Our Great National Parks with Barack Obama on Netflix

Factual America

14 Apr

Written By

Our Great National Parks is a breathtaking Netflix original docuseries, executive produced and narrated by President Barack Obama, who protected more public lands and waters than any other US president in history.

President Obama takes us on a journey to experience nature in the world's most iconic national parks, spanning five continents. The series brims with wonder, humour and optimism as each episode tells the story of a national park through the lives of its wildest residents, both big and exceptionally small.

The series explores our changing relationship with wilderness traveling from the waters of Monterey Bay, California to the bright red soil of Kenya's Tsavo National Park, the lush rainforests of Indonesia's Gunung Leuser National Park, the majestic terrain of Chilean Patagonia and more.

Our Great National Parks beckons us to get out and explore, create new ways for these wild places to thrive, and vigorously preserve them for future generations to come.

Acclaimed filmmakers James Honeyborne and Sophie Todd are the executive producer and series producer behind this five-part documentary. They share their experiences making this series and what it was like working with President Barack Obama.

Not all human ideas are bad. National parks were a human idea. We did that, so we can be a force for good as much as a force for bad. - Sophie Todd

Time Stamps:

00:00 - Trailer for Our Great National Parks.
02:10 - Introduction to the series.
04:37 - What Our Great National Parks is about.
05:49 - How the project was conceived.
08:00 - How it was working with President Barrack Obama.
13:45 - Why Sophie and James decided to take a solutions approach to the conservation topic.
17:00 - What they hope the legacy of this series will be.
20:33 - How sloths can cure cancer and a clip from the documentary showing sloths.
22:50 - The process of discovering new wildlife during filming.
26:20 - How Sophie and James got such amazing camera shots of the animals.
30:00 - The story of preserving rhinos and second clip from the series.
31:48 - The main lessons viewers can take away from Our Great National Parks.
32:55 - How it was to film this documentary during the pandemic.
34:38 - The development of remote filmmaking.

Resources:

Our Great National Parks (2022)
Freeborne Media
MovieMaker Magazine
Innersound Audio
Alamo Pictures

Connect with Sophie Todd:

IMDb

Connect with James Honeyborne:

Twitter
IMDb

More From Factual America:

Transcript for Factual America Episode 95: Our Great National Parks with Barack Obama on Netflix

Sophie Todd 00:00

Hi, I'm Sophie Todd, and I'm the series producer of Our Great National Parks.

James Honeyborne 00:04

And I'm James Honeyborne, and I'm the executive producer of Our Great National Parks.

Barack Obama 00:12

A fish that can walk. Surfing hippos want to catch the waves. Species found nowhere else on earth. Join me in this celebration of our planet's greatest national parks and wilderness. Around the world, the more isolated the national park, the more unusual its creatures, and the more extraordinary their behaviors. When humanity started to protect these wild places, we did not realize how important they would become. They're a haven for endangered species and a hotbed for scientific research. This sloth has an entire micro-kingdom living in his fur. Researching him will help fight cancer, malaria and antibiotic-resistant superbugs. This sleepy sloth might just save us all. This is a journey through the natural wonders of our shared birthright.

Matthew 02:07

This is Factual America. We're brought to you by Alamo Pictures, an Austin and London based production company making documentaries about America for international audiences. I'm your host Matthew Sherwood. Each week, I watch a hit documentary, and then talk with the filmmakers and their subjects. This week, it is my pleasure to welcome acclaimed filmmakers James Honeyborne and Sophie Todd, the exec. producer and series producer behind the original Netflix docu-series, Our Great National Parks. This breathtaking five-part series is executive produced and narrated by President Barack Obama, who protected more public lands and waters than any other US president in history. President Obama takes us on a journey to experience nature in the world's most iconic national parks. Spanning five continents, the series brims with wonder, humor, and optimism as each episode tells the story of a national park through the lives of its wildest residents, both big and exceptionally small. The series explores our changing relationship with wilderness, traveling from the waters of Monterey Bay, California, to the bright red soil of Kenya's Tsavo National Park; the lush rainforests of Indonesia's Gunung Leuser National Park, the majestic terrain of Chilean Patagonia, and more. Our Great National Parks beckons us to get out and explore, create new ways for these wild places to thrive, and vigorously preserve them for future generations to come. Stay tuned as we learn about James and Sophie's experiences making this series, and what it was like working with President Barack Obama. James and Sophie, welcome to Factual America. How are things with you, Sophie?

