Tag Archives: Sir David Attenborough

Eden And Michaela Strachan To Find The Next Nature Filmmakers

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Eden Shorts: Nature Filmmaker of the Year


Michaela Strachan  

Eden, Britain’s leading natural history channel today announced a brand new nationwide and first-ever amateur nature filmmaking competition, Eden Shorts.

 

The aim of the competition is to inspire budding filmmakers to produce one-minute short films, which capture the natural world in all its beauty and wonder. It opens on the 7th July and closes on 27th September 2014. Entrants can find information on how to enter at edentv.co.uk/shorts.

 

The winners will have their work showcased on-air on Eden, as well as some other prizes on offer for one overall winner. These will be picked by an expert judging panel, including wildlife enthusiast and TV presenter, Michaela Strachan.

 

Michaela commented; “’I think Eden Shorts is a fantastic idea and an amazing opportunity for amateur wildlife filmmakers to be creative and show their work. To get the opportunity to showcase your talent on the channel is such an incredible opportunity, it’s like the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ of the wildlife film making world. The criteria is very open so it’ll be really interesting to see what people come up with. It’s a tough world to get into and this could give untapped talent a perfect platform to show off!’

 

Filmmaking technology is now far more accessible, making it easier for passionate individuals to obtain beautiful moving images of the natural world. Sir David Attenborough believes that the future of natural history communication mostly rests with dedicated amateurs who will film wildlife around them, he was quoted recently saying people will capture “the mating of a dragonfly on a pond which may be 100 yards from their home and put that on the web.”

 

Emma Boston, General Manager of Eden, added; “Eden Shorts is looking for high quality amateur films, which showcase the wonder of the natural world. This could consist of a time-lapse of a flower opening or the setting sun, a piece to camera about nature or local wildlife projects, a classic wildlife film of a favourite animal or even an animation.

 

More than anything the competition asks entrants to be creative! Eden Shorts is looking for live-action footage of nature, presenters talking to camera, animations, an interview or any other means that help to convey the film’s message.”

 

Eden celebrates the wonder of nature, and features the very best wildlife, science and adventure programming. The channel shows the best of the BBC’s Natural History Unit with Sir David Attenborough, and science programming with Professor Brian Cox, as well as UK premiere acquisitions that explore the world around us and some spectacular adventure and travel programmes.

 

Instructions on how to enter

To enter the competition, each entrant must upload a Short Film lasting no more than 1 minute to their personal YouTube account. Entrants must then submit the relevant URL for their Short Film together with their personal email address via the Competition entry form application located on the Eden website at eden.uktv.co.uk.

 

Sir David Attenborough Launches Global Crowdfunding Campaign to Save Mountain Gorillas

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Frost favourite Sir David Attenborough will launch a global crowdfunding campaign this week to save mountain gorillas.

The Indiegogo crowdfund, launched to coincide with the first ever UK Crowdfunding Day, aims to raise £110,000 by December 11 to support Fauna & Flora International’s work with mountain gorillas.  This work fosters cooperation across national borders and empowers communities to monitor, protect and benefit from maintaining a healthy population of mountain gorillas.

Sir David, who first highlighted the plight of the mountain gorillas in 1978 in the BBC’s Life on Earth television series, said: “If we are to ensure the survival of mountain gorillas, it is vital that the global community supports our efforts.

sir_david-attenboroough

“By supporting this campaign and promoting it through your networks, you will not only be helping to secure a future for mountain gorillas, but also the tens of thousands of Rwandan, Ugandan and Congolese people who have come to depend upon them for their livelihoods and wellbeing.”

Founder of TheCrowdfundingCentre.com and organiser of the Deep Impact crowdfunding conference taking place on Friday, November 1, Barry James, said: “The UK is leading the world in using Crowdfunding for good as well as for business. We’re delighted to be working with Sir David and Fauna & Flora International to launch what we believe is the first truly global conservation crowdfunding project – which will undoubtedly be the first of many – as part of this first UK Crowdfunding Day.

“Crowdfunding is revolutionising how businesses are created – making them more people-centred –enabling and supporting the causes the crowd are passionate about. It’s rebooting funding as we know it.

“It’s reshaping the landscape for both for causes, charities and social enterprises and also for startups, entrepreneurs and medical research and has great potential for our communities, towns and cities across the UK. Crowdfunding has changed the financial landscape forever.”

