Our Doc is the News!

It’s been less than a week since we posted our finished product on YouTube and we’ve already had some fantastic reviews. Here is a snapshot of some feedback we’ve received…

1. Andrew Revkin Dot Earth Blog -  NY Times 

Andrew Revkin has helped us every step of the way and wrote a nice piece in his Dot Earth Blog. He’s gotten some comments already, including one from a reader in India:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/14/farming-shrimp-with-the-planet-in-mind/ 

(May 14, 2011) “This is wonderful. Sustainability is the key. Here in India and in Thailand farmers could learn from this. In our mad rush to eat more and more, we forget nature's basic rules.”

**We’ve even been recognized in the Twitter world….

2.  Fabien Cousteau's tweeted Congratulations to our Doc Team:  
http://twitter.com/#%21/FCousteau/status/69757659003359234>

“Congrats Pace University students for short doc on Linda Thornton, shrimp, and sustainability. Thx Revkin” http://nyti.ms/kdLFPT

**We’ve been posted on a few blogs and Treehugger.com was one of the first to pick up our doc.

3.  Documentary Dives Into World of Sustainable Shrimp Farming  

 <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/documentary-sustainable-shrimp-farming.php>

(May 13, 2011) This year, Pace University's award-winning 'Producing the Documentary' class turned its sights on sustainable shrimp farming. Production for the 15-minute film, 'Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability One Shrimp At A Time', was aided by NY Times ... at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies. The doc focuses on how the entrepreneurial Thorton managed to overcome devastating adversity in order to kick start some of the most successful shrimp farms in Belize. ...”

4.  Wolfram Publications: Linda Thornton Seeking Sustainability, One ...

 <http://wolfram-publications.blogspot.com/2011/05/linda-thornton-seeking-sustainability.html>

(May 16, 2011) “In a new documentary, "Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability, One Shrimp at a Time," a team of Pace University student filmmakers explore the life of a resilient, pioneering aquaculture entrepreneur as she pushes the frontiers of ... and graduate students in Dr. Maria Luskay's award-winning "Producing the Documentary" course, explores the life of a resilient, pioneering aquaculture entrepreneur as she pushes the frontiers of sustainable shrimp farming in Belize….”

5.  Island Press Eco-Compass Blog: "Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability, One..”

<http://blog.islandpress.org/seeking-sustainability-one-shrimp-at-a-time>

(May 13, 2011) “Students at Pace University have produced this mini-documentary on sustainable shrimp farming. It tells the story of Linda Thornton, an aquaculture entrepreneur pushing the frontiers of sustainable shrimp farming in Belize. ...”

6.  Western Belize Happenings: Growing shrimp in retirement in Belize ...

<http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com/2011/05/growing-shrimp-in-retirement-in-belize.html>

(May 14, 2011) “Here's a shout-out to the amazing team of Pace University graduate and undergraduate students who, led by professor Maria Luskay (with my assistance), just completed the short documentary “Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability, ...”

7.  The Benshi:  A Compelling Student Video from Belize to Reverse Your ...

<http://thebenshi.com/2011/05/12/130-a-compelling-student-video-from-belize-to-reverse-your-thoughts-on-shrimp-farming/>

(May 12, 2011) “If you're like me and have the blanket (largely uninformed) opinion that shrimp farming has to be disastrous, then you'll hopefully find the lifelong work of Linda Thornton to be intriguing. She is profiled in this nice video produced by the Pace University students of uber-blogger Andy Revkin — a result of their spring expedition to Belize. Contrary to popular opinion, she makes the case that there are sustainable ways to farm shrimp. Check it out! ...”

**Our documentary also reached the Inboxes of those members that follow Shrimp News International with the help of Bob Rosenberry.

8.  Bob Rosenberry, Shrimp News International

(May 6, 2011) “Students at Pace University (http://www.pace.edu), a private university in New York City with three campuses and around 13,000 students, have completed a documentary titled Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability One Shrimp at a Time!

“It’s a tale of endurance and creativity,” said Luskay.  “We selected this...compelling story of Linda and her travails as a woman in the sustainable shrimp industry.”

Luskay plans to submit the documentary to about six competitive film festivals including the Woodstock Film Festival, NY Film Festival and Red Wasp Film Festival."

The World Wildlife Fund is featuring our documentary on their website next week.  Stay Tuned.....

We HAVE FINISHED ! ! ! !

Belize It or Not...  We are finally finished!!!!   We were having slight technical issues and apologize for not posting sooner.

Please join us for our official film premiere of "Linda Thornton:  Seeking Sustainability, One Shrimp At A Time."  It will be presented by Dyson College of Arts and Sciences and the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies on May 19th at 3pm in Lienhard Lecture Hall (Entrance 2) on Pace University's Pleasantville Campus. This event is free and open to the public.

We would like to thank Pace Professor Dr. Maria Luskay and New York Times Dot Earth blogger Andrew Revkin, and Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies for all their hard work and for motivating us to complete this documentary.  We are very passionate about this film and proud of this semester's accomplishments.  

The Media and Communication Arts Department is proud to present…..

“Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability, One Shrimp at a Time”

TreeHugger, "the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream", was kind enough to feature us on their site. They strive to be a "one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information". They publish an up to minute blog, weekly and daily newsletters, weekly radio reviews, and constantly update their social media sites.  Please check out their post below!

http://www.treehugger.com/about/?campaign=th_nav_top_about

The End is Near

So close…yet so far away. We are in the process of putting the finishing touches on our documentary. It is so close, we can practically smell it, but it feels so far away when you’re in the lab until 5 AM the night before deadline, tweaking cuts, finding the right b-roll shots and trying to stay awake.

As we’ve been nearing completion, the final master script has been completed, sent to the impregnable Barbara Korsen, and returned in delightful voice-over form. Mrs. Korsen has been gracious enough to lend her professional voice-over talents to our documentary for free and we couldn’t be more grateful. It really lends the documentary an air of professionalism that’s as good as anything you’ll see on TV today.

Some of the students have been compiling the credits, checking and double-checking all names and organizations, making sure everyone gets their due credit. Other have been diligently editing at the Avid station, tweaking the timeline for maximum effect, while others have been hard at work on the soundtrack and sound editing.

Exec. Producer and head-honcho Dr. Luskay even brought in a cot and sleeping bag and spent the night in the sound-room of our production quarters. A true testament to her dedication!

We are all really excited for our documentary and we can’t wait to show it to the world. All our students and professors have been putting in as many hours as they can spare to make the best possible film, and we’re pretty sure we’ve done a great job. Keep an eye open for Linda Thornton: Seeking Sustainability One Shrimp at a Time!