Sophie Todd 03:47

Really cool, really good. Thanks. We're well.

Matthew 03:50

Yeah? And James?

James Honeyborne 03:51

Yeah. All good. Thank you. We're based in Bristol, in the west of England, at the edge of the Celtic Sea, and excited that the series will be premiering very soon.

Matthew 04:05

Well, yes, that series is, as you've already alluded to, and we've heard coming into this, in the intro, is Our Great National Parks. It released on April 13, on Netflix, and basically a visually stunning series, if I may add. Sophie, maybe you can get us started. For our listeners who, maybe, haven't had a chance to watch this on Netflix. What is Our Great National Parks all about? Maybe you can give us a synopsis?

Sophie Todd 04:39

Well, it's the global celebration of a modern - well, not that modern - a conservation success story, I should say. It's 150 years since Yellowstone opened its gates and now we have over 4000 national parks around the world. It's a truly global phenomenon, and it's something that we can champion and be really proud of, would you say, James?

James Honeyborne 05:02

I would, you know, there's a lot of things in conservation and environmental issues going on at the moment, obviously, but within that to have a real success story, which is the growth of these parks, and actually 50% of all national parks in the world, have been founded in just the last 50 years. So, it really is a current movement. And we hope that people will see the value of these places, and remind themselves of the value of these places, because they're some of the most extraordinary, stunning, breathtaking locations, and some of the last great wilderness areas left on the planet.

Matthew 05:39

Yeah. Well, and as you were saying, James, I mean, it's the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone, the first national park being founded. How was this project conceived? I mean, what was the reasoning behind it? Because as you both are well aware, and certainly you, James, there's loads of nature docs that are coming out all the time. What's, I mean, further on to what you were already saying, what is different about this one, maybe, and what have we not seen before?

James Honeyborne 06:05

Well, I guess, we were looking at - I was looking at - what I've done in my career, and the impact that some of the series have made, and thinking, what should we be really talking about? What conversation can be generated at the moment that maybe is a little bit under the radar? And given the state of the planet, and what's happening, what should we be really turning a spotlight onto? And it struck me that really, the importance of wilderness on Earth today is so important, because nature only exists where we let it, and wilderness needs people. Nothing really exists in isolation any more. So, we need to look at our relationship with wild places, wild spaces, everywhere. And that was the sort of premise which got us thinking about how we might tackle the subject. Now, at the same time, we were introduced by Netflix to Higher Ground, the Obama's production company, and it was wonderful to meet them early on, and to develop an idea. And it felt that, actually, national parks are the pinnacle of conservation that any country can give a wilderness area, and that that would offer a good organizing principle for the series. And then it was really a case of, well, which park do we choose? And as Sophie knows, too well, when you've got 4000 parks to choose from, that's not so easy is it?!

Sophie Todd 07:43

No! It's not an easy task at all!

Matthew 07:46

Well, I was gonna ask you about, you know, President Obama and Higher Ground's involvement in this, and, I mean, did they help shape the storytelling of this?

Sophie Todd 08:00

I think, certainly, that they've been involved from the beginning, from the development, all the way through when we started to go out filming, and we were sharing some of the footage that we were getting and talking about the parks that we were considering featuring. I mean, from our perspective, we wanted to have a range of habitats that would reflect the globe, because national parks can be in any type of habitat. We feature leopard seals on fjords in Patagonia, as much as bison in Yellowstone. So, we wanted to reflect that it's a global phenomena, but also that the President has a really personal connection to these places. He protected more natural space than any president in US history. So, he has a connection in terms of his legacy. But also he talks a lot in his autobiography, and he's spoken about his connection to national parks in the past. So, we looked at those as well to see where there were connections, and, plus, for example, his father was born in Kenya. So, we look at a park in Kenya, as he says, the land of my father. And so, all of those things came together. And he was very much a part of the decision making process, yeah.

