Behind the Project: Chatting With the Creative Team Behind Our Doc for Wondrium, “Solving for Zero”
Last month, our documentary for “Solving for Zero” was released exclusively on the Wondrium platform. Based on Bill Gates’ best-selling book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster,” the documentary follows five innovators from around the world whose organizations are fighting climate change in bold ways. The film also features commentary by Gates and other experts. In this interview, we chat with the film’s directors, Rob Finch and Julianne Parker, and the film’s editor, Sarah Borschied about their experience working on the project.
When you learned that Blue Chalk had been commissioned to make this documentary for Wondrium, what were you most excited about?
Rob: Climate change is not a new topic for documentary makers, but what excites me about this film is that it treats climate change as a foregone conclusion and focuses on what we can do now to mitigate its worst impacts. At Blue Chalk, we like to focus on solutions and the human beings who are making positive changes. I loved the idea of putting our energy into something that will help future generations.
Julianne: I was excited by the opportunity to see these potentially world-changing inventions up close and to understand their potential. Getting the chance to meet such intelligent, creative minds and learn about their work was pretty incredible.
Sarah: I was really most excited to be a part of telling a solution-centric, character-driven climate story.
The film features a number of characters, locations, and subjects that all needed to be captured during the COVID-19 pandemic. What were some of the challenges this presented?
Rob: Principal photography for the project took our team to five countries — the US, Sweden, Dominican Republic, France, and Kenya — in two months. Producing a story with such a wide range of sources, subjects and locations required an exponential amount of logistics and a great team effort.
Julianne: There were many travel restrictions and rules that were always changing so staying on top of that was always a challenge. One creative challenge that presented itself was that we were sometimes telling a story about something that was still conceptual, theoretical, and not yet a working invention. So visually representing something that didn’t yet exist was tricky. It was also challenging to make difficult scientific concepts understandable and digestible. Our use of motion graphics definitely helped to overcome this.
Sarah: Almost everyone is familiar with what’s at stake for us on this planet, and it’s easy to feel powerless and paralyzed when facing the deep-rooted systemic change that’s needed. The challenge in this film was to be honest about the problem while simultaneously inspiring hope.
Julianne, you were traveling for a number of weeks to make these stories possible. Were there any experiences you had while filming that stood out to you?
Julianne: Yes! At one point while on location in the Dominican Republic, we realized the waters we were going to film in were much deeper than expected. Luckily, I happened to be scuba certified, so I jumped in and filmed underwater!
Did you learn anything from working on this project and/or what do you hope an audience might take away from it?
Rob: My family was already very environmentally conscious, but working on this film has changed the way I talk to my children about climate change. We’re having more interesting conversations about the choices we’re making and why they matter. I hope that the audience will also learn that our choices have impacts, and the more we think about it, the better our society becomes.
Julianne: I think the overall message of this film is one of cautious hope, and that’s what I hope the audience takes away. The thing we kept hearing again and again from these scientists was that the solutions to combat the worst effects of climate change are possible, but it’s a matter of having the political and social will to invest in and support the process of innovation and the willingness to rethink and fundamentally change our current industrial systems.
Sarah: I hope viewers walk away with a deep appreciation for all the brilliant, devoted people dedicating their careers to serve the planet and our global community of humans, and I hope that gratitude inspires folks to push harder for the big changes that will ultimately save us all.
You can stream “Solving for Zero” now on the Wondrium platform.
