WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.960 Oh ye is boot. It's showed. 2 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:10.560 People say good money to see this movie. 3 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:12.160 When they go out to a theater. 4 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:15.919 They want cold sodas, hot popcorn and no monsters. 5 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:20.760 In the Protection Booths, everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring don at. 6 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:49.119 Off, but joy is so protectoris Somers Medadero protectorist, Jiagua 7 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:51.159 rest and knife. 8 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.079 He's strange for im and my remember the. 9 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:19.680 Phone and said, okay, I Garden make out the nasonis. 10 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:28.760 The Flora Pascal fellow Man seem to you know that 11 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:30.719 Florence has Son doesn't. 12 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:31.040 Need her pace. 13 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:39.480 Okay, Okay, Martin, Okay, someone can be this. 14 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:45.599 Just through Amazonian empirety just to be a lost mass. 15 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.879 My in spress of fourful fast crazy. 16 00:01:53.760 --> 00:02:03.599 That's some must gradualists. 17 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:11.960 Hey, folks, welcome to a special episode of The Projection Booth. 18 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.919 I'm your host Mike White. On this episode, I'm talking 19 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:18.960 with Chelsea Green and Rob Grobman all about their twenty 20 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.599 twenty three film called We Are Guardians. It is a 21 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:27.120 documentary all about the burning of the Amazon in Brazil. 22 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:30.759 Had a great time talking with them. I definitely fucked 23 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:35.439 up in this episode and referred to producer Fisher Stevens 24 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:39.199 as producing Blackfish. Yeah, I was totally thinking of the Cove, 25 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.599 but said Blackfish anyway, because you know, what's one devastating 26 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.840 documentary versus another. Right, just give me a punch in 27 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.599 the stomach. Hopefully this interview is better than a punch 28 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:52.960 in the stomach. Had a great time talking with Ms 29 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.120 Green and mister Grobman, and I hope you enjoy listening 30 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:58.639 to it. Chelsea and Rob, thank you so much for 31 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.080 coming on. I'm really excited to talk with you about 32 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:03.439 we are guardians. How do you two know each other? 33 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.080 What's your working relationship? 34 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:09.719 Like me and Rob? Interestingly enough, and this is part 35 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.319 of the story of many synchronicities of making this film. 36 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:16.599 We met making this film after we had both gone 37 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:21.360 to the Amazon independently to try to do something anything 38 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:24.240 we could do to help with the Amazon fires. We 39 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:26.599 were introduced by a journalist that we had both worked with, 40 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:30.560 and he told me, oh, there is this guy from 41 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:32.879 Oregon who's shooting all the same things with as you. 42 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:35.840 You're shooting all the same content. You should give him 43 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:37.919 a call. And I was living on the East Coast 44 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:39.879 at a time, and I've always wanted to go to Oregon, 45 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:42.599 and I called him months later and we figured out 46 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:44.879 we had complimentary footage, and he said, come out to 47 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.360 Oregon and let's see about working together. And so I 48 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.360 moved to Oregon right before the COVID lockdown. 49 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:55.199 Our relationship and friendship was born out of COVID, and 50 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.240 I mean just a shared passion for making films that 51 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:02.400 inspire and hope being to bring these messages and these 52 00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:07.199 important voices into the folds. We even interviewed the same 53 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:10.919 scientist on the same afternoon back to back. Our two teams, 54 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:14.960 like ships in the night, passed and we never met 55 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.680 each other at that moment, but I mean months later 56 00:04:17.800 --> 00:04:20.959 in the editing room, we realized that we had done that, 57 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:23.399 and yeah, I just kind of felt faded that we 58 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.120 were meant to meet each other and make this film. 59 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.560 Yeah, and speaking of our you know, voices that need 60 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:31.680 to be heard, it's like we also co directed this 61 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:34.480 with an indigenous director too, So like the story of 62 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:37.279 all of us coming together to make this film. The 63 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.560 director and team can't you know, be without him. We 64 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:42.519 found it. We met him on a beach one day 65 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.480 in Pada State, by the mouth of the Amazon River. 66 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:50.600 He was shooting something with Media Indigena, his journalistic group, 67 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.759 and that was another fated moment, right rob we found 68 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:54.279 a Jubon. 