Matthew 09:14

But was he always on tap to be the narrator? Or did that come later?

James Honeyborne 09:18

Well, I think that really sort of developed, you know. So, Higher Ground are very open and keen to let the artists' vision lead the production. But we were in conversation all the way through, and I think there came a point where, you know, it was clear that we were getting some really great behavioral sequences, the series was really, you know, starting to come together very nicely. And it was something that I think is just a very natural fit, to slip into that sort of closer relationship with the president coming right in.

Matthew 09:57

Well, and obviously the point is to talk about these national parks but, if I may, was working with someone like President Barack Obama, I mean, do you rewrite his script? Did he rewrite his scripts? Do you coach him on narration? I mean, how does that work?

Sophie Todd 10:14

I did direct him on the ground when we were filming. And we directed him in the comm. record. But to be honest, he needed very little direction. And, I mean, he's done more filming than probably either of us added together, so he's very comfortable with the camera, and it's something he's incredibly passionate about in places that he really cared about. So, he was very relaxed and intuitive. There were a few changes to things he made in the final comm. record. I think we'd written something about a neesia fruit being the same size as an American football, and he started laughing, and said, to him, it's just a football. Like, to us, when we think of a football, we think of a soccer ball. So, it was a little bit of that. But yeah, it was great, wasn't it?

James Honeyborne 11:04

Yes. It was a lot of fun in the commentary records, and yes, the President certainly brought his own voice to it. And, you know, even on the day, we'd tweak the odd line, if it sounded, you know, he had a better way of saying it. Absolutely. So, it was a collaborative effort, really.

Matthew 11:22

And, yes, and I had that same conversation with one of my children about the neesia fruit and the American football and football discussion, so, but you've worked with, you know, I know James, you have, certainly, worked with legendary Sir David Attenborough. I mean, what was it like working - how does it compare? I mean, I guess they're coming at this from different directions. And, I guess partly what I'm getting at is, does President Obama think he's got a career in leading nature docs?

James Honeyborne 11:56

No, well, you'd really have to ask the president about that. But, you know, they're both great men and great orators. And they both have great authenticity in the stories they tell. Sir David has an unparalleled track record, hasn't he, in extolling the wonders of the natural world, and isn't that wonderful. The framing on this series is different. It's more about our relationship with wilderness. And I think to have a world leader and a perspective that comes more from the human side of that, because parks need people, you know, it's a different thing. And the President is just the right person for the job, we feel, so, no, it's great to have, great to have the president on this, and it feels like it's a very forward facing series. It's a series that we make very much with the next generation in mind. And it's really about our relationship with parks today, and tomorrow.

Matthew 13:03

Okay. Well, I almost feel like we should leave it with that. That's a great way of putting it. But speaking of this future generation - so, this is certainly a film I was able to watch with my children, and it was interesting, it struck me that - correct me if I'm wrong - but there's definitely, how best to put it, there's maybe a more positive approach to this film than we will have seen in some recent, very good nature docs that have come out in the last few years. I mean, was that a conscious decision and approach? Is that a fair way of putting it?

James Honeyborne 13:42

We weren't going to shy away from the issues. But equally, we wanted to be optimistic about some of the solutions that have been employed, because there are incredible solutions to the big challenges that conservation are facing at the moment, a lot of which happened in national parks, don't you think?

Sophie Todd 14:00

Yeah, and I think if we want to inspire people to do more, you have to offer them hope and solutions. And national parks are doing some incredible things around the world, and each of the parks we feature, tell us something more about the role that parks play, but some particular parks, we feature like Rwanda, like Patagonia, they give us visions for the future of parks and where we could go if we decide to, and I think it's key that we do.

Matthew 14:31

Yeah, no, I think that's fair enough. I mean, it was interesting because my younger ones were very much, look, it's not a comparing, not trying to compare or it's unfair comparisons, actually, it's just a different approach, as you say, but they responded quite well. It was interesting to watch how they viewed this. They liked that solutions based approach. Let's put it that way.