 

Brits would rather share meal with Stephen Fry than Hollywood stars

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Brits would rather share meal with Stephen Fry than Hollywood stars

* Stephen Fry most popular well-travelled celebrity to share a meal with
* Italian food is British people’s favourite foreign cuisine
* Half of Britons say food is important factor when choosing holiday destination

A new survey by Intrepid Travel has found that more people would like to share a meal with TV presenter Stephen Fry than with Hollywood stars such as Angelina Jolie or George Clooney.

When asked to choose from a list of well-travelled celebrities, Stephen Fry was the most popular person to share a meal with (15%), followed by Frozen Planet presenter Sir David Attenborough (11%) and adventurer Michael Palin (9%). Just one in 20 people said they’d most like to share a meal with Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie or George Clooney (both 5%). Three times as many people chose Jamie Oliver compared with Gordon Ramsay (6% and 2% respectively).

The poll, which was carried out for the small group travel specialist by YouGov, found that although Chicken Tikka Masala may be thought to be the nation’s favourite dish, Italian food is British people’s favourite foreign cuisine, with one in six (17%) saying it’s their top choice.

Italian was voted the most popular cuisine among 18 to 34 year-olds*, Indian cuisine is the top choice for 35 to 44 year-olds**, while 45 and overs are more patriotic in their choice of meal and most likely to favour British food***.

Almost half of those surveyed who have been on holiday abroad (47%) said that the local cuisine is very or fairly important when choosing their holiday destination abroad. But although almost 9 in 10 with a favourite cuisine (87%) have eaten it in a restaurant, and 8 in 10 have cooked it at home, less then four in ten (38%) have eaten their favourite cuisine in a restaurant in the country that it comes from.

Within the UK, Londoners are the most likely to seek out the most authentic food they can find when travelling, eating from street stalls and markets whenever possible (18%), while Scots are the most likely to stick to Western chain restaurants or familiar cuisines (15%).

“It’s refreshing to hear that British people would rather share a meal with someone famed for their great wit and conversation, than with a Hollywood heartthrob,” says Rebecca McKernan, Manager at the Intrepid My Adventure Store.

“Sharing a meal is a great way to get to know people, their tastes and their culture. That’s why eating in family-run restaurants, local markets and people’s homes features so highly on Intrepid’s itineraries. Whether your favourite cuisine is Italian or Indian, Mexican or Malaysian, you haven’t tasted it at its authentic best until you’ve enjoyed it in the country where it comes from,” adds McKernan.

Throughout February, Intrepid Travel is offering 15% off gastronomic tours in more than 15 countries known for their fabulous cuisine, from India to Vietnam, Sri Lanka to Mexico, as well as destinations closer to home including Italy, Spain and France.

The discounted trips showcase global food at its most authentic, with cooking classes, street food and local markets featuring prominently on many of the itineraries. Trips can be booked at www.intrepidtravel.com/deliciousdiscoveries.

Vivienne Westwood's 'Frozen Planet' Collection

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 Autumn – Winter 2012/13

 

Our collection is in support of David Attenborough’s documentary series ‘The Frozen Planet’, which will go to America but unfortunately without the final episode where he explains that we humans are responsible for the ice melt. So we took the polar explorers as our heroes and we love polar bears. Barack Obama never mentions the words climate change.

If our leaders would admit the fact of climate change and conduct their politics from that perspective then we might have a chance – we have 10 years at the most to stop it.

 

How impossible it is for us to imagine ourselves victims of disaster.  We suffer for the poor people who were thrown into the sea from their cruise ship off the coast of Tuscany, some losing their lives.  Imagine a world of accelerating natural disasters, one after the other so that nobody can help anyone else.

 

Public opinion is the only thing that will save us.

 

 

GreenUp! Europe Campaign

 

I was approached by the United Nation Environmental Programme to design a t-shirt for their GreenUp! campaign – when you start doing things you find people come to you. They’re starting with a terrific idea which is to plant corridors of trees to link Europe’s forests. This new initiative is about triggering new habits for a greener Europe and for greener economies.  I have created a design for UNEP in support of the project.  It’s a really practical idea and it raises public awareness – it’s great for the environment, great for people, great for animals.

 

My design has been printed on a t-shirt provided by sustainable manufacturers, ANVIL. The ‘Tree-shirts’ will be sold exclusively through YOOX.com on a worldwide level and in our Milan shop during menswear fashion week with all proceeds to be donated to the GreenUp! fund, helping to re-plant trees in Europe’s worst affected regions.