69 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:57.079 Yeah, it was really cool because you just like meet 70 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.040 certain people in your life and it feels like you've 71 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:01.360 known each other for a lot long time, and that 72 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:04.519 was the case with both Chelsea and Edgibon, and he 73 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:08.160 was just excited to help us with our project. He 74 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.879 was working with Sonya Guajeshara. He's actually cousins to Sonya 75 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.560 Gua Jeshara, who's the Indigenous the Minister of Indigenous Peoples 76 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.319 in Brazil and one of the most important indigenous leaders 77 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:23.199 in the world. And he was just super excited to 78 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.480 hop into our project and support us. He was at 79 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.480 first a camera person and doing what he could to 80 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.040 help us in the field as a producer, and that 81 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:35.639 was very clear that from early on we needed his 82 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:40.279 guidance and leadership, especially as we were navigating relationships and 83 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:45.480 filming with indigenous communities. And yeah, just the three of 84 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.000 our talents and the ways that we look at the 85 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.399 world combined, I think it's a real testament of what 86 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:54.480 this film is, and the film in general is a 87 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.800 testament of the kind of global team that we brought 88 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:59.560 around it. We had autianist Georgiev who is an editor 89 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:04.439 from Macedonia who helped us initially really kind of like 90 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:08.360 get the film structure together and bring in a whole 91 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:13.000 other sensibility than we have as people from the United States. Yeah, 92 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.399 it was a world effort to make Weird Guardians. For sure. 93 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:19.839 You both independently decide we need to go down to 94 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:23.000 the Amazon and start shooting stuff, like when is this 95 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:26.319 Because you talked about the pandemic and this was before that, 96 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.759 but what is the time frame here that you were 97 00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:30.399 actually shooting. 98 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:34.680 It was August of twenty nineteen, and the fires, if 99 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.839 you remember, made international headlines in the Brazilian Amazon, and 100 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:42.639 it was all over you know, CNN, Fox News, everybody 101 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:45.399 was covering it, you know, for a news cycle basically 102 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:48.279 probably a week or two. I was there in Oregon 103 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.959 with my creative partner Antonio, and it was just like, man, like, 104 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.360 we've got to do something. It's just like, what are 105 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:00.639 we doing if we're burning the Amazon rainforest? We have 106 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:05.519 wildfires that happen in Oregon every year. They're unprecedented wildfires 107 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:07.959 happening all over the world. It just did not make 108 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:10.199 sense to me that we could be burning the Amazon 109 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.079 at a time like this on purpose, and so yeah, 110 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.839 just a deep calling to support with our talents and 111 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.959 our efforts, and we jumped in. I mean, it was 112 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:23.000 maybe a naive decision, not realizing how big of a 113 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.439 project and how big of a topic we were diving into. 114 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:30.240 But it has been just an incredible journey where we've 115 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.800 come from and what we've been able to do, and 116 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.040 to be at the end, like really really excited to 117 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.120 share we are Guardians. You know. It's a project I'm 118 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.600 proud of and it's something I think that it's a 119 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:45.439 really important message for the world to year. Right. 120 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:50.040 I had been studying deforestation before that for a previous 121 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:53.360 film about palm oil and deforestation in Borneo and Indonesia, 122 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:57.480 and until twenty seventeen, Brazil was actually a leader in 123 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:01.480 the world and reducing deforestation. And after knowing that and 124 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:04.000 seeing that the president was on the news telling everybody 125 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:05.920 to burn it down now and just getting rid of 126 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.600 all the legislation and changes that have been made to 127 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:11.199 make progress, it just stabbed. 128 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:11.560 Me in the heart. 129 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:13.519 I said, oh my god, what else should I be 130 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:15.240 doing with my life but addressing this. 131 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.720 And it's so admirable that that y'all came together. It 132 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:23.079 could have been the armageddon and deep impact of Amazon 133 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:27.279 documentaries and said that you joined forces is pretty great. 