James Honeyborne 14:56

That's wonderful. You know, it's important that we give people hope and so it is purposefully hopeful. I think that's the tone that we tried to strike, whilst not sugar coating the problems, you know, we are very clear about those. But it's about our relationship and relationships can be improved. And, if we do it wisely, then, you know, nature and humanity can coexist. And, by the way, actually, we need that to happen, because if you want to have a healthy climate, and if you want to be healthy yourself, you need fully functioning wilderness doing all the jobs that it does.

Sophie Todd 15:33

And we've got a campaign, as well, to go with the series, as well, for people that are inspired to enable them to do more. And that's wildforall.org.

James Honeyborne 15:42

That's right.

Matthew 15:43

Okay.

Sophie Todd 15:44

Once the series goes out, we hope that momentum will carry the ideas in the series forward and enable more people to connect.

James Honeyborne 15:50

Yeah, it's there to activate inspired audiences to learn more about nature protection, and how to get involved.

Matthew 15:57

Well, that's great. I mean, I was going to ask you, and we'll obviously put some links in the show notes, so people can link to that and read some more on this themselves. I mean, your view would then be - it's a broad subject, we could spend many hours discussing this, but, your view is to be relatively positive, and there is still a chance. I mean, we definitely had the, you know, the last week, we've had the UN, IPCC come out, saying it's - the ability to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is going to be very, extremely difficult to say the least, but, I guess your view - well, I guess maybe the way to put it is - I mean, you've alluded, there's a campaign coming up, but, maybe, while we've got you here, you can kind of give us some ideas on what we as individuals can do to help.

Sophie Todd 16:48

Well, I think whatever the headlines are, however bad it is, we have to try. The stakes are too high for us just to say, Oh, well, we're doomed. Let's give up. We have to stand up. And the series offers some ways forward on a park level. And as James was saying, the Wild For All gives us a sort of personal level. In terms of individual actions...

James Honeyborne 17:15

Well, that's on the website. Please encourage listeners of this to go to that. You know, change comes from two areas, it comes at a government level, and it comes at the level of individual action. And change happens more quickly when it happens at both ends of that spectrum, I think. And that was certainly the experience we had. I've had previously, when I made Blue Planet II, and the so-called Blue Planet Effect that happened afterwards, and the series is there to, entertain audiences globally, around the, you know, the wonders of wilderness, and what it does for us. And I think the take home from the series for me is really about hopefully valuing our relationship with wilderness and wild spaces, and realizing that we all have a role to play in that, and that it's important to us all. And then we can hope that governance, ie, world leaders, the United Nations - by the way, how people vote, therefore, does matter. You know, these things all tie up the other end as well. So, for me, the most important thing is we get a conversation going, because if we overlook these wild places, if we think they're just empty and not doing vital functions for us, if we undervalue them, then we're missing a big trick here; so, it's the joy of the job, really, is hopefully creating a series which can entertain and inform and help introduce people to the ideas of the values of wild spaces, everywhere. That's what we're trying to do.

Matthew 19:04

Okay. I think that brings us to an early break for our listeners. So, we'll be right back with James Honeyborne and Sophie Todd, the exec. producer and series producer of Our Great National Parks, globally released on April 13, on Netflix.

Factual America midroll 19:24

If you enjoy Factual America, check out the MovieMaker podcast. That's all one word: MovieMaker. Where our friends at MovieMaker.com interview everyone from filmmakers just breaking in to A-Listers like David Fincher and Edgar Wright, about their movie making secrets and behind the scenes tricks-of-the-trade. They go deep and let the guests speak uninterrupted, to get you the most film insight. Now back to Factual America.

Matthew 19:52

Welcome back to Factual America. I'm here with acclaimed filmmakers James Honeybourne and Sophie Todd. The Netflix docu-series, Our Great National Parks, globally released on April 13, on Netflix. We were talking about, sort of, and very eloquently, you were saying what you want the legacy, basically of this film to be, and how we value our national parks. I mean, if I may, I'm going to ask you a question from one of our listeners, watchers, who also happens to be my nine year old son, but who, let's see, how can sloths cure cancer?