 

 

For more information on the project please visit www.unep.org

 

Frost's Review of 2011

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2011 was an eventful political year, with the Arab Spring, phone Hacking and the death of more than one tyrant. On the flip side, it was also a year of wedding fever, Prince William finally made an honest women of Kate Middleton on April 29. Kate Moss and Jamie Hince, Lily Allen and Sam Cooper (she also announced her pregnancy), Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig, Prince Albert and Charlotte, Zara Phillips and Mark Tindall and Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell all tied the knot. Kim Kardashian got married too, but so briefly it is barely worth mentioning.

There was tragedy when Japan was struck by an record 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami. Followed by nuclear disaster at Fukushima, which is still being cleared up by brave workers, at serious risk to their own health.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher.

In August London burned as riots spread all over England, people died, lost their homes and taxpayers were left with a bill of over 100 million.

The Arab Spring started when 26-year-old vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi. set himself on fire in protest in a Tunisian marketplace on December 17th 2010. It lead to leaders all over the Arab world standing down including Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and the death of Gaddafi in October.

Silvio Berlusconi also finally stepped down.

Osama Bin Laden was killed ten years after 9/11.

The press went mad over Pippa Middleton’s bottom. As did PR companies.

Super Injunctions were the buzzword of the year, but the name of the footballer came out after he was named by multiple people on Twitter. The film star who slept with the same prostitute as Wayne Rooney, however, got away with it. Our article on it was one of our most popular of the year, getting over 14,000 hits in a matter of hours

Borders book store closed down, as did the Space Shuttle Programme and Harry Potter ended after a decade.

The Iraqi war ended in December. A date set by the Bush administration.

Liam Fox lost his job.

The Phone Hacking scandal ran and ran.

Charlie Sheen lost it, but bounced back.

Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest.

Frost’s Politician of the year is the people of Libya.

Anders Behring Breivik went on an murderous rampage in Norway on the Island of Utoya, leaving over 80 people dead and many more injured. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called the attack a “national tragedy” and the worst atrocity in Norway since World War II. Stoltenberg further vowed that the attack would not hurt Norwegian democracy, and said the proper answer to the violence was “more democracy, more openness, but not naivety”. In his speech at the memorial service on 24 July 2011, he said what a proper reaction would be: “No one has said it better than the AUF girl who was interviewed by CNN: ‘If one man can show so much hate, think how much love we could show, standing together.’

The end of Harry Potter.

Frost started a campaign to end Prescription charges in England, the only place in the so called ‘United’ Kingdom still paying them.

Jessie J had a breakthrough year and confessed to being bisexual.

David Walliams swam the Thames. He raised £1 million for Sports relief.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher split.

As did J-Lo and Marc Anthony

Ryan Gosling had a brilliant year and was in the brilliant Drive. http://frostmagazine.com/2011/09/drive-film-review/

Sir David Attenborough dazzled again with Frozen Planet.

Frost Women of the year: Kate Middleton. After ten years and two break-ups, Catherine Elizabeth Middleton finally married her Prince Charming. Their wedding was watched by more people than 20 million people and the new Duchess of Cambridge has been wowing press and public alike with her style, charm and poise.

Man of the year: Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs died too young, aged 56, after a long battle with cancer. He changed the world with his vision and business acumen and when he died the outpouring of grief would rival that of Princess Diana. A true loss of a visionary man.

Most inspirational person: Eva Schloss. Eva survived the holocaust. She lost her father and her brother, her mother also survived and went on to marry Otto Frank and Eva became Anne Frank’s step-sister. She is truly the most inspirational women I have ever met. If you don’t believe me, read her books. The Promise: The Moving Story of a Family in the Holocaust
or Eva’s Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Step-Sister of Anne Frank
[Full disclosure: I was in the West End Production of the play of Eva’s life; And Then They Came For Me.]

Kim Jong-il, Lucien Freud, Christopher Hitchens, Liz Taylor, Amy Winehouse and Vaclav Havel all died in 2011.

Adele and Katy Perry released the albums of the year.

Kristen Wiig co-wrote and starred in the hilarious Bridesmaids, which proved women could be funny.

Unemployment was high and economical troubles rumbled throughout the year. The US lost their triple AAA credit rating.

Finally, a great article.

http://frostmagazine.com/2011/10/top-10-common-faults-with-human-thought/