to Washington to show, here's what the West looks like.
24:30.822 --> 24:31.984
[SPEAKER_01]: don't let it be destroyed.
24:32.044 --> 24:36.150
[SPEAKER_01]: And that format continues to work wonders.
24:36.490 --> 24:37.372
[SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think that is?
24:37.412 --> 24:47.987
[SPEAKER_01]: Like why is it continue to be so powerful for humans to tell stories through a screen, frankly, or through a two-dimensional medium?
24:48.608 --> 25:17.181
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well, I mean, film is a really cool medium because you get the visuals, you get audio, it's immersive, and I think innately humans are drawn to stories like you said since, you know, cave paintings, oral storytelling, sitting around a campfire, and film can really bring you into that space and bring you into that world in a way that other mediums maybe can't.
25:18.460 --> 25:20.643
[SPEAKER_01]: and stuff stories happening in Florida?
25:21.284 --> 25:22.305
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh my gosh, no.
25:22.526 --> 25:24.048
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you like organic capacity?
25:24.088 --> 25:27.072
[SPEAKER_01]: And who are the weirdness or is it just like more of the marriage?
25:27.853 --> 25:29.615
[SPEAKER_00]: For sure, the more of the marriage.
25:30.256 --> 25:39.329
[SPEAKER_00]: I am often approached by young people who want to be environmental filmmakers and they're wondering if my work is making a difference.
25:39.389 --> 25:41.652
[SPEAKER_00]: If they tell story, if that would make a difference.
25:42.774 --> 25:47.320
[SPEAKER_00]: And I consistently say stories are,
25:47.519 --> 25:50.962
[SPEAKER_00]: so powerful and they shape what we believe.
25:51.403 --> 25:54.065
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that success is individual.
25:54.606 --> 25:58.750
[SPEAKER_00]: If you buy more, work harder, you're gonna rise above the rest.
25:59.070 --> 26:07.098
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that some races are superior that others should be underpaid, exploited, erased.
26:07.178 --> 26:17.087
[SPEAKER_00]: There's the story that it's up to the consumer to save the planet that if you track your carbon footprint
26:17.202 --> 26:29.001
[SPEAKER_00]: you'll help the planet, but all of those narratives are coming from the same group of people, the people in power, and it's not
26:29.605 --> 26:38.618
[SPEAKER_00]: a coincidence that people know more about brands and logos than the native plants and trees in their backyard.
26:39.439 --> 26:48.532
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all because these people in power have shaped the narrative that we are not a part of the system.
26:49.293 --> 26:55.883
[SPEAKER_00]: We are individuals and it's just so important that we
26:56.234 --> 26:59.319
[SPEAKER_00]: focus on rewriting that narrative that we're all connected.
26:59.439 --> 27:05.768
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all part of this living ecosystem and tell these stories about the environment.
27:06.569 --> 27:11.697
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to rewrite the way we look at things because we're all in this together.
27:12.418 --> 27:18.407
[SPEAKER_01]: So you would encourage young storytellers to continue flooding the zone, like, get it out there.
27:18.427 --> 27:19.489
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, flood the zone.
27:20.230 --> 27:21.372
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we need more.
27:21.712 --> 27:22.834
[SPEAKER_00]: We need more.
27:22.954 --> 27:25.718
[SPEAKER_01]: We need more.
27:26.002 --> 27:30.766
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, conservation topics, and then I'm like, why is there only the third most popular state?
27:30.786 --> 27:33.989
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is there like five of us out there, you know, on this kind of medium?
27:34.049 --> 27:35.130
[SPEAKER_01]: So we need 50.
27:35.770 --> 27:52.385
[SPEAKER_01]: So please, from, in my opinion, podcasts are a little more approachable than like, I look at your skills that you have on your website and it's like your expertise and the things you're good at and the equipment you've used and I'm like, I literally don't even know what any of those means.
27:52.545 --> 27:56.008
[SPEAKER_01]: Like with the podcast, you need a mic,
27:55.988 --> 28:07.795
[SPEAKER_01]: equipment's a lot easier and you can tell stories but with wild path I know y'all focus a lot on really your kind of meeting is finding those species to tell the story too.
28:09.378 --> 28:11.483
[SPEAKER_01]: The story through.
28:11.463 --> 28:18.518
[SPEAKER_01]: but you're also just hugely recognizable organization and storytelling force nationally.
28:18.598 --> 28:20.623
[SPEAKER_01]: What are those things or globally?
28:20.683 --> 28:29.642
[SPEAKER_01]: What are those things you hear from people on the outside saying, you know, maybe misunderstandings about Florida and the conservation stories happening here?
28:29.702 --> 28:32.087
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you feel like you're constantly trying to
28:32.270 --> 28:44.355
[SPEAKER_01]: either not correct, but just kind of align them on, or say, actually this is going on or this is just something you don't quite get about the state itself, because it's an interesting place to be doing these stories.
28:44.858 --> 29:01.539
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, an arm mission at Wild Path is to bring wildlife corridors to life through story telling to move people's hearts, shape public understanding, catalyze protection and restoration of connected landscapes for the benefit of wildlife and people.
29:02.460 --> 29:09.128
[SPEAKER_00]: And that message that that mission,
29:09.327 --> 29:19.970
[SPEAKER_00]: is focusing on that wildlife corridor vision is so essential to communicate to other audiences outside of Florida.
29:19.990 --> 29:29.530
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think most people may be outside of Florida don't even understand that we have this identified geography this wildlife corridor people inside of Florida.
29:31.096 --> 29:51.661
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, starting there with that hope that in this state that has so much, I guess, against it environmentally politically and showing that what's possible here, I think it's huge and yeah, as far as yeah, what people don't understand there's a lot.
29:53.023 --> 29:55.906
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot that people don't understand what's going on in Florida.
29:56.887 --> 29:57.688
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a lot to know.
29:57.708 --> 29:59.010
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot to know.
29:59.497 --> 30:06.409
[SPEAKER_01]: I was excited jumping into this world a year ago to like, okay, I can think and focus on one state.
30:08.012 --> 30:22.939
[SPEAKER_01]: And even in that, I'm like, oh my God, there's so much, there's so much variety in there that that, that still feels overwhelming, I'm like, should I go down to the county level or like, topic level and it's challenging to try to
30:23.324 --> 30:24.185
[SPEAKER_01]: get this story out there.
30:24.205 --> 30:32.675
[SPEAKER_01]: And because there's so many people, such a relatively small area, not quite the same density as New Jersey, but parts of it are very similar.
30:33.175 --> 30:38.341
[SPEAKER_01]: Penelis County is as I think the most densely populated county in the southeast, which is where we're sitting right now.
30:38.361 --> 30:42.486
[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of opinions when you have that many people together in one place.
30:42.766 --> 30:50.935
[SPEAKER_01]: So how do you find a balance of the way to tell the story with so many different kinds of people in this state?
30:51.218 --> 30:52.501
[SPEAKER_00]: back to what I've seen before.
30:52.541 --> 30:54.646
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, always start with the hopeful.
30:54.726 --> 30:55.688
[SPEAKER_00]: What's possible?
30:55.748 --> 30:59.316
[SPEAKER_00]: We're coming at a lens of positivity.
31:00.098 --> 31:04.287
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of environmental stories focus on the negative and the doom and gloom.
31:04.347 --> 31:08.637
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're starting hopeful, but we're also bringing in
31:08.617 --> 31:22.142
[SPEAKER_00]: multiple players into these stories, showing that conservation is collaborative, not one person can do this alone, and this is all about coming together and unifying for a cause.
31:22.563 --> 31:23.945
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that, does that come naturally to you?
31:24.386 --> 31:29.916
[SPEAKER_01]: The positive angle or the positive message, or is that something you've had to learn?
31:30.368 --> 31:40.226
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I think it comes naturally, and maybe because I've started watching these documentary since a young age that I am now, very jaded.
31:41.629 --> 31:44.714
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, oh, I'm like, hey, I'm on the doom and gloom.
31:44.835 --> 31:46.137
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, this is not helping.
31:46.778 --> 31:47.740
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you think it's true?
