Let's get this out of the way, shall we? I oppose Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean and my blood boils every time they try to pass it off as scientific "research," irrespective of how much the refusal of groups like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd to allow the Japanese a face-saving compromise several years ago has helped to get us all to this sorry point. But the arrogant sanctimony of Paul Watson and company, not to mention their predilection for dishonest publicity stunts, (like Watson pretending he had been shot at by the Japanese the other year - something you'd have to have been particularly naive and gullible to fall for, you know, like most of the Australian media  ), does get on my goat.Why weren't these wankers in China trying to save the Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin) from what now appears to be its extinction? When was the last time you heard anybody from Greenpeace or Sea Shepherd say anything about the Baiji? Or any of the other critically endangered river dolphins in Asia? But river dolphins of course don't make for exciting money making film footage that gets people to open their wallets. But Leah Cim focuses on something else in a humorous way - Sea Shepherd's apparent habit of referring to whales as their "clients."
Full post here |
Saturday, January 9, 2010
If you are a long-term Sea Shepherd client and want to manage your account...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
We would like to congratulate Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet on a fantastic staged event for television - perhaps one of the best staged disaster moments of 2010.
As production people ourselves we know the hazards and very real dangers of staging live disasters for television. It's a highly technical world only professionals can effectively operate in.
Multi-million dollar staged disasters are often canceled at the last minute due to OSHA compliance or studio fears of death and dismemberment. Sea Shepherd on the other hand have found a way to circumvent all of the requirements for staged disaster television by only allowing all volunteer crews and staging the event against non paid, non union, Japanese whalers.
By-passing all clean environmental requirements for television productions by producing this man made disaster in the Antarctic ocean was another master stroke. The clean up of several thousand gallons of bio diesel spilled by the Ady Gil and retrieval of the vessel from the sea floor would have cost Sea Shepherd and Whale Wars production millions if this disaster had been filmed in the USA.
Brilliant!
Managing to move Sea Shepherds $2 million dollar vessel Ady Gil into the path of Japanese whalers was a stroke of nautical timing by a seasoned captain who knew his vessel, and the direction wind, waves, and engines were carrying it. Catching the whole thing on video from the Bob Barker at just the right angle was pure reality television.
We were doubly impressed with the witty and show branding quote from SSCS Paul Watson immediately after the stunt "Now we're in a Real Whale War!" reminding the global audience that this is, after all, Must See TV!
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have proven to be much evolved from the earlier staged days of Paul Watson being shot by Japanese whalers. In terms of production quality and emotional leverage that staged event was not one of the top three of the 2007 reality television season.
Kudos again to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Animal Planet for once again leading the way to a new decade of reality television. The disaster staging keeps getting better and better, and your circumvention of all production norms and safety regulations allows your organization to literally shoot for the moon.
We're looking forward to more man made disasters in the coming months!
Post a Comment