An eye opening and remarkable look at one of the most misunderstood animals in the world.
Wolves are one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. The message we try and get across in our documentaries is just that. We try and show the true nature of the wolf, not the fairy tale image that we all know so well.
This documentary will show audiences things they have never seen before with wolves. We give you an exclusive look inside their world. Explore their unique hierarchy system, see the fight for top spot unfold before your eyes. Get up close and personal as you discover each wolf has a unique personality, lust like people. See them reason, think, learn, adapt, overcome and survive against all odds.
There are many ways to get messages out to the world, my way is through these documentaries. I am blessed to live every day with wolves, and my career allows me the opportunity to bring attention to them.
By donating to this kickstarter project you can help get the message out. Our goal is simple, dispel the myths and wild imagination surrounding these animals, and change the worlds view on wolves. And perhaps give this unique animal a chance at survival, regardless of the country it inhabits.
It’s not the easiest thing to do, to try and fit three years of your life into a 90 minute documentary.
When I was asked to go to China to work on the film ‘Wolf Totem’ I had no idea what was in store for myself or my team. But I embarked on the adventure with enthusiasm, after all, life is for living. And having trained wolves before, there was no reason to think this time would be any different…but I was so very wrong!
The majority of the wolves in this film we could not touch…ever! So how do we make a film using wolves we can’t touch. It had never been done before.
How can we form a bond with them, a connection? This was an impossible task from the beginning. Months into the project I wanted to quit, admit defeat and go home.
Everything I thought I knew about wolves was turned upside down. We had to start from scratch, to rethink everything. We had to think so far out of the box that the box was gone, it was no longer in sight!
This documentary shows it all, the highs and the lows, the laughter and the tears and the beauty and the harshness of Mother Nature. We will also show you the amazing landscapes of the Mongolian Grasslands, and the hustle and bustle of Beijing.
Over the course of this documentary to will be taken inside the world of the wolves we trained. You will have an exclusive look at how they interact with each other, their personal battles, their thought process and how they overcome their instincts to learn.
This experience would not only change the lives of the wolves involved, but also of the people around them.
This was the first film in the series, and my first film as an independent filmmaker. When we were asked to go to Siberia to make the film LOUP, I thought it would be a great idea to film the experience and show people. At the time I never gave a lot of thought to the finished documentary, we were all just trying to get through everyday filming in freezing conditions with our wolves.
But once everything was done and we got back home, I started to put everything together. Then I realized that what we had done, the experience we had had, was pretty special. People the world over have an interest in wolves. And this documentary allowed me the opportunity to show the world a different side of them.
I shopped around the footage to all the ‘big players’ trying to get financial help to finish the project. Everyone loved the idea and the concept, but no one wanted to take a chance on this being my first solo endeavor.
And without having Kickstarter back then, I had no choice but to wait till I raised enough of my own money through our regular film work to complete the production.
So it was a complete labor of love and a long time waiting to show the world what we had done, but in the end it was totally worth it and the documentary was well received around the planet, and it is still going strong!
“This documentary is the best I have ever seen. Andrew Simpson and his team should be commended for their dedication and talent. As a long time wolf lover, I understand completely the misrepresentation in society of wolves. We need to have more people like Andrew to remind us that wolves are not to be feared. If we loose wolves on our planet, the repercussions will be astronomical. Andrew shows us what us involved in befriending wolves. We have a lot to learn. A huge “thank-you” to Andrew and his team…” Testimonial from www.imdb.com
Making a film is both a creative and technical endeavour, but as you may know once the camera stops rolling there is still a lot to be done. That is where we are now on this project, we have shot the film and have started editing but there are still a lot a details that need to be seen to before we can release the film. We can’t do it alone, that is why we have enlisted some of the most talented and dedicated minds we could to get the job done. But we also need your help, and that is why we brought this project to Kickstarter. Whether you share this campaign on social media and/or pledge to help us meet our goal, any contribution of any size inspires our gratitude!
$88,000 CAD (approximately $68,408 USD) seems like a big number, but in the world of film production this is relatively small. It takes a lot of people decided to their craft to make it happen. Below is a breakdown of the post production budget for this project, from the colour correction to the original score this shows where all the money is spent if we are funded. Here’s a look at how it all breaks down.
Rewards are important to people, and they should be. Heck, we use positive reinforcement with our wolves! So we wanted to make our rewards a little different to the normal, and tried to connect them not just to our project, but also to our lives and our wolves we live with.
Here is a look at some of the highlights:
It’s not very often that this happens, but recently a few wolf pups joined the Instinct pack! We wanted to offer something unique as our top tier reward and this is it. He’s young but his personality is already starting to show. He’s extremely curious and playful, and in spite of being the smallest of his peers, he’s 100% convinced he’s the biggest wolf in the pack. Along with picking out a name, you will also receive personal updates of his life as becomes a full grown wolf.
A limited edition autographed coffee table book, that chronicles the adventures of Andrew and his pack.
Ever wonder what it would be like to work with a pack of wolves? or do you just want to get a closer look? Come hangout with Andrew, the wolves, and his crew, on the set of his next film.
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The film has already been shot and editing is underway, so the biggest challenge we have is getting the funds to finish the film. Through Kickstarter, and with your support our goal is insight! We already have everything in place so once we are funded we will have the film done by the end of the year. But once again it is not possible without you, so we thank you for your consideration.