Whale Like Me Short Film Contest

So the contest is on!

http://www.whalelikeme.com/contest

What does whaling mean to you? Are you for or against it? Why? How do you view our relationship with whales? Your film should explore some of these questions, and will shine light on how close we are to - or how far from - accepting cetaceans into our circle of kinship.

For the first time in history, a global community seems close to seeking protection and inalienable rights for a non-human order of species - Cetacea: whales and dolphins.

Whether you see whales as 'persons' deserving of rights, or as consumable resources - join us in presenting to the world how humans view whales in 2011.

Deadline for submissions is now April 20th 2012. Our Awards event will take place May 22nd 2012, anniversary date of the Declaration of Cetacean Rights.

In the coming weeks we'll have a number of announcements to make about the contest, including contest partners and prizes.

You can come like our contest Facebook page to stay on top of developments:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whale-Like-Me-Short-Film-Contest/123075754431806

If you intend to participate, you can add yourself to our Whale of Fame wall by sending us a picture of yourself and a brief note on what moves you to make a short film. Send these to whaleoffame@whalelikeme.com.

The question of rights for non-human persons is an important step on the road to defining the value of our environment, and to becoming a mature and balanced species. The Whale of Fame wall will serve as a historical record of those who got involved early by lending their voices to this process of reconsidering our relationship towards cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Whether your film is funny or serious, for or against whaling, humble or ambitious - we want to know how you feel about whales today!

Our good news...

A belated happy New Year to all!

2011 is here, lets make it count.

So, I'd promised some good news. We wanted to make sure of some of it before sharing it here, but now its time.

The Hayden Family Foundation has granted 25,000 USD to the Whale Like Me production. In a single sweep, they have provided us with almost a quarter of our shooting budget. Everyone here is immensely grateful for their generosity, and honored by the trust and appreciation the Hayden Family Foundation has for our work.

We also have the pleasure of welcoming Gina Ross to our team, as a producer. Gina has 8 years of production experience, and previously 11 years in various marketing executive roles at Disney and Nickelodeon. She joins EP Vincent Burke of Top Shelf productions, and EP Don Reynolds – both veteran documentary and long form producers.

This was apparently not quite enough: we also had to launch the Whale Like Me short film competition.

Whether you are for or against whaling, we want your short films to bear witness to how the world views whales and dolphins and our relationship with them, in 2011.

There’s more to tell about the competition – we’re really excited about it and we insist you find out why!

I’ll wax lyrical about it in the next post – for now you can check it out at:

http://www.whalelikeme.com/contest/intro