31:48.602 --> 31:51.567
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, do you feel like you're being un...
31:51.682 --> 32:00.426
[SPEAKER_01]: truthful with the positive angular you really think no this is the reality i'm not just trying to spur people to action this is this is it is truly hopeful
32:00.473 --> 32:01.695
[SPEAKER_00]: No, it is truly hopeful.
32:01.735 --> 32:03.539
[SPEAKER_00]: Nature is resilient.
32:03.800 --> 32:04.882
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so resilient.
32:05.322 --> 32:09.591
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if you just leave it alone, it will come back.
32:10.132 --> 32:12.577
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's so much hope.
32:12.857 --> 32:15.242
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just people.
32:15.963 --> 32:19.290
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we just gotta get them that message and awareness.
32:20.632 --> 32:21.975
[SPEAKER_00]: And...
32:21.955 --> 32:23.116
[SPEAKER_00]: things will turn around.
32:23.156 --> 32:24.438
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, nature is going to continue.
32:24.498 --> 32:31.325
[SPEAKER_00]: The plan is going to continue to survive, but I mean, no matter what, will we exist on it?
32:31.525 --> 32:31.965
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
32:32.045 --> 32:49.363
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's going to, the people who have, you know, done nothing to create these, the harm for the planet are going to be the most impacted, and that comes back to the injustice that like kills me that so many people will be impacted
32:50.525 --> 32:57.733
[SPEAKER_00]: have been living with nature, have been doing things the right way and they're the ones who are going to suffer.
32:57.865 --> 33:03.413
[SPEAKER_01]: You told stories around the Florida Black Bear in the Grasshopper Spirrow and the Panther.
33:04.194 --> 33:12.306
[SPEAKER_01]: What are some of those like wishless species that you think are deserving of more storytelling?
33:12.507 --> 33:16.232
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm they all are, of course, but like, what's kind of like on your bucket list?
33:16.493 --> 33:23.082
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you can share, if it's, if this is proprietary information, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, because more people need to know about the race as well.
33:23.563 --> 33:24.885
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you know about the race as well?
33:25.490 --> 33:31.602
[SPEAKER_01]: I do, but you tell me why are you telling me this, that's in your mind, it's a story each other, what do people need to know?
33:31.885 --> 33:37.049
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the rice as well was identified as a species in 2021.
33:38.411 --> 33:47.418
[SPEAKER_00]: Before then, we thought it was just another bailing whale in the Gulf of Mexico, but it actually is its own species.
33:47.478 --> 33:53.083
[SPEAKER_00]: It has fewer than 100 individuals in its population.
33:53.123 --> 34:01.470
[SPEAKER_00]: Its population was totally decimated by the deep water horizon oil spill,
34:01.771 --> 34:04.095
[SPEAKER_00]: That is its year-round habitat.
34:04.615 --> 34:16.474
[SPEAKER_00]: We figured all of this out because a whale interested, like a five inch piece of plastic and washed up in the Everglades and we are able to identify the hollow tape that it was a new species.
34:16.895 --> 34:28.032
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is like a new species to science and it's almost gone and it's in our backyard and it's literally up to us, up to people in the US to save it.
34:29.362 --> 34:30.944
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, like, hello.
34:33.147 --> 34:35.551
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so crazy.
34:35.571 --> 34:44.724
[SPEAKER_01]: The crazy thing is I do remember the story like the way we realized was through it, swallowing like a, uh, I think it was stuck in it.
34:44.784 --> 34:46.847
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a soft guess was this like,
34:47.536 --> 34:53.623
[SPEAKER_01]: piece of plastic, the size of like a peanut butter jar, that was like ingested or anything in a digestive system, then it died.
34:53.924 --> 34:54.044
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:54.064 --> 34:54.204
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:54.244 --> 34:55.205
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how we found out.
34:55.366 --> 34:55.546
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
34:55.766 --> 34:59.631
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a 40-foot long whale, and the piece of plastic wasn't even five inches.
34:59.791 --> 35:03.736
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like a very small, it's on display at the Smithsonian, actual history museum.
35:04.817 --> 35:05.298
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't know that.
35:05.518 --> 35:05.838
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah.
35:06.139 --> 35:10.043
[SPEAKER_00]: Very small piece of plastic, and it killed this 40-foot long whale.
35:10.224 --> 35:10.624
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean,
35:12.359 --> 35:18.489
[SPEAKER_00]: It is very, it is a sad story, but there is hope because we can do something about it because we know.
35:19.030 --> 35:25.641
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely now we know, and I'll say, you know, that's the world of conservation.
35:25.761 --> 35:34.956
[SPEAKER_01]: It feels like endless, endless fronts and endless fires to put out figuratively, because a lot of times the fires are good.
35:35.316 --> 35:37.540
[SPEAKER_01]: We happen out there, but
35:37.520 --> 35:57.799
[SPEAKER_01]: You go back and look through so many success stories, so many stories that are like, oh my gosh, you know, from bear to the alligator itself, kind of this iconic species and just all these stories of like, wow, we actually did turn things around and we can do that again.
35:57.899 --> 36:02.023
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, there's no reason we can't, but people don't even realize those trajectories have happened.
36:02.283 --> 36:03.024
[SPEAKER_01]: My self included.
36:03.044 --> 36:06.227
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like every day I learned something mind-blowingly,
36:06.730 --> 36:10.076
[SPEAKER_01]: amazing about the place that I've lived most of my life.
36:10.096 --> 36:12.640
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you feel that way about the state of Florida?
36:12.660 --> 36:15.965
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you learn things constantly that are like, I had no idea?
36:16.326 --> 36:16.526
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
36:16.807 --> 36:19.411
[SPEAKER_01]: And if I don't know, there's a good chance most people don't know.
36:19.571 --> 36:20.312
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
36:21.374 --> 36:25.241
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, is there anything in particular that the rice is well, great example?
36:26.262 --> 36:27.624
[SPEAKER_01]: What else going back to that question?
36:27.644 --> 36:30.409
[SPEAKER_01]: What else you feel like is like deserving of more attention?
36:30.777 --> 36:39.751
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, now that we're talking about the ocean, it's making me think how I'm working on this feature film about Dr. Sylvia Earl.
36:39.771 --> 36:43.456
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you don't know about Dr. Sylvia Earl, you need to look her up.
36:43.757 --> 36:45.540
[SPEAKER_00]: She's a legend, she's amazing.
36:46.842 --> 36:57.578
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've just been very fortunate to spend a lot of time with her in St. Martin's Keys off of Crystal River exploring the Sea Grass Meadows.
36:59.026 --> 37:05.055
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the largest contiguous Seagress Meadow in the Gulf.
37:05.616 --> 37:09.842
[SPEAKER_00]: This is what's sequestering carbon, giving oxygen.
37:09.902 --> 37:12.506
[SPEAKER_00]: It's providing nursery for so many species.
37:13.047 --> 37:17.052
[SPEAKER_00]: It's this incredible habitat.
37:18.034 --> 37:23.582
[SPEAKER_00]: And most people don't know about it when did you learn about it?
37:24.052 --> 37:25.694
[SPEAKER_00]: uh, learned about it.
37:25.775 --> 37:47.207
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess 2021 is when we started, you know, filming with Sylvia and going out there and a lot of people maybe are in that region for scalloping, but aren't really looking maybe beneath the surface and understanding how incredible of a habitat this is and maybe
37:47.947 --> 37:49.309
[SPEAKER_00]: You shouldn't take the scallops out of it.
37:51.873 --> 37:52.094
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.
37:52.114 --> 37:53.676
[SPEAKER_00]: They are the ones filtering the water.
37:55.680 --> 38:03.913
[SPEAKER_01]: What has been something that you've learned about that habitat that has been just mind blowing?
38:05.024 --> 38:13.697
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so the first thing that came to mind is that we used to have monk seals in off of Florida in that habitat.
38:14.117 --> 38:20.346
[SPEAKER_00]: I think they went extinct in the 1950s, Sylvia.
38:21.368 --> 38:21.968
[SPEAKER_01]: That recently?
38:22.169 --> 38:22.429
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:22.890 --> 38:23.110
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
38:23.651 --> 38:24.092
[SPEAKER_01]: Serious?
