Jocelyn Stokes and Katie Schuler—co-creators of “In Her Nature,” a new digital series carried on the YouTube channel for the longstanding PBS program, “Nature”—retrace the path that led each of them toward their present filmmaking careers, specializing in natural history documentaries.
Over the course of sharing their histories, they each recount a pivotal project early in
their movie-making trajectory: For Stokes, it was in the rainforest of Borneo shooting a film about sun bears, while for Schuler, it was an enormously emotional flick about a spider, featuring Philip Glass music. This dovetailed with my tongue-in-cheek assertion that folks don’t go into documentary filmmaking as a get-rich scheme—and responding to my companion observation that, instead, they’re typically driven by a passion to tell a story they think needs to be told, expose an injustice, give voice to the voiceless, shine a light on an underappreciated person, or organization, or cause….An observation that clearly applies to Stokes and Schuler, and the work they’ve done. In terms of their collaboration on “In Her Nature,” Stokes recalled that she conceived the series, and one of her first steps was inviting Schuler to join her eon the project. The pair address how they located the extraordinary women profiled in “In Her Nature,” telling their stories of protecting wildlife across the globe, often involving species that are endangered or whose population is in
peril. One notable example, featured in the first episode: As viewers, we find ourselves in Chitwan National Park, in Nepal, where we’re introduced to Doma Paudel, the country’s first female nature guide. Her duties include helping to significantly increase the wild tiger population in Nepal, while additionally protecting rhinos there. (That’s part of Paudel’s complex, personal storyline—no spoilers!) And, “In Her Nature” makes clear that Paudel has influenced a number of other women to become nature guides. Stokes and Schuler, leading an all-female production team, indicate they identified so many exceptional women—cut from much the same cloth as Doma Paudel—that there could easily be a second season of “In Her Nature,” and there will be! (Photos: Jocelyn Stokes, Melanie Lippert, Peter Mangolds) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjRiuRqTgtQ&ab_channel=NatureonPBS, pbs.org/inhernature)
ALSO: I spoke with Peyton Davis, Marketing Manager at the Humane Society of Pinellas, who described “Bark Back On The Bay,” an all-day extravaganza, April 5 in St. Petersburg, that’s part music festival (5 bands!) and part animal adoption event, rounded out by food and drink, and more. Davis explained that “Bark Back” is an offshoot of an event with the same name that’s been held on the other coast, in Lake Worth, for a decade. The St. Pete iteration takes place at 3 Daughters Brewing (222 22nd Street South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33712), runs from 1pm-11pm, with pre-sale general admission tickets priced at $10, while VIP tickets are available for $50. Davis predicted that there will be 15-20 animals available for adoption at the festival, noting a likely highlight of the day will be a runway walk with the adoptable animals strolling alongside first responders. Proceeds from this event benefit the Humane Society of Pinellas and Pet Pal Animal Shelter in St. Pete. (https://www.barkbackbenefit.com/, https://petpalanimalshelter.com/events/, https://3dbrewing.com/events/, https://www.facebook.com/events/1152478013254319/)
COMEDY CORNER: Al Madrigal’s “El Raton” (https://www.almadrigal.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Elton John’s “Honky Cat” Catch WMNF’s Tribute To Elton John, April 5 at Skipper’s Smokehouse (https://www.wmnf.org/wmnf_events/wmnf-presents-rocket-man-a-tribute-to-sir-elton-john/)
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