Clinic Film Festival

This year is no different, as we are proud to welcome back a crowd favorite Ernie Brooks as Master of Ceremonies, who will be introducing some longtime friends, and some extremely talented filmmakers new to Boston audiences.

As of December, 2006, the festival features
(click for more information):
- Brian Skerry
- Doug Allan and Sue Flood
- The Discovery team from Odyssey Marine Explorations
- Feo Pitcairn

Master of Ceremonies Ernie Brooks is frequently referred to as the Ansel Adams of the Underwater World for the breathtaking, timeless black and white images that he has captured on film.  As a noted professional photographer, educator and ambassador to the industry, Mr. Brooks has won international acclaim for underwater photography and audio/visual presentation.  He is a member of the Professional Photographers of America and is one of forty photographers in the world admitted to the prestigious Camera Craftsmen of America. Mr. Brooks has been a trailblazer in the development of underwater photographic equipment and technique, and has witnessed great industry advances. And though he has harnessed and implemented much of that new technology, at a time when a plethora of color underwater photographs illustrate magazines and glossy brochures, he, perhaps surprisingly, favors black and white. In the pursuit of dramatic marine images, he has descended into the fascinating waters beneath the polar icecaps as well as into the depths of almost every ocean on Earth. His photographic legacy is the evidence that has illustrated changes in our environment, while he himself remains a tremendous voice in our need to witness the effect of that change. 

Brian Skerry is an award winning National Geographic Magazine photographer specializing in underwater and marine related subject matter.   In the last five years alone Brian has photographed seven feature stories for The Geographic focused on a range of undersea subjects. Brian is also the Photographic Correspondent for Sport Diver Magazine which features his monthly photography column IMAGES and is a Senior Editor for Fathoms Magazine where he writes Sea Stories. His work has also been featured in magazines such as People, Sports Illustrated, US News and World Report, National Wildlife, Playboy, Nature’s Best, Smithsonian, Esquire, Audubon, BBC Wildlife, Outdoor Life, Maxim, Men’s Journal and in countless publications worldwide.  Brian will be debuting a powerful new program developed exclusively for the 53rd Clinic, entitled “Fade to Blue”.  He has spent the last two years traveling the globe, photographing 3 new stories for National Geographic Magazine that will reveal the devastation of over fishing, the hope for wildlife that remains, and the solutions for the future. In this Sea Rover world premier, Brian will provide insight and details from these upcoming stories. Brian’s images will “put a face on seafood,” showing us the magnificent animals we are loosing and take us to remaining “Edens” where marine life continues to thrive. Sharks, tunas, billfish and scores of ocean creatures will be celebrated in their undersea majesty in a production that gives a voice to the sea that can no longer remain silent.
For more information on Brian, be sure to visit http://www.brianskerry.com/.

UK’s Doug Allan is a freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman who films both topside and underwater, in all film and video formats.  Doug and his wife Sue Flood formed the film company Tartan Dragon Ltd in 2003, their company through which they now both make their own natural wildlife documentaries.  One of Doug’s main fortes is his groundbreaking work in the polar regions, dating back to the mid-seventies when he started work in Antarctica.  He spent nine of the next ten years “down south”, as a diver, explorer, and eventually Base Commander, and won numerous awards for his images of emperor penguins.   Since then, he has returned frequently to both the Antarctic and the Arctic, with a string of high profile award winning films and series for the major TV networks around the world. In contributing to “The Blue Planet”, he made over 25 filming trips, including orcas attacking gray whales off California, and polar bears trying to capture belugas in a frozen hole in Arctic Canada - both on screen firsts. His more recent work for “Planet Earth” once again had him traveling the globe in search of the unique, the marvelous, and the incredible images that became a hallmark of that series.

