Sunny Side of the Doc will present a June 23 case study of the multi-media initiative 8 BILLION, developed by Waterbear and described as “an exciting multi-media initiative and online community for shared visions, hopes and beliefs joining forces to defend Planet Earth.”
Launched in April 2021 and set to span the coming decade, Waterbear’s 8 BILLION project aims to bring together faith, arts and science communities to paint an intimate portrait with a series of stories about how humans all over the world celebrate and protect nature.
In the first phase filmmakers and storytellers were invited to upload their films to the Waterbear interactive streaming platform. This summer, the invitation is extended to welcome contributions from the wider community, encouraging groups anywhere and everywhere to make a film and share their stories.
“Our intention in the short term is that storytellers and other creative professionals see 8 BILLION as an opportunity to showcase their commitment to repairing humanity’s broken relationship to nature. Longer term we hope that 8 BILLIONbecomes an accessible open resource to share stories about our fragile planet,” Waterbear explained to Business Doc Europe before Sunny Side.
WaterBear is joined in the initiative by Oscar-nominated and BAFTA winning non-fiction producer Off the Fence Productions and the WWF. While some of the films will be featured on WaterBear, the company will also be developing the six-part 8 BILLION series focused on living stories from around the world.
“This moment in time couldn’t be more important. We’re at the precipice of change and we hope that this initiative will demonstrate how important it is for each of us to tell stories from our own point of view to and showcase how communities around the world have complex and beautiful relationships with our natural world,” Waterbear further told BDE. “Together we hope to create a movement that unites millions of people in a joint effort to preserve natural habitats and biodiversity.”
“The intimate, mostly self-shot videos will be curated for the platform to form a vast and iconic ode to planet Earth,” the company underlines. “The assembly of these stories in one place will deepen our connection with the natural world, and our connection with each other.”
WaterBear, founded by Ellen Windemuth, is dedicated to supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, with a stated aim to “uniquely empower the viewer to take direct instant action to support NGOs around the world and shape a better future for our fragile planet.” How does the company therefore intend to measure the effects of its advocacy?
“We can use our platform analytics and feedback from our network of NGOs to determine levels of engagement in campaigns aimed at system change as a result of our storytelling and content,” answers the company. “Our complex data analytics via all three platforms (web, iOS and Android) will allow us to determine levels of interaction with our content overtime. For example, we can identify individuals who have watched specific pieces of content and depending on the theory of change for that film, we can survey these members and report on the impact.”
“During feedback sessions with our partners associated to the film we can also gather the relevant information related to the impact objectives of that story. By creating content and screening it at key events such as COP 26 (2021 United Nations climate change conference) and the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity), we can measure influence at the policy level looking at how many key figures we have engaged. And, when our legitimacy will allow it, we aim to gather qualitative feedback from decision makers during screening events with short interviews and eventually build lasting relationships with them to keep track of the system change happening in their circle.”
“Finally, with direct actions such as donations or petition signatures, we can receive reports from NGOs on the effect of the film of those targets. These metrics will develop further in time.”
In terms of measurable change stemming from wider media emphasis placed on ecological and environmental issues, the company is equally effusive. “We’re seeing a massive emergence of brands engage with more impactful types of storytelling which in turn is leading to deeper engagement with their audiences, and showcases the brands’ commitments to the future of our planet. Storytelling, rather than traditional advertising, is a far greater way of driving action. It’s also great to see high level decision makers engaging with stories like this, for example at COP 26, where we will host a series of screenings and events. There is no doubt there is a long way to go, but the momentum is building.”
Waterbear’s Windemuth executive produced the Academy Award-winning My Octopus Teacher by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, a doc that chronicles the emotional relationship between diver and filmmaker Craig Foster and an octopus he encounters in the kelp forests off the coast of Cape Town.
“The Oscar is testament to the healing power of nature and highlights that life in the ocean really matters to people,” Windemuth told BDE. “Based on this notion, we created the WaterBear Network to bring these values back into our viewer’s homes and hearts.”
