CORAL REEF CONSORTIUM “CITIZEN DOCUMENTARIAN”

Working with a not-for-profit environmental foundation takes some creativity and some resilience. While the need is greater, budgets can be smaller and a long-term sense of strategy is essential. Working with executive director Tali Vardi, PhD and creative consultant Sara Woster, Toddy built a project that designed to undermine his own role as a traditional, camera carrying filmmaker. Knowing the constraints of money, time and travel, he devised a way for the far flung activists and scientists doing the work on the ground (or rather, water) to document their own work in an effort to grow engagement, raise money, cross-pollinate procedural ideas and, in the end, create ever more awareness. Toddy helped Tali and Sara concept the CRC Storytelling Hub, with this DiY process at its heart, which was introduced at COP28 and was immediately picked up as a worthy partner by The Commonwealth.

The very first film came, from Indonesia, was shot by Avicenna Wijayanto, a local coral restoration organizer.