38:24.312 --> 38:24.652
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:25.313 --> 38:27.757
[SPEAKER_01]: My house was built by then.
38:27.797 --> 38:28.638
[SPEAKER_01]: That's crazy.
38:28.698 --> 38:28.939
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
38:29.099 --> 38:33.445
[SPEAKER_00]: A seal in the Gulf.
38:34.268 --> 38:35.149
[SPEAKER_01]: 18th century.
38:35.630 --> 38:36.011
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, no.
38:36.912 --> 38:37.954
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, are you kidding me?
38:38.995 --> 38:41.499
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, gosh.
38:41.660 --> 38:42.160
[SPEAKER_00]: OK. Holy cow.
38:42.180 --> 38:45.165
[SPEAKER_00]: So Sylvia talks about, like, we used to have this monk seal.
38:45.205 --> 38:48.110
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, this is a similar story, too.
38:48.410 --> 38:51.555
[SPEAKER_00]: I made the film The Little Brown Bird about the Florida Grasshopper's room.
38:51.795 --> 38:53.358
[SPEAKER_00]: We had the desky sea-sites barrel.
38:53.658 --> 38:56.783
[SPEAKER_00]: We've had these species go extinct in Florida.
38:56.763 --> 38:58.528
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've learned our lesson here.
38:58.588 --> 39:00.894
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, it will so much.
39:01.155 --> 39:01.636
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
39:01.656 --> 39:03.581
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've learned the lesson here.
39:03.682 --> 39:06.128
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, let's not do that again.
39:06.188 --> 39:11.262
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's make sure we're protecting our habitats, restoring what's left.
39:11.663 --> 39:14.428
[SPEAKER_01]: Tell us a little bit about what to expect with that story.
39:14.688 --> 39:17.493
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, sounds like you've been filming for a handful of years.
39:18.756 --> 39:27.572
[SPEAKER_01]: That's something I've learned about conservation story telling is how long these stories take to fully tell, and that they overlap in timelines like you're, you know what I mean?
39:27.612 --> 39:30.617
[SPEAKER_01]: It's really wild, like the pipeline of, of,
39:30.597 --> 39:33.527
[SPEAKER_01]: ideation to out there in the world.
39:33.607 --> 39:37.098
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a greater part of a decade, a lot of the time.
39:37.179 --> 39:43.138
[SPEAKER_01]: So where are we with this story and what can people expect to engage with this one on Sylvia Rale?
39:43.608 --> 39:50.098
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you're right, there's multiple phases, there's development, there's pre-production production, post-production, distribution impact.
39:50.118 --> 39:52.021
[SPEAKER_00]: So like I'm constantly switching on and off hats.
39:52.041 --> 39:54.745
[SPEAKER_00]: So like, what phase we're in?
39:55.486 --> 40:04.300
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, with Sylvia, the film's about her coming back to the Gulf of Mexico, the place where she first fell in love with the sea where she grew up.
40:05.343 --> 40:14.196
[SPEAKER_00]: and not just looking back on it at it, but being a witness to the change over time and looking for what's at stake.
40:14.216 --> 40:19.123
[SPEAKER_00]: She has been an advocate for the ocean for her lifetime.
40:19.183 --> 40:23.309
[SPEAKER_00]: She is 90 years young, but she is still diving.
40:23.389 --> 40:25.232
[SPEAKER_00]: She's still fighting for the ocean.
40:25.292 --> 40:28.297
[SPEAKER_00]: She is still in it.
40:29.138 --> 40:32.042
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's just a lesson for,
40:32.022 --> 40:37.889
[SPEAKER_00]: everyone that, you know, they're still hope they're still time if she can do it, you can do it.
40:38.029 --> 40:39.391
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's up to us.
40:41.274 --> 40:47.161
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, no, when any projected timeline when people were going to get just that.
40:47.241 --> 40:48.062
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're looking at 2028.
40:48.783 --> 40:50.545
[SPEAKER_00]: So stay tuned, follow wild path.
40:51.146 --> 40:52.107
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a good one.
40:52.407 --> 41:06.094
[SPEAKER_01]: That tracks 20, 20, maybe that's the time to early, no, that is exciting, and I know that's that's going to be hugely impactful.
41:06.114 --> 41:07.817
[SPEAKER_01]: I can't wait to see that.
41:07.898 --> 41:13.426
[SPEAKER_01]: And as a storyteller, you know, I get a jump from story story pretty easily.
41:13.647 --> 41:15.269
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'll interview you, talking about this.
41:15.309 --> 41:16.351
[SPEAKER_01]: I can interview someone tomorrow.
41:16.371 --> 41:20.577
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll talk about some of the different in this episode can be out to the world in a day.
41:21.378 --> 41:22.760
[SPEAKER_01]: So I can kind of hop around.
41:23.521 --> 41:30.151
[SPEAKER_01]: How does it feel to have to in, can I invest this long into one story for so long?
41:30.211 --> 41:34.438
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it, is it, do you find that natural as a hard to stay in that lane?
41:34.478 --> 41:36.100
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you deal with that?
41:37.582 --> 41:49.066
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I have actually really appreciated the time I have with Sylvia and investing in this longer project because things develop.
41:49.627 --> 41:57.042
[SPEAKER_00]: You build a relationship, you get closer, you get more access to certain things, maybe you
41:57.022 --> 42:00.087
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, wouldn't have with just meeting for one day.
42:00.127 --> 42:01.649
[SPEAKER_00]: You get comfortable.
42:01.669 --> 42:22.521
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's not just with Sylvia, that's with other films too, with the little brown bird and, you know, working with Fabi in the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow thought that was just going to be a day or two short film, but then I kind of kept coming back to it, kept revisiting and a lot of things developed in it and made this story better.
42:22.541 --> 42:24.143
[SPEAKER_00]: So, I
42:24.747 --> 42:29.172
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I've really appreciated the process of longer timelines.
42:29.192 --> 42:32.056
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't always get that luxury when it comes to budgets.
42:32.837 --> 42:36.441
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's right, there's factors out of your controls.
42:36.561 --> 42:37.562
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, right.
42:37.963 --> 42:41.006
[SPEAKER_00]: So I've been, yeah, really fortunate that we've been able to do this.
42:41.967 --> 42:51.058
[SPEAKER_01]: So for aspiring filmmakers or people that might be pursuing this and wondering, you know, how, what, what have been some of those key skills for you?
42:51.646 --> 43:00.492
[SPEAKER_01]: that you've been able to acquire, you know, besides the camera operation and the work and in the cool side of things, what have been some of those key.
43:00.623 --> 43:02.326
[SPEAKER_01]: skills that have helped you do this.
43:03.067 --> 43:04.430
[SPEAKER_01]: This line of work that is right.
43:04.871 --> 43:14.148
[SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned the different phases of film production and I have had experience in all of those phases in a detailed level.
43:14.188 --> 43:24.066
[SPEAKER_00]: So that has really helped progress me because I can look at everything holistically and understand what a camera person is going through and what the editor wants to see.
43:24.046 --> 43:35.845
[SPEAKER_00]: when it comes to putting a whole film together, so starting with the development phase and raising money, creating pictures, writing creative briefs.
43:36.888 --> 43:39.071
[SPEAKER_00]: that's phase one.
43:39.111 --> 44:05.663
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of experience with that, but then pre-production, getting to know your characters, interviewing, making schedules, lining up everything, getting equipment, knowing what your equipment is, and then production actually going out with your team, or if it is just you learning all of the drone, the underwater topside gimbal,
44:06.402 --> 44:11.189
[SPEAKER_00]: all of those different aspects of production.
44:11.790 --> 44:24.327
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been post, I think, one thing that really leveled me up when I got that job at conservation international out of college was that I knew how to animate and create motion graphics.
44:25.249 --> 44:30.917
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was really attractive because social media video was like kind of just becoming a thing.
44:30.957 --> 44:34.722
[SPEAKER_00]: And I was able to use that skill set and editing short films.
44:35.866 --> 44:55.297
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, there's the whole post-cited knowing, you know, how are you going to put this story together right this script, get the interviews transcribed and kind of form that narrative, but then the different layers of mixing sound, doing your graphics, final color correction, and then you get into the distribution.