134 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:30.519 It was pretty cool at that moment because I think 135 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.480 the project just got some juice. You know, we got 136 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:36.919 some unprecedented momentum at that moment where we decided to 137 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.000 come together and quickly we had our producing team that 138 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:44.279 was kind of locked into the project. Zach Kilberg and 139 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:48.080 is Web came on a social construct and they really 140 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.080 helped us formulate the team, made connections with Bruce Cohen, 141 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:54.759 who is an amazing producer on the film, and Fisher Stevens, 142 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.440 and at that point we had kind of rocket fuel 143 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:02.320 and it was it was just off to the races 144 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.879 and we were down back in the Amazon in October 145 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:08.840 of twenty twenty for five months and that was that 146 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:11.840 ended up being like one of our longest production trips 147 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:12.879 of the whole. 148 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:16.480 Project, right, and we found Edgibon, our indigenous co director 149 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:19.360 at that time, which then changed the project again. It 150 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:23.480 turned us into a strong tripod where instead of two Americans, 151 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:27.679 we were a Brazilian indigenous you know, lead team. That 152 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.480 was a huge one and you know that also was 153 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:34.039 mid process for me and Rob learning Portuguese because Chiun 154 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.639 does not speak English, and so we also got to 155 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.360 learn some of his indigenous language of Tupi. What a 156 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:42.360 beautiful process. It all was right that we could meet 157 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:43.200 each other in that way. 158 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.240 Chelsea's basically I would say fluent in Portuguese at this moment, 159 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.960 and like I'm I can I can struggle through, you know, 160 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:54.279 a conversation, and it's It's taken a lot to make 161 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:56.600 this film happen, you know, like we were down there 162 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.480 over fifteen sixteen months between twenty nineteen team and twenty 163 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.200 twenty three, twenty twenty four, and back and forth, and 164 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:07.279 every time we were back in the States or back 165 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.360 in Europe were we were editing, and it just yeah, 166 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:13.840 it was an incredible effort to get it done as 167 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.159 quickly as we did, feeling just the urgency of the 168 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:20.279 topic and that it needed to get out as quickly 169 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:20.720 as we could. 170 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.320 Rob is being bashful, they call him Hobby Gada. 171 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.840 I really enjoyed learning Toupee and get you know, my 172 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:33.120 time with the Guajesara and the indigenous peoples was just 173 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:35.720 an experience of a lifetime. You know, it's just really 174 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.600 unique when you get to drop in with people that 175 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:41.759 are are living in a different paradigm and different reality 176 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.759 and truly live from the forest in a lot of ways, 177 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:49.000 in a lot of their traditional ways. And yeah, I 178 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.960 just have a certain resonance with different languages, and Tupe 179 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.240 was one that I picked up quickly, much more quickly 180 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:58.600 than Portuguese. Portuguese as tough, it is a difficult language, 181 00:10:58.879 --> 00:10:59.399 at least. 182 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:03.120 For I was just captured by the soul of Brazil, 183 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.720 like I had to learn Portuguese. You know, for those 184 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:08.480 of you who haven't been to Brazil, there's just a 185 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.679 special vibe and the people are so warm you just 186 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:12.559 really want to. 187 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:13.279 Be a part of it. 188 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:15.879 It's fun. Yeah, they're amazing culture. 189 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:20.639 And I'll never forget Rob playing guitar, playing Bob Marley 190 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:24.279 covers to the indigenous communities and them just they love reggae. 191 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:27.519 They were dancing and just going wild. It was so fun. 192 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.559 So you speak the language of music as. 193 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:33.960 Well, Yeah, Yeah, having guitar on production is pretty useful. 194 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:37.080 And meeting people, you know, it's a pretty disarming thing. 195 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.320 So I think you bought a guitar three times when 196 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:42.399 we went down there and gave it away each time. 197 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.279 Yeah, yeah, we got a guitar on each production trip, 198 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.919 and yeah, you gotta have fun along the way, you know, 199 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:51.200 and we did. We had so much fun making this film. 200 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:53.360 As much of the challenge and the struggle that we 201 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:57.039 had throughout it was. It was really incredibly amazing and 202 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:00.840 testament to the people that were you know, came around 203 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.919 and were a part of it. It was so fun. 204 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.080 They're like family to us. 205 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:04.559 Right. 