Sophie Todd 20:37

Wow, that's a very good question. And it's one that we look at in Episode One. It is a discovery that was made, that sloths have an algae that grows on their fur when they're wet, effectively, and it has medicinal properties that have been shown could be effective in cures for cancer, could help when antibiotics stop working for us. So, there's multiple uses. And it's the sort of discovery that can only be made, if we keep the habitat to keep the sloths in the first place. Lose the sloths, we never find out these multiple options that there are throughout the world that could offer us answers for questions we don't even know that we're going to need. So, yeah, that's it.

James Honeyborne 21:24

It's all about sloth fur. And yeah, the sort of microcosm that exists within it. And once you start looking more closely at nature, you discover these things everywhere. And that's the thing about rainforests. There's still so much we don't know. So, the sloth's really an example of just one creature in one rainforest. But the truth could be said for all the millions of creatures in all the world's rainforests, a load of which we don't even - we haven't even discovered or named yet. And, in fact, that's so common still, that when we were filming in Indonesia, in Gunung Leuser National Park, we discovered and filmed a species that has yet to be identified, has no scientific name. And that was the hammerhead worm. Which is a great creature. It's only about as big as your fingernail, it doesn't have any eyes. It has a mouth in the middle of its body. And it's a slug and snail killer. But it's a gruesome little beast that made a great scene and is a new species to science, apparently.

Matthew 22:30

And it was a big hit in my family, I can tell you that; but, I mean, how do you - is this how, you know, when filming nature docs, is this how it works? Because, obviously, you've been filming, you've had many nature docs previously, is there always this process of discovery as you are filming? I mean, you probably didn't plan on finding the hammerhead worm, but things like this...

James Honeyborne 22:57

Yes. So, we had hoped to find a hammerhead worm. We didn't realize it would be a new species at the time. But by spending weeks and weeks in the wild, and looking very closely at the wildlife, you do see things that haven't been seen before. And it's not the only example. In Tsavo, for example, we've got mongooses cracking open Giant African Land Snails, by throwing them between their legs - a bit like an American football, and that behavior had never been recorded in Tsavo before. But that species is a mongoose. So, that was new as well. We filmed a iguana in Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, didn't we, that has only recently been identified through DNA studies as a new species. So, I think it's by virtue of just looking - you should tell the story of the super wieners.

Matthew 24:02

Oh, yeah. Yeah!

Sophie Todd 24:04

There's a lot of these things where we discover things because we're there, but also because we're working with the scientists. A lot of people have contributed to the series, and they've told us about their research. And with the super wieners, the scientists had told us that they occasionally, occasionally see a young, usually male, pup, but I'm not casting aspersions there, who decides that when he's left, when his mother goes out to sea, that he's still hungry, and will try and go in for another round of feeding. And what he does, so he's sort of by stealth sneaks in between a mother feeding another pup and bumps that pup out of the way, so it gets a second round of feeding, turning into these monstrous little seals. And so, scientists have told us about that and we were able to capture some of that footage and then we can work with the people involved sharing some of our material. So, it helps inform their studies.

James Honeyborne 25:02

And that's the first time they've ever been filmed.

Sophie Todd 25:04

Yeah. The first in terms of film. And also, while we were at Monterey, we filmed the mother sea otter, hiding her baby under the jetty. And again, that's something that hadn't been seen before. But it's because we're there every day looking and watching one particular animal, we, perhaps you notice things that other people haven't had enough time, because they're looking at multiple animals, to do; so, we rely on scientists, and hopefully we're able to give something back to them as well.

James Honeyborne 25:34

And actually, it's really rewarding, isn't it? Because, you know, the scientific community give us so many of our new stories to be able to pay back and, you know, share some of the data and things. It's really good. And yeah, it makes the whole job more satisfying, really, doesn't it.

Matthew 25:52

I think, well, the Monterrey one was one of my favorites. I think I lost track of how often I heard President Obama say something like never before seen on camera, or, you know, a newly discovered species or whatever. But, I mean, in that particular example, you mention about the otter. And I think even in that episode, did you - I mean, how do you get some of those camera shots, because it was almost like you had a camera on the otter, it seemed like; and then certainly underwater, it seemed like maybe one of the - I know, scientists put cameras on subjects, I guess, one way of putting it; you seem like you're - some incredible footage, let's put it that way.

