Dimestore Studio Production Documentaries

Documentary Films

Corals of Trawangan

Putting the Pieces Together - TRAILER

Director: Seth Greenspan

TRT: 2:30

Currently in production with a scheduled completion in late 2013, "Putting the Pieces Together" is a critical look at the worldwide crisis affecting hard coral reefs. In the face of global warming, increasing pollution in the oceans and rigorous human development, coral reefs are disappearing from the oceans at an alarming rate, taking their many benefits with them.

This work traces the demise of coral reefs from the early 1980s, when mass bleaching events were first seen, to the present, where scientists are looking for a solution to sustain the oceans before the reefs all disappear. Filmed in Indonesia, Micronesia, Australia and the United States, this documentary brings a voice to a problem that will affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Marine Mammal Conservancy

Director: Seth Greenspan

TRT: 8:00

In May of 2011, more than 20 pilot whales stranded in the Florida Keys. The local Marine Mammal Conservancy sprang into action, doing their best to save as many of the critically ill whales as possible. Sadly, all but two perished.

This film documents the efforts made by the MCC to help and support these injured whales, to give them a fighting chance to recover that would never happen in the wild, as well as the spirit of the volunteers who work tirelessly in hopes of saving the stranded and orphaned whales.

Director: Seth Greenspan

TRT: 22:00

Gili Trawangan, a tiny islet off Lombok, Indonesia, was once vibrant and thriving beneath the waves. Years of poor management, dynamite fishing, and the new threat of global warming have conspired to destroy much of the hard coral reefs that helped sustain the local people.

Biorock, a revolutionary coral reef restoration process that uses shaped, electrified iron rebar to bring back hard corals, has turned the island into a proving ground for their technology. Artificial reefs fringe the island, encouraging fish and tourism to return to the eco-hamlet. This film follows a workshop where recruits learn about coral health, the Biorock process, and ultimately build and place new artificial reefs.

During the late 1980's, increased sea surface temperatures decimated the local hard coral reefs around the Florida Keys. One local tropical fish collector, Ken Nedimyer, took note of how the vibrant reefs had turned gray and lifeless. Thanks to his live rock aquaculture business, Ken had a few living native corals growing in his nursery. Realizing the dire straights that Florida's reefs were in, Ken created the Coral Restoration Foundation. What began as a family project quickly became a regional effort to grow more corals in nurseries that would then be replanted on the barren reef, eventually bringing back healthy and flourishing reefs.

Directors: Seth Greenspan

TRT: 8:00

Seeding the Keys

KOSRAE CORAL STUDY

Kosrae, a tiny pinnacle island that is part of Micronesia and is almost 400 miles away from any other land mass, has one of the last pristine coral reef networks in the world. These ancient underwater forests have coral heads that are tens of thousands of years old. With the help of Ocean Earth and the Kosrae Village Eco Lodge, an ongoing effort to study these rare corals continues more than 15 years after the project began. Kosrae may be the last place left on earth with corals as ancient as these.

Directors: Seth Greenspan

TRT: 5:00