44:55.417 --> 44:59.443
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's another aspect that maybe a lot of people don't think about, like,
44:59.423 --> 45:21.482
[SPEAKER_00]: Once your film's done, it's not done, you've got to market it, you've got to enter film festivals, you have to create collateral material, like on social media, posters, stickers, maybe merch, and do Q&As and get other people to rally around the film and really spread its message.
45:21.901 --> 45:28.353
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of different skills that go into all of that, but hopefully that gives you a sense of the type of skills you need.
45:28.413 --> 45:44.263
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to be kind of a one-person team and really push a movement forward in conservation, you know, there aren't typically big budgets in this world, so it's really helpful if you understand the whole scope of what it takes to create a film and how to make it happen.
45:44.480 --> 45:44.761
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
45:45.745 --> 45:51.307
[SPEAKER_01]: So it sounds like holding the camera is like 3% of all this.
45:51.327 --> 45:53.516
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's probably fun at the time point.
45:53.596 --> 45:54.861
[SPEAKER_02]: Right, right.
45:55.229 --> 46:25.236
[SPEAKER_01]: great great overview that's that's really helping probably a lot of people listening that I give a concrete understanding of what goes into this you know something that I've noticed again I'm I host this podcast really as a way to learn more myself from the people doing the work and what it means in conservation in Florida and so it's led to this career the question of like okay how do you how do people do what are they dealing like who are these
46:25.216 --> 46:33.293
[SPEAKER_01]: And from my understanding, which is, again, limited, but it seems like there is quite a decent amount.
46:34.376 --> 46:44.457
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, I'm not an expert on other regions, but like lots of female leadership in Florida, around conservation storytelling and organizations.
46:44.673 --> 46:52.964
[SPEAKER_01]: Where is it in your mind because I know that you have focused a lot on female leadership as, you know, the human element of a lot of these stories.
46:53.745 --> 46:56.388
[SPEAKER_01]: Where does Florida rank in your mind with your experience globally?
46:57.430 --> 46:59.232
[SPEAKER_00]: Hmm, that's a really interesting question.
46:59.252 --> 47:04.319
[SPEAKER_00]: I honestly haven't thought about that, but I do think you're right.
47:04.379 --> 47:14.612
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there is a good representation in Florida and the spaces that I've been when it
47:15.200 --> 47:18.703
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's definitely could always be more.
47:18.723 --> 47:28.693
[SPEAKER_00]: I've definitely seen that even when there still is representation, it still may be not valued in the same way.
47:28.713 --> 47:32.337
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's always can be improvement.
47:33.338 --> 47:36.961
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of like conservation storytelling itself, there's always more to do.
47:36.981 --> 47:38.623
[SPEAKER_00]: It's always more to do.
47:38.643 --> 47:39.223
[SPEAKER_01]: We need more.
47:39.244 --> 47:39.564
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:39.784 --> 47:39.984
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:40.144 --> 47:40.785
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
47:41.474 --> 47:51.471
[SPEAKER_01]: I love to hear that now I just it seems of her story like like Hilary Swain for Marshall said like she was denied her first job because they didn't have female bathrooms.
47:51.712 --> 47:53.415
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.
47:53.435 --> 47:54.737
[SPEAKER_01]: Insane, you know what I mean?
47:54.837 --> 47:55.679
[SPEAKER_01]: Like what does that even mean?
47:55.819 --> 47:57.782
[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's like like is it a toilet?
47:57.842 --> 48:01.970
[SPEAKER_01]: Because that's like we could or not all use it at the same time.
48:02.030 --> 48:06.317
[SPEAKER_01]: It was just like an excuse and now it's like the pendulum is swung to where it's like
48:06.837 --> 48:17.806
[SPEAKER_01]: her interests, she'll go to speak at colleges as predominantly female, which is just one lifetime of swing, which is really interesting here and see change, and it's speaking of change.
48:18.647 --> 48:23.651
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the last things you mentioned, which I loved after post-industribution is measuring impact.
48:24.272 --> 48:26.514
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you know a story has made change?
48:26.574 --> 48:28.996
[SPEAKER_01]: Or how do you know you've made a difference?
48:29.076 --> 48:36.102
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you looking at to know that we change hearts and minds, or we got it out there to the right people?
48:36.402 --> 48:56.233
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of that comes before you can pick up the camera is outlining in that, you know, creative brief and talking about the impact you want for the film is figuring out what are you going to measure is it that you reached a certain audience is it that you just reached one person that's going to make the change is it that
48:57.479 --> 49:06.148
[SPEAKER_00]: the film is going to get into a certain film festival that it's going to win the award that you know what are you measuring against that you want to create that impact.
49:06.188 --> 49:22.305
[SPEAKER_00]: So it kind of depends on what the film is and what the goal is with path of the panther and the the shorter 10 minute 30 minute version of the Florida Wildlife Court or path of the panther you know
49:22.673 --> 49:39.383
[SPEAKER_00]: the films called Saving the Florida Wildlife Court, or that goal was to really push legislation for the Florida Wildlife Court or Act, and Saving the Florida Wildlife Court, or was screened to legislators in Tallahassee.
49:39.363 --> 49:40.766
[SPEAKER_00]: to get people aware.
49:40.906 --> 49:43.812
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know, that's a very measurable thing.
49:43.832 --> 49:46.457
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, the act passed unanimously.
49:48.020 --> 49:51.486
[SPEAKER_00]: And that film really inspired a lot of lawmakers.
49:51.727 --> 49:56.055
[SPEAKER_00]: So that was, you know, a clear win.
49:56.474 --> 50:21.688
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's not always super clear, but it is important to kind of keep track of who are you screening to how many people are seeing this film, the audiences that you are reaching if it's within the state or outside of the state, and the conversations that come from that for the short film, I made about Florida Black Bears, that all originated because
50:21.668 --> 50:32.581
[SPEAKER_00]: the bear hunt was coming up and being decided if that was going to happen after ten years of no hunt happening.
50:33.201 --> 50:43.033
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just noticed a lot of media attention was on bears and people's backyards bears at the airport bears in Disneyland.
50:43.253 --> 50:46.917
[SPEAKER_00]: All about, you know, these conflicts with bears
50:47.437 --> 50:50.482
[SPEAKER_00]: bears weren't being shown in the wild.
50:51.864 --> 50:53.106
[SPEAKER_00]: And in their natural habitat.
50:53.727 --> 51:00.538
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, I happen working on this longer bear film, but there is this one scene that I really feel like I could.
51:00.878 --> 51:08.090
[SPEAKER_00]: This one moment with this all female biologist team in Big Cypress that I feel like I could make a short film.
51:08.110 --> 51:12.096
[SPEAKER_00]: And at least just put out the message of wild bears in Florida.
51:12.436 --> 51:14.760
[SPEAKER_00]: What bears need to survive?
51:14.740 --> 51:19.225
[SPEAKER_00]: and, you know, not talking about the hunt at all, but just show people wild Florida.
51:19.526 --> 51:21.308
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was really the goal with that.
51:21.408 --> 51:25.473
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think it did help.
51:25.613 --> 51:28.597
[SPEAKER_00]: We got a lot of media attention.
51:28.697 --> 51:30.739
[SPEAKER_00]: I went on multiple talk shows.
51:31.400 --> 51:35.685
[SPEAKER_00]: Did a lot of interviews and hopefully that, I mean,
51:36.155 --> 51:51.718
[SPEAKER_00]: the number say that it reached a lot of people and hopefully that message resonated that we have black bears in the state, but they are in seven separate subpopulations and they need a connected corridor to be sustainable into the future.
51:52.619 --> 51:58.167
[SPEAKER_01]: Which should matter to anyone on either side of that hunt.
51:58.287 --> 51:58.768
[SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
51:59.569 --> 52:05.638
[SPEAKER_01]: Those that didn't want the hunt, that should matter for
52:06.631 --> 52:09.878
[SPEAKER_01]: I have a vested interest in a sustainable population too, right?
52:09.938 --> 52:11.902
[SPEAKER_01]: So, great way to approach that.