206 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:07.960 It's so heavy. We're heading on missions deep in the 207 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:12.039 forests that take all day, multiple days, with loggers that 208 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.000 are life threatening, don't want to be found, armed and dangerous, 209 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.080 and we got to make light of the situation and 210 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:22.519 enjoy ourselves at the same time maintain relationships. 211 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.159 I was going to ask about some of the challenges, 212 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:27.799 but that sounds pretty challenging. I mean, the language is 213 00:12:27.879 --> 00:12:30.960 one thing, but having these armed, dangerous loggers is something 214 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.159 else entirely, I'm. 215 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:36.200 Sure, right, Well, part of the backbone of the narrative 216 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.240 of the film is the indigenous people risking their lives 217 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:43.679 to go and monitor and patrol the territory and try 218 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:45.679 and find the loggers that don't want to be found 219 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:48.159 and know they're committing a federal crime and capture them 220 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.960 on camera. So that was difficult. 221 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:55.120 Yeah, it's fun. You mentioned Fisher Stevens and like, until 222 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:57.879 Blackfish came out, I don't think a lot of people 223 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:02.000 realize just how much he is invested in documentaries and 224 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.440 making great documentaries. 225 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:07.919 Yeah, he's fantastic. I mean The Cove was, I think 226 00:13:08.039 --> 00:13:11.879 for Chelsea and I just a pivotal documentary and he 227 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.559 was a large part of a as a producer on that, 228 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.159 and he was just an incredible friend and mentor for us. 229 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:22.840 You know, you have producers on some projects that you know, 230 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:25.679 lend their name or lend their connections and they kind of, 231 00:13:25.799 --> 00:13:29.440 you know, helicopter through the project and help in different ways. 232 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.240 But he was there in the trenches with us throughout 233 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:36.679 the process and teaching us about, you know, just experiences 234 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:39.919 that he's had in the past and just thoughts that 235 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.679 he had in the direction of the film. I mean, 236 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.879 he really pushed us to be as raw and as 237 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:49.799 intimate with the participants as possible, with our protagonists and 238 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.279 kind of go in that direction of a verite, true 239 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:58.759 verite style documentary. And incredibly grateful for his insights in 240 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:02.559 that way. Yeah, just a great guy. You know, Fisher 241 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:06.039 is awesome and just really believed in us and believed 242 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:08.759 in what we were doing. And I think that that alone, 243 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.519 like just help propel us. Right. 244 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.519 Having his insights was so helpful. I'll never forget showing 245 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.080 him the footage of Valgier or the illegal Logger for 246 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.080 the first time and him saying, Wow, that's a main character, 247 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.000 you know, because we were interviewing so many people to 248 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.960 find the right person to carry the story and to 249 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.279 find the pieces to the puzzle, because it's a complicated 250 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:33.559 mosaic of a character driven story, right, And so yeah, 251 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:36.440 when Fisher said, that's the most compelling person I've ever 252 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.159 seen you guys film, we were like, Okay, we're onto something. 253 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.840 I also remember, I think in the next sentence he 254 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:43.240 was like, and you guys are going to need to 255 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:48.720 go back and fill more with him. Wow, okay, because 256 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.279 getting to Valgier from the United States is literally a 257 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.639 three or four day journey from you know airplane, you know, 258 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:02.799 flying to sal Paula or Rio, flying up to Portobellio 259 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.960 in the Amazon, taking a twelve hour car ride to 260 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.200 the city that's nearest to the indigenous reserve where it 261 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.840 was happening, and then driving out another like half day 262 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.360 to a full day into the jungle where we met him. 263 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.639 Incredible lengths to get out there, and of course you're 264 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:24.600 going into a space that people are very, if not 265 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.360 like it's much more than suspicious of journalists there, they 266 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:34.480 outright hostile towards journalists. And you know, we we tried 267 