Sue Flood is also a wildlife filmmaker and photographer, specializing in the poles and marine subjects.   After graduating from Durham U. with a degree in Zoology, Sue spent 11 years working for the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England, before leaving in March 2005 to go freelance.  She was as an Associate producer on the award-winning BBC/Discovery series "The Blue Planet", and also more recently worked on "Planet Earth", which took her as far afield as the Arctic, the Antarctic and the South Pacific.  Sue has also produced three films for the BBC: "Polar Bears on Thin Ice", and "A Boy Among Polar Bears" and also a Killer Whale Special for the BBC/Discovery Channel.
Her underwater highlights include diving with belugas under the Arctic ice, swimming alongside humpbacks in the South Pacific, and coming face-to-face with leopard seals in the Antarctic.  Sue says it's the dream job for someone who loves wildlife, conservation, diving, travel and photography - particularly if you're married to someone with the same passions!  For more information, be sure to check out their website here.

Doug and Sue will be sharing some of their favorite and most memorable footage that will span their decades of experience, while spanning the globe!

Team members from Odyssey Marine Exploration (http://www.shipwreck.net) will be joining us to share HD footage from some of their most memorable and exciting deep underwater archaeological discoveries, including the gold recovered from the SS Republic (currently valued at over $75 million), and images from some the deepest and oldest shipwrecks found to date.

Greg Stemm is the Co-Founder of Odyssey Marine Explorations. He has been a pioneer in the emerging field of deep ocean exploration and has played a primary role in the development of new technologies for underwater cultural heritage resource management.  Stemm was responsible for directing the archaeological team and operations that accomplished the world's first complete remote robotic archeological excavation, on a Colonial Spanish shipwreck in a depth of 1,500 feet. He has directed operations resulting in discovery of hundreds of shipwrecks, including ancient Roman and Phoenician shipwrecks in waters a half mile deep. 

Deep ocean explorer Tom Dettweiler lives the life of a 21st century Christopher Columbus, exploring unknown places and living on a boat for months at a time.  Instead of looking for new worlds, Dettweiler looks thousands of feet below the ocean for lost treasures.   He is a specialist in the development and management of shipboard deep ocean systems and ocean science programs. He is experienced with Deep Diving Submersibles, Submarines, ROVs and Towed Vehicles, Navigation / Positioning and Shipboard Sonar Systems. Mr. Dettweiler served as the Electronics Engineer and Science Officer for the Cousteau Society’s R/V Calypso and is credited with locating the Japanese Submarine I-52, the Israeli Submarine Dakar in 17,000 and 10,000 feet respectively, and was integrally involved with the search of famous pilot Amelia Earhart’s plane that disappeared in 1937.

Feodor Pitcairn began photographing wildlife in his teens, and since 1967 has worked predominantly underwater, with a growing fascination for portraying marine animals within the context of the underwater seascape. In 1991 he retired from his business life in order to devote his full time and attention to the creation of films, and created Feodor Pitcairn Productions to specialize in television and educational productions featuring marine life.  He has spent over 3,000 hours underwater, photographing and filming remote ocean wilds across the world.  Ocean Wilds, a 5-part series and ten year effort of enormous magnitude shot in locations all over the world, was the first production completed.   He was a pioneer in recognizing the advantages of using Sony Broadcast television cameras underwater compared to film. Mr. Pitcairn took delivery of the first Sony High-Definition handy camera delivered to the U.S. in March of 1988, and has been shooting in HD ever since, and has developed an extensive underwater HD library of stock footage.  He has won numerous awards for both his work in photography and film, including a finalist and merit awards from the International Wildlife Film Festival.  More information on Feo’s work can be found here.

It has been said that people will conserve only that which they love, and love only that which they know. Ultimately, Feo’s purpose in recording the wonders of the underwater world is to connect people with an environment in need of their understanding and action.  Howard Hall recently said “He (Feo) has made a feature film about humpbacks that is by far the most beautiful humpback whale film I have ever seen…..and it will be the most beautiful whale film you’ve ever seen.”  Feo will be sharing some of his most memorable footage of whales from around the world, including footage from his humpback project, his work with sperm whales, and more!