52:12.403 --> 52:16.292
[SPEAKER_01]: I totally agree that was very wise in the great film.
52:17.054 --> 52:19.138
[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe that's on YouTube now, right?
52:19.258 --> 52:21.162
[SPEAKER_01]: So, please watch that Florida Bear Tracks.
52:21.964 --> 52:23.307
[SPEAKER_01]: Is there a shot that got away?
52:24.653 --> 52:26.937
[SPEAKER_02]: Oh, yeah.
52:27.198 --> 52:27.518
[SPEAKER_01]: Really?
52:27.799 --> 52:28.961
[SPEAKER_01]: Something comes in my mouth.
52:28.981 --> 52:30.264
[SPEAKER_01]: Is this, am I supposed to know this?
52:30.644 --> 52:31.746
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I mean, I can share.
52:31.867 --> 52:31.967
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
52:32.227 --> 52:34.291
[SPEAKER_00]: But, oh, my hand.
52:35.454 --> 52:41.585
[SPEAKER_00]: Because we're talking about Florida bear tracks, there's one shot specifically that still bugs me.
52:41.705 --> 52:44.130
[SPEAKER_00]: It didn't make it into the film, but it could have been way better.
52:44.110 --> 52:44.912
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
52:44.932 --> 52:59.487
[SPEAKER_00]: It could be way better because I was out in the blazing summer heat waiting for a mom and her cubs to kind of like come out of this shrubby area.
52:59.939 --> 53:02.865
[SPEAKER_01]: and they were, they were running late, missed their call time.
53:04.108 --> 53:06.152
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I saw them and they were coming out.
53:06.573 --> 53:15.332
[SPEAKER_00]: But like, just a second before I had moved my camera a little bit more into the shade because I was like, I'm baking out here.
53:15.312 --> 53:17.656
[SPEAKER_01]: and the camp and the equipment again.
53:17.676 --> 53:18.257
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, exactly.
53:19.178 --> 53:26.089
[SPEAKER_00]: And so in that same moment that I move, the cub comes running at me.
53:26.149 --> 53:29.194
[SPEAKER_00]: The mom is like, what?
53:29.515 --> 53:34.823
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, is this thing that I smelled that my cub's about to interact with?
53:35.544 --> 53:37.888
[SPEAKER_00]: And so then it became this very like tense scenario.
53:37.908 --> 53:41.674
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not really focused on the camera at this point.
53:41.654 --> 53:57.670
[SPEAKER_00]: but because I moved into like a shaded spot there's like a few branches in front of the lens and there's some like green haze It could have been so great seeing that whole thing play out.
53:57.810 --> 54:08.100
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean without the green haze I mean I still got it but that that shot got away for me and you probably didn't realize that until right to laughter and I was like no
54:09.852 --> 54:13.596
[SPEAKER_01]: Geez, so that's super interesting too.
54:13.636 --> 54:30.716
[SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned bear interactions, and I don't realize this, and I read the somewhere New Jersey, is the highest human and bear interaction per capita of any state, like more people are interacting physically with black bears and coming in close encounters than any state.
54:31.817 --> 54:34.441
[SPEAKER_01]: That blew my mind when I saw that stat a few years ago.
54:34.701 --> 54:35.742
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you ever heard that.
54:36.228 --> 54:39.333
[SPEAKER_00]: I did not realize that, but it makes sense.
54:39.513 --> 54:48.027
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a specific memory growing up that my dad was outside, mowing the lawn, and all of a sudden the car stopped and was waving their hands.
54:48.087 --> 54:51.553
[SPEAKER_00]: He can't hear, like we're all in the front yard.
54:51.573 --> 54:52.294
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on?
54:52.334 --> 54:54.558
[SPEAKER_00]: Why is this car stopping and like yelling at my dad?
54:55.099 --> 54:57.242
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, there's a bear behind you.
54:57.262 --> 55:00.868
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a bear in our backyard next to our swing set.
55:01.405 --> 55:03.887
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't really like, oh my gosh, didn't even know.
55:03.907 --> 55:05.609
[SPEAKER_00]: Good thing we didn't let the dog out.
55:05.709 --> 55:08.331
[SPEAKER_01]: Holy cow, you probably wanted to go right out to it.
55:08.451 --> 55:11.975
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, as the naturalist in the family.
55:12.655 --> 55:13.716
[SPEAKER_01]: That's so crazy.
55:13.736 --> 55:14.877
[SPEAKER_01]: So what a good start.
55:14.897 --> 55:19.281
[SPEAKER_01]: So the bear was walking on, going back to the film, the bear was coming right up to you.
55:19.641 --> 55:20.642
[SPEAKER_01]: Did it get to you?
55:21.163 --> 55:22.324
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, the bear cup.
55:22.764 --> 55:24.986
[SPEAKER_00]: No, no, no, it didn't get to me.
55:25.066 --> 55:31.412
[SPEAKER_00]: But it ran at me and then turned around.
55:31.392 --> 55:42.104
[SPEAKER_01]: keeping out eye out for me of like what is right there so it's about the only situation that's can be dangerous for what it is exactly.
55:43.045 --> 55:43.425
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
55:43.465 --> 55:44.687
[SPEAKER_01]: What was your heart pounding?
55:44.747 --> 55:46.689
[SPEAKER_01]: What were you what was going through your mind?
55:47.930 --> 55:56.059
[SPEAKER_00]: I was going through my honestly what's like I hope I captured.
55:56.079 --> 55:56.419
[SPEAKER_01]: True.
55:56.640 --> 55:57.080
[SPEAKER_01]: True.
55:57.120 --> 55:57.440
[SPEAKER_01]: Perfect.
55:57.460 --> 55:58.902
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't I dare.
55:59.725 --> 56:00.447
[SPEAKER_01]: Let me get this.
56:01.690 --> 56:11.136
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's because I had spent so much time with bears and with scientists that I and like
56:12.179 --> 56:17.627
[SPEAKER_00]: seeing a bluff charge before that I was maybe feeling more comfortable.
56:17.647 --> 56:37.174
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I should have felt more comfortable, but in that moment I feel like everything kind of just freezes for a second and you're just kind of assessing everything, you know, with this longer bear film that I'm working on, I crawled into, you know, bear dense and
56:37.458 --> 56:38.399
[SPEAKER_00]: two pairs.
56:39.059 --> 56:45.485
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, in that moment, I wasn't feeling an immediate, let's get out of this situation.
56:45.545 --> 56:53.333
[SPEAKER_00]: There was somebody in a, like, Ranger nearby that, you know, could make noise and like, assist.
56:53.953 --> 56:54.794
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
56:54.954 --> 56:55.294
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
56:55.314 --> 57:04.663
[SPEAKER_00]: But yet, um, I did end up lifting up my tripod and like, making myself bigger and then, I mean, they ran away, which was also sad because then I,
57:06.145 --> 57:08.568
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, didn't get the shot.
57:08.588 --> 57:11.692
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's just, you know, you'll be thinking about that forever.
57:13.374 --> 57:16.819
[SPEAKER_01]: I saw recently a, it was a real non-instagram.
57:17.500 --> 57:26.411
[SPEAKER_01]: Someone had their camera in one of those waterproof housings for underwater, which I know have seen plenty of pictures you're using and their lens cover was on.
57:27.392 --> 57:32.659
[SPEAKER_01]: And they were like in the field already and they were making a video about how.
57:33.044 --> 57:35.467
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, look, stuff doesn't go well sometimes.
57:35.507 --> 57:38.271
[SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, oh my gosh, that never had to do that.
57:38.311 --> 57:39.513
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like a big problem.
57:40.214 --> 57:42.197
[SPEAKER_01]: Can't really get rid of anything like that.
57:42.237 --> 57:49.848
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I didn't charge my batteries or didn't take the lens cover off or forgot something.
57:49.908 --> 57:51.390
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I've made some...
57:51.826 --> 57:57.295
[SPEAKER_01]: very dumb as days with biogastic, but I can imagine the complexity of filmmaking.
57:57.936 --> 58:02.884
[SPEAKER_01]: You have to be extremely diligent in your checklist and preparation.
