[Pollinator] "Wings of Life" flying into our homes and schools, April 16th

[Stephen Buchmann]

 Hello Pollinator Partners,

I have exciting news to share with the Pollinator Partnership, North
American Pollinator Protection Campaign partners,
Xerces Society and everyone dedicated to pollinator and native plant
conservation in the United States, Canada and
Mexico. At long last, Disneynature's feature film "Wings of Life" is being
released on Blu-Ray Combo Pack, digital and
on-demand versions April 16, 2013, in time for Earth Day. Directed by Louis
Schwartzberg (of BlackLight Films, known
for "America's Heart and Soul" and "Gratitude") and narrated by Academy
Award winner Meryl Streep, "Wings of Life" is
a tour-de-force of pollinators (honey bees, bumble bees, orchid bees,
hummingbirds, monarch and other butterflies,
nectar bats, beetles, flies and wasps) interacting with their flowering
plants around the world. You've never seen pollinators
and flowers like these. The DVD set also contains a few surprises by way of
the BTS, behind-the-scenes and making of
footage filmed on location by Joseph Parker and others.

Often with a Hollywood style crew of 20, line producer, focus puller, dolly
and jib operators, riggers and wranglers, multiple
cameras were employed for time-lapse and high-speed cinematography (often
3,000 frames per second) and specialized
pinhole lenses used to get intimate shots of pollinators interacting with
flowers. Filmed for the first time was a male orchid
bee (Euglossa) falling into the liquid inside a Panamanian bucket orchid
(Coryanthes) then held fast for two hours while the
orchid glued its two plump yellow pollinia into place. The long wait was
edited out! We also see in glorious slow-motion pollen
grains swirling in the air and  blasting out of anther pores in a tomato
flower as bumble bee turns itself into a living tuning fork,
buzz-pollinating the blossom. A flurry of orange monarch butterfly
"snowflakes" swirl around the cameras at the El Rosario
reserve in Michoacan, Mexico, and a female Violet-crowned wood nymph
hummingbird executes four perfect barrel rolls chasing
a Trigona bee through frame and then looks into the camera. Augmenting the
real pollinators are a few  CGI animated pollinators
that invite us to follow along with them. These 3D marvels were created by
the same animators who did all the Harry Potter movie
animations, and you won't be able to tell them from filmed pollinators.This
is just a sample of the visual spectacles and amazing
stories that await viewers of "Wings of Life."

A bit of history. Disneynature was formed in 2008 as an offshoot of Walt
Disney Studios, to continue the tradition of the ground-
breaking 13 True-Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960 which
earned 8 Academy Awards. Maybe you've seen the
recent  "Earth,", "Oceans," "African Cats" and "Chimpanzee" nature films
from this studio. Unfortunately, originally slated for cinematic
release, "Wings of Life" won't appear on the big screen, but will explode
in high definition on any smaller screens of your choice.
I was introduced to director and producer Louis Schwartzberg by Pollinator
Partnership and NAPPC co-founder Paul Growald.
We hit it off, and Louie began to assemble his WOL team. Tucson Emmy
award-winning cinematographer, Keith Brust, became our
DP, Director of Photography. Tucsonan Joe "Boots" Parker assisted with
other filming, especially the BTS sequences. Louie Schwartzberg
filmed with both the Red and Phantom high speed cameras, while directing
crew and a cast of thousands (our pollinators). Planning for
the film began in 2008, but most filming in the field (about 12 locations
around the world) and Tucson and LA studios took place in
2009 and 2010. By late 2010, it was a wrap and editing had begun. Original
musical score was composed and actress Merry Streep
was hired to narrate the film. Then the long wait began. It was a joyous
time for everyone involved in the creation of "Wings of Life"
when Disneynature made their announcement of a street release date.

As Lead Scientist and Head of Research for the project I brought in
scientific colleagues who are also good friends and expert
pollinator wranglers. These included many NAPPC partners. Dr. Chip Taylor,
Monarch Watch founder headed up our butterfly team,
while Smithsonian scientist Dr. Dave Roubik expertly cajoled orchid bees
and stingless bees in Panamanian rainforests,
Dr. Ted Fleming mist-netted nectar bats and supervised filming in the field
at giant columnar cacti and inside a giant flight cage
near Kino Bay, Mexico. I went on almost all of the shoots and wrangled
bees, butterflies, beetles, flies, hummingbirds and nectar bats alongside
Keith and Louie and Louis, while they filmed using their Red and Phantom
cine cameras. To all these scientist friends, I express
my heartfelt thanks for helping to make "Wings of Life" scientifically
accurate, visually stunning, and great fun at the same time.

Please help spread the word to families, friends, to pollinator and plant
advocates everywhere. I know you'll love this film as much
as I do. You can preorder it now from Amazon.com  for $35.99  (list price
is $39.99). It will officially be available on April 16th.
If you would like to find out more, watch the slideshow, or pre-order the
movie, please go to:
http:/www.disney.com/wingsoflife

To celebrate the debut of "Wings of Life,"  Disneynature has made a
contribution to the Disney Worldwide Conservation
fund (DWCF) to protect pollinators worldwide. The DWCF has already
supported about 20 projects across North America
focused on protecting pollinators and their habitats. We salute their
efforts and thank them for their generosity. There are also
simple but strong messages in the WOL slide show on the Disneynature
website, advocating for pollinator and plant protection,
to buy local produce, avoid pesticides whenever possible or use them wisely
when needed, and to support our organic farmers and beekeepers.
These are messages  that P2 and NAPPC have long advocated.

To everyone at P2 and NAPPC, Louie Schwarztberg, other friends and
colleagues,  and the entire WOL crew,
I thank you, the long wait is almost over.

Adding my Sincerest Gratitude,


Steve

Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D.
Pollinator Partnership Scientist at Large
and
Adjunct Professor
Departments of Entomology and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ


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