Sophie Todd 26:36

We do, in fact, have cameras on the whale in the middle of the feeding event. And that was because of the scientists we were working with. They have permits to put those cameras on there. And so, we were able to share the footage, which gives an incredible perspective. To actually be inside a feeding frenzy on the back of a whale is - I mean, as filming goes that one's incredibly special.

James Honeyborne 27:01

They use suction cups, don't they, to stick on to the skin, so it just sticks on and after a time, the sea water gets in and releases the camera. So, it's totally non-invasive.

Sophie Todd 27:11

It just floats to the top, and we pick it up.

James Honeyborne 27:13

Yeah. It's a really lovely way of observing things. With the otters, you know, we have to operate under all the permits and restrictions. Otters can be easily disturbed in the busy California coastline. But we staked out under the jetty with remote cameras and I think you get a sense of the otter swimming directly underneath one of the cameras. So, you know, you use different technologies through the series to help you film whatever it is you need to film and some of the technology is quite new. So, we're filming in color at night time in Africa, where the rhinos are having their waterhole; you can see better than the camera then you can do with your eyes, your own vision under the starlight. So, it's actually, it's weird, because when you're looking down the camera, you can see what's going on and you feel safe. But when you're not looking down the camera, it can feel quite vulnerable.

Matthew 28:13

I forgot that waterhole scene is incredible, actually. And what you're able to bring to our eyes. I mean, how do you - is there a bit of an arms race when it comes to nature, to these blockbuster nature docs? It seems like, how do you improve on the past one? How do you make it more high definition? How do you capture that? Or is it just because you're just responding to the technology, and it's allowing you to do more things than you could do 20, 30, 40 years ago?

James Honeyborne 28:44

There's no doubt, with every increase or advancement in technology, it allows you to film things in new ways. But really, to me, it's about storytelling, and it's about finding new stories. And so, and that's actually about scientific advancement. So, as long as there are amazing biologists out in the field, studying these creatures and discovering more about them, then we will have new stories to tell. And I think what audiences really love is novelty and surprise in the stories we give. And that's why nature docs, you can always tune into the next one because a good nature doc will tell you stuff you haven't seen before, show you stuff you hadn't seen before.

Matthew 29:25

And then at the same time that waterhole one is also one of - another one of these, well, maybe it's too early to say success story. But you've another example of where black rhinos were essentially almost extinct, right, now we're - at least there's a decent sized herd in Tsavo, and there's many of these stories throughout the doc series.

James Honeyborne 29:49

Well, like I said earlier, nature exists where we let it, and it thrives under our protection and wise management, but it's very easy for those things to go wrong. So, we have to be active and engaged and give our support now more than ever, and I'd never be complacent about it, because overall, we're in the middle of a, you know, a climate crisis, a biodiversity crisis. So, that's an extinction crisis. You know, and, of course, there's escalating pollution everywhere. So, there are massive, massive global challenges.

Sophie Todd 30:23

It's a mini bounce back, though, because there were originally 6000 of those rhino in that area. Now, they are coming back from the brink of extinction to just over 100. But it's, you know, it's scale. And also, guys with the monarch butterflies we feature in Monterey, you know, they are right on the edge. And it's only if we protect these places, that we are going to keep these animals, and not just these animals, everything that's within that ecosystem affects everything else. And that's the balance. It is just so delicate. And hopefully, in the parks, when we tell a story of one film, one park, it gives you a bit more depth to understand the way in which these things interact, and how important that interaction is.

Matthew 31:06

Actually, it was a bit bittersweet, the whole monarch butterfly thing, because I remember growing up as a kid in the States, that was, you know, any nature magazine you got was all, you know, it always had a story, it seemed like every year on the monarch butterflies and this massive - Well, I hadn't realized they had been affected so much. And that's just in the last 30, 40 years, you know, so. But, I guess, you know, in terms of, you know, you've got this campaign that's going with it and, as you said, it's both on the individual level and government level. I think you've already alluded to this or even stated it, but when it's all said and done, what's the main lesson you want viewers to take away from this series?