58:03.605 --> 58:06.449
[SPEAKER_01]: And those kinds of things cannot happen.
58:07.030 --> 58:07.291
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:07.611 --> 58:09.214
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, especially when they do happen.
58:09.294 --> 58:09.514
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:09.654 --> 58:10.195
[SPEAKER_01]: You learn.
58:10.516 --> 58:10.896
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
58:10.916 --> 58:12.579
[SPEAKER_00]: And yep, you're in the field.
58:12.799 --> 58:15.724
[SPEAKER_00]: You're nowhere close to some
58:16.278 --> 58:17.960
[SPEAKER_00]: store or anything that could help.
58:19.141 --> 58:21.323
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, you got to make sure you have what you need.
58:21.343 --> 58:22.864
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's prep the right way.
58:22.904 --> 58:24.706
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure those things have happened.
58:24.986 --> 58:28.449
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm sure the right way I'm sure that's a big one.
58:28.610 --> 58:29.350
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you know what?
58:29.610 --> 58:30.691
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, some things coming to mind.
58:32.293 --> 58:32.393
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
58:32.413 --> 58:45.205
[SPEAKER_00]: I, when I was working for Conservation International, I was on an expedition in the
58:45.522 --> 58:59.238
[SPEAKER_00]: drives and my computer out on the table in one of the like front rooms and the waves were so large that they were crashing into the boat into the room.
58:59.278 --> 59:03.743
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when I woke up in the morning the driver ruined.
59:04.564 --> 59:11.532
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like oh my gosh but like good thing I backed it up on another drive that I had in a different room.
59:11.872 --> 59:14.095
[SPEAKER_00]: But like the things like that where you're like
59:14.480 --> 59:22.531
[SPEAKER_00]: Holy cow like the what if the what if like also it was my bad for leaving my computer in that Ram, I should have not done that.
59:23.252 --> 59:26.616
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, smart of you, though, to think to back it up, right.
59:26.736 --> 59:31.302
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if it was intentional to have it in a separate room, but you learned the lesson.
59:31.322 --> 59:31.583
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
59:31.603 --> 59:32.103
[SPEAKER_01]: Learned the lesson.
59:32.123 --> 59:32.904
[SPEAKER_01]: That's it.
59:32.924 --> 59:34.326
[SPEAKER_01]: Make that intentionally next time.
59:34.346 --> 59:34.647
[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.
59:34.727 --> 59:35.308
[SPEAKER_01]: But things away.
59:35.368 --> 59:39.373
[SPEAKER_01]: Holy cow, I can't even imagine the sinking feeling of
59:40.585 --> 01:00:08.196
[SPEAKER_01]: that kind of pressure right and like did I just lose everything I did back it up right like yeah I've lost I've lost interviews before so far so good on this one but I've had that had that awkward conversation like this didn't go through and we do the conversation again we'll give it some time right so let me ask you this just I got a couple more than we can jump into those last three if that's okay it's 1103 even with short films
01:00:08.328 --> 01:00:16.679
[SPEAKER_01]: And in things under half an hour, that's considered just such an eternity these days with people's attention span.
01:00:17.320 --> 01:00:27.194
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you approach kind of that pressure to make everything quick and easy social media content while still trying to dive deeper into a story?
01:00:27.574 --> 01:00:30.218
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you integrate social media into your approach?
01:00:30.586 --> 01:00:42.030
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think there's a place for all types of stories, but at Wild Path, we are focused on targeted impact and reaching certain audiences.
01:00:42.110 --> 01:00:51.750
[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of that time, we're not putting a lot of our energy into social media because there is so much content and it's hard to
01:00:51.730 --> 01:00:57.276
[SPEAKER_00]: Create impact from that, you know, it's kind of like real impact exactly.
01:00:57.296 --> 01:00:58.137
[SPEAKER_01]: Get a lot of attention.
01:00:58.597 --> 01:00:58.838
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
01:00:59.298 --> 01:01:00.940
[SPEAKER_01]: You might be a lot of sizzle.
01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:02.662
[SPEAKER_01]: Not a lot of steak is more insane.
01:01:03.182 --> 01:01:03.683
[SPEAKER_01]: There we go.
01:01:05.085 --> 01:01:05.425
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
01:01:05.445 --> 01:01:08.288
[SPEAKER_00]: So that takes off the pressure a little bit.
01:01:08.408 --> 01:01:14.335
[SPEAKER_00]: It's we're using social media more as a tool to show, you know, what's possible.
01:01:14.455 --> 01:01:17.518
[SPEAKER_00]: And the impact we've created, but our
01:01:17.498 --> 01:01:31.306
[SPEAKER_00]: Materials are films are of their collateral material around films and photography that we're doing we're being specific with who our audience is in reaching lawmakers and communities in partners.
01:01:31.486 --> 01:01:34.933
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's the strategy.
01:01:36.398 --> 01:01:45.233
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, all strategy is hard to stick to it, certain times, is that like, you know, algorithm, the algorithms are strong, the gravitational forces are strong.
01:01:45.253 --> 01:01:45.773
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, right.
01:01:46.294 --> 01:02:01.259
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, another part of our work at Wild Path is we partner with National Geographic, and that has really helped elevate our work and get it to a big audience, and our films are on National Geographic's YouTube.
01:02:01.359 --> 01:02:01.900
[SPEAKER_00]: It's it.
01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:22.572
[SPEAKER_00]: massive amount of people who are subscribed to that YouTube are a lot of our work gets shared on national geographic so in a way we are we do have a big social media push but through national geographic and that's kind of our strategy too is using a partner like that to elevate the message.
01:02:22.940 --> 01:02:47.142
[SPEAKER_01]: That's, yeah, of course, if you follow National Geographic, which I think it for the longest time, it was the largest Instagram account that wasn't a celebrity, or I think maybe Nike was bigger, but it was Kim Kardashian and a few others, and they were like the fifth largest account with like 300 million followers, which is just so encouraging in the world of,
01:02:47.122 --> 01:02:55.730
[SPEAKER_01]: Short attention spans that these kinds of stories and topics are still so popular like I'm glad it's popular You know, I'm glad it's not niche in a lot of ways.
01:02:55.770 --> 01:03:14.648
[SPEAKER_01]: So That's they they're really proven the concept of like these stories people still crave this and want to know and that's really cool So cool story and Fiji and I know you've been all over the world Does Florida still continue to to
01:03:16.248 --> 01:03:38.070
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, draw you in the beauty that this the the I'm always trying to tell people not from here like I can explain it, but if you got here and you spent time here, you would love it in the same level that these other places around the world that so many of us go to like I've seen some of the greatest wonders in the world with my own eyes and
01:03:38.540 --> 01:03:41.825
[SPEAKER_01]: Florida still up there with it, like parallel in my mind.
01:03:41.865 --> 01:03:44.549
[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't know how to explain it to people that've never experienced it.
01:03:45.410 --> 01:03:46.472
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you feel of it?
01:03:46.492 --> 01:03:47.233
[SPEAKER_01]: You know what I'm saying?
01:03:47.513 --> 01:03:47.814
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
01:03:47.834 --> 01:03:48.194
[SPEAKER_00]: I do.
01:03:48.214 --> 01:03:50.237
[SPEAKER_00]: No, yes, absolutely.
01:03:50.718 --> 01:03:54.844
[SPEAKER_00]: I am constantly feeling like I need to pinch myself that I get to live here.
01:03:54.884 --> 01:03:56.346
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm...
01:03:56.326 --> 01:04:02.457
[SPEAKER_00]: I've just went to the beach last weekend and I was like, I can't believe this is my backyard.
01:04:02.917 --> 01:04:17.743
[SPEAKER_00]: This is beautiful and I still I step outside every morning and I'm like, oh my gosh, the wildlife here, it's just unreal that there are some even as you said the most densely populated county were in Penelis and
01:04:17.723 --> 01:04:30.861
[SPEAKER_00]: They're still wildness, they're still so much beauty, and I mean even more when you go to the hidden wild parts of Florida, I mean it is an incredible state.
01:04:31.542 --> 01:04:37.791
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how to tell people like our filmmaker for our next expeditions from Seattle, and they're just like...
