Saving Seafood

About Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman

August 21, 2017 — Debuting at the prestigious Documentary Premieres Section at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, RANCHER, FARMER, FISHERMAN weaves together the stories of four unlikely conservation heroes working in America’s heartland. At a moment when it seems that collaboration is not just nonexistent but impossible, these working families cross political and other divides to arrive at real solutions for protecting the land and sea that define our country – and are crucial to all of our survival. From the Montana Rockies to the fields of Kansas to the Gulf of Mexico, RANCHER, FARMER, FISHERMAN showcases the successes of a new crop of conservation heroes.

RANCHER, FARMER, FISHERMAN will premiere as part of Discovery Impact, a slate of groundbreaking documentaries focusing on humankind’s impact on the environment and what individuals and society as a whole can do to solve some of the largest problems facing the planet. Narrated by award-winning journalist Tom Brokaw, and directed by Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated Susan Froemke and Emmy-winning filmmaker John Hoffman, the film is based on Miriam Horn’s recently released book, “Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland.”

RANCHER, FARMER, FISHERMAN premieres August 2017 on Discovery.

Read the story at the Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel Acquires Worldwide Rights to Revealing Documentary ‘Sacred Cod’

September 12, 2016 (NEW YORK) — SACRED COD will make its premiere on Sept. 17 at the Camden International Film Festival in Maine. Tickets can be found here. It will also be screened at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, as part of the GlobeDocs Film Festival. Tickets are available here. For more information, visit the SACRED COD website. The following was released by Discovery Communications:

Discovery Channel announced the purchase of global rights of the revealing documentary SACRED COD. The film will make its world premiere at the 2016 Camden International Film Festival and debut on Discovery in 2017 under the Discovery Impact banner.

An official selection of the 2016 Camden Film Festival, SACRED COD chronicles the collapse of the historic cod fishery in the waters off New England in the United States. Scientists and environmental advocates have attributed the collapse to overfishing, climate change, and government mismanagement. Many of the fishermen — who are losing their livelihoods and way of life as the species have declined — have argued that the science is wrong and have protested government policies that have banned them in recent years from fishing for cod. SACRED COD features interviews with fishermen and their families, along with scientists, advocates, and federal officials who warn about the risks of overfishing and climate change and say that the plight of cod could be a harbinger for fish around the world. The film tells a complex story that shows how one of the greatest fisheries on the planet has been driven to the edge of commercial extinction, while providing suggestions about how consumers can help support sustainable fisheries.

“For centuries, cod was like gold. Wars were waged over it. Settlers sailed across oceans in search of it. And early America used it to finance a revolution,” said David Abel, one of the filmmakers and a Boston Globe reporter who has covered the fishing industry for years. “Cod were so abundant in the waters off New England that fishermen used to say they could walk across the Atlantic on the backs of them, and generations of men from places like Gloucester and Cape Cod spent their entire lives chasing the coveted fish. Cod played such an important role in the early history of New England that a carved replica of the fish has hung for centuries in the Massachusetts State House. It’s called the Sacred Cod.”

“Unfortunately, what is happening in New England is being seen in many fisheries and fishing communities across the world,” said John Hoffman, EVP Documentaries and Specials, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and Science Channel. “The decline or collapse of fish stocks is a complex issue rooted in climate change, overfishing and shifting legislative policies, which together have destroyed many once thriving communities. SACRED COD is an epic tale of our times about a collapsing ocean ecosystem, which threatens a community’s livelihood, and the scientists who are working to rescue a species and way of life.”

SACRED COD is directed and produced by Steve Liss, Andy Laub and David Abel. The film is presented by Discovery Channel in association with Endicott College, The Boston Globe, In Our Own Backyard, and As It Happens Creative. For Discovery: Ryan Harrington is Supervising Producer and John Hoffman is executive producer.

Read the release at Discovery Communications