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:38.360 our best to just first off hire really great translators 268 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:41.799 who could be you know, just a really wonderful energy 269 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:45.200 and kind of forward face of our of our small 270 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:50.240 production team, but also then carrying an energy that was 271 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.840 like an a genuine way of like, we really want 272 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:55.960 to understand your story, We really want to understand what's 273 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.279 happening for you. We're not coming in with an agenda 274 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:01.120 or trying to deceive you into being a part of 275 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:02.799 this film, and we're going to just make you into 276 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:05.279 the bad guy here. I think we're really lucky to 277 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:09.240 find Valgier because he felt that, I think initially and 278 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.919 and and very quickly was like cool, yeah, you guys 279 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:15.159 can hang around, and and he was it was almost 280 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.320 like as if he was waiting for somebody to ask 281 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.200 him what was happening in his life and to be 282 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:23.480 asked that question. He was he's a bit of a showman, 283 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:27.240 like he definitely like in the camp as well, amongst 284 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.639 all the other loggers, like he is the guy that's 285 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:34.080 holding court every night by the fire. He's the guy 286 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:38.879 that's just yeah, he's he's he's very full life in 287 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.360 his in his way. And so I think also he 288 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.120 really took to just like, oh, great, there's a bunch 289 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.279 of cameras following me around right now, and since this 290 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:49.919 is what I've been waiting. 291 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:52.559 For, and it's funny because he's the same off camera 292 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.080 as on. Yeah, I mean, I think the craziest part 293 00:16:56.120 --> 00:16:59.120 of that whole thing was six months past from when 294 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:01.240 we first met him, been filmed as much as we 295 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:03.960 could with him over about a week's time, and then 296 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.160 we came back to Brazil, and I mean Rob is 297 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.880 not even saying like the difficulty of coordinating all these 298 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.240 amazing you know, we had like a sound guy and 299 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:16.000 a translator and you know, an indigenous liaison who worked 300 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.119 with the loggers in the past but now wanted to 301 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:22.000 help us coordinating everybody's schedules to get to this remote 302 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:26.440 corner of the Amazon. But then finding Valgeer again, he 303 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.559 doesn't use a phone. It's like, where do we find him? 304 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:32.720 The people that used to work with him were no 305 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.799 longer working with him anymore, and so it was like 306 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.160 finding a needle in a haysack in an area, you know, 307 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.799 bigger the size of Massachusetts, with a tangled web of 308 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:46.400 logging roads and no service. And the craziest thing happened. 309 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:49.960 We were coming back to the territory and as we 310 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.880 rolled out into this like main logging road where other 311 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:57.079 roads branched off, we were saying, oh man, how are 312 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.599 we going to find this guy? And somebody was sitting 313 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:01.960 by this out of the road in the exact moment 314 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:05.160 that we were going to give up, and said, Valgier 315 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:07.359 has been waiting for you. He sent me to meet 316 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.480 up with you. He had an intuition that we were 317 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:13.200 coming back. We don't know how he either. 318 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.039 Was a tuition or somebody let him know that we 319 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.240 were there, but he knew that we were there, and 320 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:19.799 he was like a mile away from from where we 321 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:21.799 were at at that time. And the guy brought us. 322 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.880 Wed well the Americans that were over there. 323 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:28.559 Another like insane synchronicity was just yeah, remarkable. 324 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.839 He got very close to the forest, I mean he's 325 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:34.680 been working in the forest for his whole life, and 326 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.200 he got very tuned in with the spirit of the 327 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.839 forest in many ways. He actually from the first time 328 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.359 we met him, just six months later, he lost his path. 329 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:46.400 You know, he's out looking for Teresa cut and he 330 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:49.359 marks a path with a machete, and he lost his 331 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.599 path and was lost out there in the woods for 332 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:55.759 a week. He had got dysentery, almost died. He said, 333 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.519 the jaguar was just waiting for him to get a 334 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.440 little weaker so she could eat him. And he made 335 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.160 it out of that situation, and then we filmed the 336 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.079 most of the film with him. You know. A couple 337 00:19:05.160 --> 00:19:05.799 months after that. 338 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.319 You talked about how you met up before COVID, and 339 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.880 I was curious, how did COVID affect the production. 