James Honeyborne 31:53

Hopefully, to see the, to understand the, importance of wilderness everywhere. And it's not just the big iconic national parks, it's all wilderness and it's even the corner of your backyard or the flowers on your window box that, you know, that you put out for the honey bees, you know, it's any bit of wilderness we can have is valuable and will help keep our planet healthy. And it's vitally important that we have that active, strong supportive relationship with wild places.

Sophie Todd 32:29

And not all human ideas are bad. Parks were a human idea. We did that. And so, we can be a force for good, as much as a force for bad. So, it's a choice.

Matthew 32:40

And what's next for the two of you? What projects do you have...

James Honeyborne 32:45

We're just concentrating on getting this out!

Matthew 32:49

Was this mostly done over the pandemic? That must have been quite a challenge.

Sophie Todd 32:54

It was an incredible challenge. I think we'd filmed a few, maybe five or six sequences, when Covid hit, and we were filming in five countries at that point when the pandemic lockdown first came to the UK. And it was incredibly complex. But, in a way, we were quite fortunate because one of the things we really wanted to do was work with teams in each country. So, we have a lot of local people working as part of the team. Some of them are even the assistant producer permanently based in the country, such as René, our Chilean assistant producer. And so, when we weren't able to get back, they carried on filming. We were using tech to be able to talk to them and look at the rushes. But we were also doing things - like in Gunung Leuser National Park, you see the Titan arum, that huge plant, so has a bloom the size of a basketball hoop, you see that?

Matthew 33:50

Yeah, yeah.

Sophie Todd 33:52

So, we built, the team built a papier mache version of it. We shot around it, we edited it, put it together and sent it out to the team on location saying this is how we'd like to capture it. This is what we're thinking. So, we were able to communicate thanks to internet and technology in a way that you couldn't have even imagined would have been possible even two or three years ago. But yeah, so having local people also gives you that perspective of parks that you wouldn't get if you just flew in, filmed, and left; you know, they're very personal portraits, both from the local teams, and from the president's involvement as well.

Matthew 34:33

And I guess that's an important point. I mean, what do you, as filmmakers, do you see burgeoning film industries in some of these areas that are, you know, yeah.

James Honeyborne 34:44

You certainly see a development of local talent, and that's great on many levels. You know, it's good for the representation of the local voice and the authenticity of that. It's also really good from an air miles point-of-view, isn't it, if we have more crews in country So, I think, hopefully it's set in our minds and across the industry that we can do this more and work with crews more remotely and that's, you know, that can only be good.

Matthew 35:16

Well, I would have to agree based on what I've seen in the five episodes. It's stunning. It's beautiful. It's well, well told. Lots of great stories, and definitely well worth a watch. And, you know, as we definitely have to tackle this, as I tell my teenagers, I said, You guys are gonna save the world. And then I've realized we can't even wait that long, right, so, we need to act now. So, I do appreciate - thank you so much for bringing this film out, and for your time, today. It's been great having you on, and I just want to thank again, acclaimed filmmakers, James Honeyborne and Sophie Todd, Our Great National Parks, released on April 13 on Netflix. I'd like to give a shout out to Sam and Joe Graves at Innersound Audio in Escrick, England, in deepest, darkest Yorkshire. A big thanks to Nevena Paunovic, podcast manager at Alamo Pictures, who ensures we continue getting great guests onto the show. And finally, a big thanks to our listeners. As always, we love to hear from you. So, please keep sending us feedback and episode ideas. You can reach out to us on YouTube, social media, or directly by going to our website, www.factualamerica.com, and clicking on the Get in Touch link. And, as always, please remember to like us and share us with your friends and family wherever you happen to listen or watch podcasts. This is Factual America signing off.

Factual America Outro 36:48

You've been listening to Factual America. This podcast is produced by Alamo Pictures, specializing in documentaries, television, and shorts about the USA for international audiences. Head on down to the show notes for more information about today's episode, our guests, and the team behind the podcast. Subscribe to our mailing list or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @alamopictures. Be the first to hear about new productions, festivals showing our films, and to connect with our team. Our homepage is alamopictures.co.uk

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