01:04:38.615 --> 01:04:43.901
[SPEAKER_01]: inundated with beauty, you know, the same interaction of mountains and ocean and they just have so many speed.
01:04:43.921 --> 01:04:48.086
[SPEAKER_01]: They have mountain lines and links and so many cool things.
01:04:48.447 --> 01:04:52.792
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, spend some time here and you will think it's weird.
01:04:52.812 --> 01:04:57.258
[SPEAKER_01]: It just takes time to sink in for a lot of people, but once it does, the love is deep.
01:04:57.378 --> 01:05:01.723
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like a deep fashion for it versus the very obvious beauty.
01:05:02.224 --> 01:05:03.385
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
01:05:03.405 --> 01:05:03.986
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're right.
01:05:04.146 --> 01:05:05.027
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it will.
01:05:05.817 --> 01:05:28.163
[SPEAKER_00]: Florida does have a certain perspective, and I get this a lot of times because a lot of my family and friends are in the Northeast and they're like, you live in Florida, like it just doesn't get the best rep, but also same as New Jersey New Jersey doesn't have a good rep either.
01:05:28.143 --> 01:05:35.942
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I have a lot of friends from New Jersey and expensive time there, it's a beautiful place, but yeah, it's outside looking in, it's not always positive.
01:05:35.962 --> 01:05:37.726
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, so you got to spend time and you'll love it.
01:05:38.187 --> 01:05:40.994
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we talked a little bit about what stories you're telling next.
01:05:41.937 --> 01:05:45.004
[SPEAKER_01]: Anything else you want to share with folks about what's coming up?
01:05:45.676 --> 01:05:58.056
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, so, you know, we did talk about Sylvia Arolf film coming in 2028, but another big initiative that we have coming with National Geographic Society is called the Connected Planet Initiative.
01:05:58.737 --> 01:06:02.583
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a vision of globally connected wildlife corridors.
01:06:03.745 --> 01:06:10.215
[SPEAKER_00]: And right now we have less than 15% of our land in water around the world protected.
01:06:11.022 --> 01:06:20.296
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a goal of having 30% protected by 2030 from, I think, 113 nations.
01:06:21.338 --> 01:06:23.100
[SPEAKER_00]: But how are we going to get there?
01:06:23.501 --> 01:06:29.450
[SPEAKER_00]: And wildlife corridors are that vision for how we can achieve that.
01:06:30.251 --> 01:06:37.182
[SPEAKER_00]: So with this initiative, we're going to be putting out grants for national geographic explorers.
01:06:37.567 --> 01:06:46.255
[SPEAKER_00]: to tell stories about wildlife corridors, because the science is often there for why we need wildlife corridors, but the story is missing.
01:06:46.936 --> 01:06:55.023
[SPEAKER_00]: And we need that story to build consensus to raise awareness and get people on board to protect and connect the planet.
01:06:56.225 --> 01:07:04.232
[SPEAKER_01]: I tell me if I'm wrong, but I often tell people that kind of next,
01:07:05.191 --> 01:07:13.098
[SPEAKER_01]: phase of conservation is connection, and Florida is really the testing ground.
01:07:13.318 --> 01:07:14.179
[SPEAKER_02]: That's awesome.
01:07:14.199 --> 01:07:14.539
[SPEAKER_02]: It is.
01:07:15.140 --> 01:07:15.921
[SPEAKER_01]: How cool is that?
01:07:16.561 --> 01:07:17.943
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're right, you're confirming.
01:07:17.963 --> 01:07:31.695
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I mean, I know there's a lot of initiatives that are, you know, happening around the world that are caught in a wide, but a lot of them and from what I can tell are still kind of on paper or a landing page somewhere.
01:07:32.175 --> 01:07:34.978
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not really
01:07:35.212 --> 01:07:36.013
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not the case here.
01:07:36.173 --> 01:07:37.215
[SPEAKER_01]: It's happening.
01:07:37.675 --> 01:07:38.176
[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening.
01:07:38.196 --> 01:07:38.496
[SPEAKER_00]: It's happening.
01:07:38.897 --> 01:07:48.349
[SPEAKER_01]: And what does that feel like for like a global initiative to really be really the litmus test right here, right here, right where we're sitting?
01:07:48.829 --> 01:07:53.095
[SPEAKER_01]: Right, this is the little bit.
01:07:53.115 --> 01:08:04.830
[SPEAKER_00]: No, this is the most ambitious large scale landscape corridor initiative in the country, in the world.
01:08:05.772 --> 01:08:13.842
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the framework for how we can expand this and so it's yeah incredibly
01:08:13.990 --> 01:08:21.603
[SPEAKER_00]: cool to be a part of it and hopefully scale that around the world so we can have a connected planet.
01:08:21.683 --> 01:08:37.830
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have to have isolated fragmented habitats where wildlife can't move freely and we don't have access to clean water and climate resilience and like you know we need corridors to have a healthy sustainable life into the future.
01:08:37.950 --> 01:08:38.631
[SPEAKER_00]: So
01:08:39.472 --> 01:08:47.372
[SPEAKER_00]: It's cool that it's happening here that people on both sides of the aisle get it that it's resonating.
01:08:49.917 --> 01:08:54.103
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just, it's like, world-changing to think about it.
01:08:54.164 --> 01:08:56.427
[SPEAKER_01]: Isn't that crazy happening right here?
01:08:56.768 --> 01:09:15.857
[SPEAKER_01]: This might be author record, but like, I try to tell people that all the time that there's other big ideas, Yellowstone, the U-Con, and there's like huge elephant migration corridors across the continent of Africa and in a lot of pockets and big things and the Amazon, like all these corridors, but nothing's really
01:09:16.715 --> 01:09:35.736
[SPEAKER_01]: even close to actionable like it's happening here and we're well past the halfway mark of success here and it's like and I also feel that anywhere else in the world I mean there's obviously examples all over but like if Florida can do it
01:09:36.003 --> 01:09:39.648
[SPEAKER_01]: You can do it because we are a tiny, most beautiful land.
01:09:39.688 --> 01:09:39.928
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
01:09:40.750 --> 01:09:44.635
[SPEAKER_01]: And we have 1,000 people today moving here for the years.
01:09:44.795 --> 01:09:50.403
[SPEAKER_01]: The political will is like people are like, how are you doing that amidst the sentiment?
01:09:51.164 --> 01:09:55.530
[SPEAKER_01]: And so many people that don't even have a clue that's happening right under their nose.
01:09:56.911 --> 01:10:05.205
[SPEAKER_01]: There's like all these elements of the story that are like, we're playing the video game for the first time on the hardest difficulty, right?
01:10:06.087 --> 01:10:10.975
[SPEAKER_01]: Because anywhere else are adjacent states to adjacent regions.
01:10:11.857 --> 01:10:16.905
[SPEAKER_01]: Do not have those same levels of challenges at that difficulty level.
01:10:16.966 --> 01:10:20.151
[SPEAKER_01]: There might be one or two of those pillars that it's like,
01:10:20.232 --> 01:10:25.783
[SPEAKER_01]: similar, but Texas doesn't have this kind of challenge, a lot of private land, you know?
01:10:25.924 --> 01:10:27.627
[SPEAKER_01]: But hey, we're dealing with that now.
01:10:27.948 --> 01:10:31.936
[SPEAKER_01]: And so they've got a lot of pathways to connection for those big cats.
01:10:32.237 --> 01:10:34.461
[SPEAKER_01]: And can I ask you the last three questions?
01:10:34.782 --> 01:10:35.022
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
01:10:36.646 --> 01:10:38.770
[SPEAKER_01]: Was there anything else you wanted to share while we're talking?
01:10:38.790 --> 01:10:41.295
[SPEAKER_01]: Like anything like, I need to make sure I make a point about this.
01:10:42.305 --> 01:10:50.219
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, actually, we have some film screenings coming up.
01:10:50.580 --> 01:10:50.960
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
01:10:50.980 --> 01:10:52.483
[SPEAKER_00]: Film screenings coming up.
01:10:52.503 --> 01:10:56.610
[SPEAKER_00]: So the gas gorilla film festival is next week in Tampa.