340 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:14.319 It, I mean affected it in a lot of ways. 341 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:17.640 We had to be of course, like traveling during COVID 342 00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:20.640 was a big mystery, and like what would be allowed 343 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:23.799 and what would you know, Like what were we able 344 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:28.480 to do? And then of course interacting with pretty sensitive communities. 345 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.119 I mean a lot of the indigenous communities and reserves 346 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.920 completely shut down for a number of years, so there 347 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:38.640 was just no contact that was happening there, But I 348 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:42.200 don't know. I think for better or for worse, Brazil 349 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.279 took a fairly relaxed approach to COVID in a lot 350 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.640 of ways, and so we were able to move without 351 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.359 too much restriction in that way. I mean, we were 352 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:55.920 getting tested like every week every time we were interacting 353 00:19:55.960 --> 00:19:59.440 with somebody new, you know, following all that COVID protocol. 354 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:03.000 But I think Chelsea and I both felt like we 355 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.759 couldn't let that stop us from finishing the film in 356 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:12.039 a timely way. And it was an interesting window at 357 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.680 that time because a lot of production in the film 358 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:19.640 industry shut down in twenty twenty, so a lot of 359 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.400 people were looking for different projects that were happening, and 360 00:20:22.839 --> 00:20:25.400 we had a project that was already rolling, that was 361 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:28.160 ready to go, and we were ready to continue to shoot. 362 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.640 So it was a strange window that allowed a lot 363 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:32.839 to happen for us as well. 364 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.079 Even backing up, yeah to right when we first got 365 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:40.240 together in Oregon, rob having everyone be at home, not 366 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:43.160 without any with other things to do, we were able 367 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.000 to get on the phone with so many high powered 368 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.759 people to really bring the team together. Imagine getting a 369 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:52.160 hold of our funders at that time without there being 370 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.319 so much space and time in their life, so have 371 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.599 these and depth conversations and really help them feel the 372 00:20:57.640 --> 00:20:59.480 spirit of the project when they get so many other 373 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:01.920 funding lass. You know, some of the things came together, 374 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:05.000 and of course we had to follow Netflix protocol for 375 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:08.920 shooting and imagine the suffocating humidity and heat of the 376 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:10.880 Amazon but wearing a mask the whole time. 377 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:14.839 Tell me about the post process. Were you editing throughout this? 378 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:16.519 I mean you talked about how many times you had 379 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.880 to go back down to shoot. Are you editing in between? 380 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:23.680 Yeah, so we edited in between the second and third 381 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:27.319 and for It shoots, and that was because we found 382 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:30.960 an Oscar winning editor, Atinis Georgiev, who has you know, 383 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.400 limited time, and he came on after our big six 384 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:36.880 month shoot when we were pretty certain that we'd found 385 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:40.359 all our main characters, and he's actually now a professor 386 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.119 in dramaturgy, and so we said, let's construct what we 387 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:46.599 have and we ended up going back two more times, 388 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.359 which was needed, you know, in actually having Edgibon in 389 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:51.759 the territory too, to be able to film some of 390 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:55.400 the things that were ongoing was you know, happening throughout 391 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.079 so that was critical for constructing the story as it 392 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:00.240 unfolded over to time. 393 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:03.680 And then in the end, Chelsea and I took over 394 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.839 the editing, the main editing role we had. We learned 395 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.799 so much from Atanus and learned Avid through the process 396 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:14.599 of editing with him, and Uh, it was just a 397 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:18.079 vision that we needed to see through. And we were 398 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.960 so blessed to find a last Spiegel who is our 399 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.000 editing consultant at the very end of the process, who 400 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:30.960 really helped to transform the project into what you see today. 401 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.680