Welcome to the second leg of our fundraising campaign for “Rangers of the Reef”! We hope that you will join our team and help us share this incredible story of marine conservation.

Thanks to the tremendous support from donors like you, we were able to shoot our film out on location back in April and are currently back in LA working on the post-production process. In order to complete this properly, we need a bit more help. We are looking to raise another $2,500+ to cover some of the post-production costs, as well as some costs that we didn’t expect during the filming phase. Here is a breakdown of what we still need to cover and how you can help:

Translation (30%): About 75% of the film will be in Indonesian and we are lucky to be working with UCLA professor Juliana Wijaya who will be doing the painstaking work of transcribing/translating the Indonesian dialogue. In the past, she has helped translate films that have gone on to award’s season success!

Festival Submissions (20%): Once the film is completed we will be submitting it into short film festivals around the country, all of which will be dedicated to sharing stories about wildlife and conservation!

Unforeseen Transportation/Miscellaneous (50%): During production we ran into a few transportation speed bumps due to Raja Ampat’s remote location. This, as well as a few more post-production jobs (like color correction), will make up this last part of the budget.

All perks shown to the right are still ready for someone to give them a home!

Thank you again for visiting our campaign, and thanks to those who got us this far to begin with. We hope that you will join our team and share this campaign and the film’s trailer (located here: https://vimeo.com/171168976) with your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, or anyone else you think might be interested! Like us on Facebook at “Rangers of the Reef” to receive more updates as we progress through this second phase!

Much love,

Brady and Nick

Located on the eastern edge of Indonesia, Raja Ampat is home to some of the most pristine reefs left in the world. More than 600 coral species (that's over 75% of the known species!) and over 1,000 fish species live in these waters. 

However, these reefs are extremely susceptible to overfishing and other destructive practices. Nearly 75% of Raja Ampat's shark species are on the brink of local extinction. But thanks in large part to Misool Eco Resort and its conservation foundation, Misool Baseftin, these reefs are being cared for and protected. Misool Baseftin means ‘Misool: we own it together’ in the local language, and nowhere else is this better exemplified than in its Ranger Patrol program.

Our short documentary will focus on the Ranger Patrol program by following two Indonesian men, Razak and Sena, as they work to protect this diverse marine landscape from the many dangers of illegal fishing. Their trust will allow us to go inside the Ranger Patrol unit, where we’ll learn just how important systems like this are for the future of marine ecosystems and for the people that live nearby.

is a local of Raja Ampat and is the leader of the Ranger Patrol program. He was also one of the first employees of Misool Eco Resort. He and his fellow rangers are the only defenses against the illegal fishing practices that are currently destroying reef systems throughout Raja Ampat.

 is a graphic designer from Java and is an integral link between the Ranger Patrol program and the larger community of Raja Ampat.

What We Have Already:

Accommodation: Misool Eco Resort has given us free accommodation for the entirety of our stay and we are extremely grateful for their contribution!

BBC Mentor: We will also be working with BBC wildlife filmmaker Steve Greenwood during pre and post production.

Music: We will be working with a composer in Bristol, UK who will be creating custom music for the film free of charge! We are excited for this joint creative endeavor.

What We Need:

Travel (60% of Budget)- Unfortunately, getting to Raja Ampat is a relatively expensive ordeal, given its remote location. Although we are excited for the adventure that awaits us in the multiple days of travel, we need your help to afford to get there and back.

Film Equipment (40% of Budget)- Even though we’ve already obtained most of the core film equipment through my university, with your donations, we will be able to secure a few extra pieces that will be integral for the telling of this story. This kit includes the rental of an underwater camera (with housing), a slider, external hard drives for portable storage, extra SD cards for filming, and insurance for the gear. 

Once this film is completed, it will be screened at the BBC headquarters in Bristol, UK in October 2016. From there, our plan is to enter it into conservation film festivals around the world in order to help share the amazing work that the local people of Raja Ampat are doing for their environment.

Since this Ranger Patrol program has been in effect, there has been significant positive change in the area’s marine ecosystem. The 1,220 square kilometer Marine Protected Area set up by Misool Baseftin is nearly twice the size of Singapore and prohibits ALL extraction from the sea. This absolute protection has lead to an incredible average marine biomass increase of over 250%!  Our film will showcase why this is happening and, once completed, will be used as a communication tool for setting up similar programs in other areas.

If we don’t reach our proposed goal, it is likely that we’ll have to cut our on-location crew from two to one. This would directly affect the potential quality of the final film because the video, audio, and managerial responsibilities would be overloaded onto one person while in Raja Ampat. The two of us have worked effectively as a team for the past four years, filming projects around the globe, and we believe that collaborating again here will help us deliver the best final film possible.

Our collaborative film work includes on-location filming in places like:

-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (for Boo Bikes)

Link 1: https://vimeo.com/120985857

Link 2: https://vimeo.com/134916760

-Laikipia, Kenya (on wild dogs and elephants)

Link: https://vimeo.com/74794362

-Las Vegas, USA (on a Cirque du Soleil performer)

Brady Valashinas 

Brady, a native of Manhattan Beach, California, graduated from Princeton University in 2014 with degrees in Anthropology and Film and Video Production. He is currently living in Bristol, UK getting a master’s in wildlife filmmaking from the University of the West of England, where he is learning from and working with members of the BBC’s Natural History Film Unit. 

Nick Ellis 

Nick, a native of Austin, Texas, graduated from Princeton University in 2014 with degrees in Religion and Film and Video Production. Nick currently lives in Los Angeles and is pursuing a career in film production and screenwriting.