01:10:56.951 --> 01:10:59.976
[SPEAKER_00]: We have Florida bear tracks screening there.
01:10:59.956 --> 01:11:06.425
[SPEAKER_00]: We also have Florida Bear Tracks screening next week at the St. Augie Shorts Film Festival and St. Augustine.
01:11:07.206 --> 01:11:21.304
[SPEAKER_00]: We have the little Brumberg screening at the American Conservation Film Festival in mid-March and then end of March we have Florida Bear Tracks screening at the DC Environmental Film Festival.
01:11:21.965 --> 01:11:28.073
[SPEAKER_00]: So those are always great opportunities get going to film festival
01:11:28.053 --> 01:11:31.117
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, getting to engage in conversation around these films.
01:11:31.177 --> 01:11:36.184
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're in those areas, please go attend or just watch the film.
01:11:36.244 --> 01:11:37.946
[SPEAKER_00]: Share the stories.
01:11:38.827 --> 01:11:43.453
[SPEAKER_00]: And, yes, stay tuned with Wild Path because there are more screenings coming up.
01:11:43.533 --> 01:11:47.118
[SPEAKER_00]: We, I just heard this morning, we might have a screening at Archpool soon.
01:11:47.158 --> 01:11:48.860
[SPEAKER_01]: So, sweet.
01:11:49.020 --> 01:11:49.481
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay tuned.
01:11:50.242 --> 01:11:54.027
[SPEAKER_01]: Alright, and where can you follow if you do want to see?
01:11:54.175 --> 01:12:00.380
[SPEAKER_01]: upcoming screenings because I this might come out in like two or three weeks maybe a month so we might be past some of those.
01:12:00.981 --> 01:12:05.825
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh okay yeah go to wildpath.com.
01:12:05.845 --> 01:12:08.428
[SPEAKER_01]: All right last three questions and this has been great.
01:12:08.448 --> 01:12:09.649
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for the additional time.
01:12:09.809 --> 01:12:11.490
[SPEAKER_01]: This is uh this is fun.
01:12:13.392 --> 01:12:15.314
[SPEAKER_01]: Place in Florida that's most special to you.
01:12:16.054 --> 01:12:22.680
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay the place in Florida that's most
01:12:23.352 --> 01:12:34.626
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it feels incredibly honored that I get to have Carlton Ward, Jr. and Sylvia Earl, as my mentors and get to experience this place with both of them and learn from both of them.
01:12:34.666 --> 01:12:40.973
[SPEAKER_00]: And, I mean, Sylvia has just changed the way I look at things so much.
01:12:41.053 --> 01:12:49.984
[SPEAKER_00]: I already feel like I have section innate curiosity when it comes to the natural world, but Sylvia looks at the
01:12:50.639 --> 01:13:16.444
[SPEAKER_00]: tiniest things and doesn't when we're scuba diving barely moves a foot because she's just investigating one patch of sea grass and it has totally yet changed the way I look at this area and the things that I'm seeing, the algae, the little critters, the scallops, oh my gosh, I love scallops
01:13:18.010 --> 01:13:18.932
[SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
01:13:18.952 --> 01:13:25.284
[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I love the water, so right now, that's my favorite place.
01:13:26.887 --> 01:13:27.709
[SPEAKER_01]: It's frustrating.
01:13:27.969 --> 01:13:34.281
[SPEAKER_01]: I tell people like we have to pay bills and you know, drive places and
01:13:35.476 --> 01:13:50.937
[SPEAKER_01]: feet ourselves, and there's all this magic that when you just stop, it starts to blow the mind, and I feel like I've said that ten times this interview, but like, that's really cool to hear even from your point of view, because because people feel like,
01:13:50.917 --> 01:13:52.040
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I feel like I should know this.
01:13:52.140 --> 01:13:56.451
[SPEAKER_01]: I should know this, but you're like looking at a scallop and like looking at the eyes and looking at the eyes.
01:13:56.471 --> 01:13:58.235
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like this is the blue eyes.
01:13:58.837 --> 01:14:00.020
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just there.
01:14:00.060 --> 01:14:00.761
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh-huh.
01:14:00.942 --> 01:14:05.994
[SPEAKER_01]: Without me noticing my whole life and then it's just beauty everywhere you look.
01:14:06.014 --> 01:14:07.879
[SPEAKER_01]: I've never been to the same Martin's keys.
01:14:09.344 --> 01:14:10.305
[SPEAKER_01]: It seems really unique.
01:14:11.386 --> 01:14:15.030
[SPEAKER_00]: It is like an incredible underwater forest is so cool.
01:14:15.050 --> 01:14:22.458
[SPEAKER_00]: The nurse sharks that come to the St. Martin's keys, the sea turtles, oh my gosh.
01:14:22.878 --> 01:14:25.721
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, and for you one that there's like, where is that?
01:14:26.021 --> 01:14:32.708
[SPEAKER_01]: Just off of the crystal river and crystal river and that whole area, unbelievable.
01:14:33.869 --> 01:14:35.891
[SPEAKER_01]: What, how do people get involved?
01:14:36.412 --> 01:14:37.393
[SPEAKER_01]: Or how do people
01:14:38.251 --> 01:14:42.278
[SPEAKER_01]: Either get involved or get into what you do.
01:14:42.960 --> 01:14:47.548
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, the simplest answer to get involved is to watch the films.
01:14:48.270 --> 01:14:52.097
[SPEAKER_00]: Share the films, share the stories, start conversations.
01:14:53.179 --> 01:14:57.627
[SPEAKER_00]: I think, you know, I've mentioned this before how important stories are in the power of stories.
01:14:58.670 --> 01:15:00.152
[SPEAKER_00]: get those messages out there.
01:15:00.192 --> 01:15:03.577
[SPEAKER_00]: Next step is you can always support us.
01:15:03.637 --> 01:15:05.019
[SPEAKER_00]: You can support Wild Path.
01:15:05.039 --> 01:15:06.281
[SPEAKER_00]: You can become a partner.
01:15:06.321 --> 01:15:24.909
[SPEAKER_00]: And then if you don't want to do either of those things, which I think you should, just get involved with your landscape, learn your plant and animal neighbors, support Wild Life Court or initiatives, support conservation policy, and get outside.
01:15:25.750 --> 01:15:27.833
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, do you still get outside?
01:15:28.268 --> 01:15:30.939
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yes, yeah, getting outside is very important.
01:15:31.039 --> 01:15:33.248
[SPEAKER_01]: Despite working in it, it can sometimes.
01:15:33.308 --> 01:15:33.931
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I can.
01:15:33.951 --> 01:15:34.513
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not that forget.
01:15:35.477 --> 01:15:38.028
[SPEAKER_00]: I am on the board at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve.
01:15:38.108 --> 01:15:38.650
[SPEAKER_00]: So.
01:15:58.964 --> 01:16:02.170
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to sound conceited, but it's kind of us.
01:16:05.135 --> 01:16:20.483
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we already talked about how amazing it is that the Florida Wildlife Court or is happening and the progress we've made, and this is the largest, most ambitious conservation plan.
01:16:20.463 --> 01:16:24.632
[SPEAKER_00]: And the United States, and I mean, we're making it happen.
01:16:24.753 --> 01:16:34.354
[SPEAKER_00]: So I feel very hopeful by the work that we're all doing for the Florida Wildlife Corridor, the Coalition of Partners that have come together, all of the...
01:16:35.077 --> 01:16:50.993
[SPEAKER_00]: people who know about the quarter her spreading the message and I'm just really excited for where this is going to continue to go and grow and hopefully become scalable for other states and eventually the world because we're going to make it happen.
01:16:56.474 --> 01:17:02.646
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, there you have it folks, you can learn more about KT and the stories that she's told on Wild Path's brand new website.
01:17:02.786 --> 01:17:09.359
[SPEAKER_01]: And also in the show, it's an information about the new collaboration between Wild Path and Natchio called Connected Planet.
01:17:09.540 --> 01:17:11.443
[SPEAKER_01]: And the story starts right here in Florida.
01:17:11.644 --> 01:17:12.846
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, talk to you soon.
