Fighting for the Underdog: Meet the Team

The desire to stand in horizontal rain for 15 hours repeatedly over the course of 9 days in the name of a fish related shoot takes a special kind of person (and, some might add, a little bit of insanity). This is exactly what the team did on the West coast of Scotland in late autumn. To help us figure out exactly what drives this type of behaviour, we figured it would be a good idea to meet some of the people who did just that! Please meet some of our intrepid team - our producer and presenter Liberty Denman, self-shooting assistant producer Abbie Wise, and amazing cameramen Finn Crouch and Richard Brooks. There are many more to credit…but you’ll hear more about them soon.

Could you each tell us who you are and what drives you?

Liberty: I’m a marine biologist and certified shark nerd but nothing brings me more excitement than sharing both of these passions with other people. I really believe if you don’t know it’s there you can’t care, so spend a lot of my time trying to initiate projects that develop understanding and connection to the Ocean.

Abbie: I’m an Assistant Producer specialising in documentaries and factual entertainment. I’ve always wanted to get into wildlife documentary filmmaking, so was really excited when the opportunity arose to work on this project. This is especially the case given that the topic itself is so important and there was such a great group of people involved.

Finn: I am a film maker who is used to my fair share of extreme environments but is keen for more. I’m a self-proclaimed shark nerd with a degree in Marine and Natural History Photography from Falmouth University. I grew up in a myriad of different places. This led to me meeting people from many cultures and exploring environments full of different animals. My drive and passions are to give a voice to animals who cannot speak for themselves and to showcase the beauty and strength of our planet. I also just want to have fun in a great team!

Richard: I’ve always been interested in exploring places. I started taking pictures when I was about ten years old and got into professional film making and photography about twenty years ago. After working out in the Pacific, I returned to the UK to do the same here. There are some incredible places on the planet that not everyone can get to. Whether they are up in the air or deep below water, there are some almost alien environments here on Earth.

What attracted you to join a rainy shoot in late autumn Scotland?

Liberty: Well having organised it myself I can’t blame anyone else for the fascinating choice of time and location! However, the rain only made things more entertaining and you can’t get more wet when you’re diving anyways.

Finn: Aha! If you came to me and asked if I’d like to film sharks in the pouring rain and hurricane winds, I’d say that with an awesome team and the chance to learn from experts in both the marine and film industries, you’d have me there in a heartbeat!

Abbie: I’m Scottish so I’m no stranger to the constant horizontal rain! I think Scotland is home to unparalleled scenery and I’d never properly explored Oban before so it was a great opportunity to film some gorgeous footage and explore a new place all at once.

Richard: When Liberty contacted me about this project, it was both exciting and a bit scary, because I’d never dived up in Scotland before. It’s obviously cold and the currents are strong but it appealed to me because it’s something new. What was great was that this was the chance to allow this species a little limelight. I love the environment and always want to find ways I can do my bit to help. The weather certainly didn’t play ball. However, in a way that helped the shoot. Ultimately it conveyed the message that the UK coastline is not a tropical paradise - it's a deep, dark, cold environment but one with a lot of fantastic stuff living there.

Q: So what was your best/ worst/ funniest moment on shoot?

Liberty: There were so many special moments. Working in close proximity with a team all so passionate about the same thing helps you bond very quickly. Aside from the amusement that came with walking through flooded roads, diving in darkness, unexpected encounters and sleepless induced delirium, my happiest memory will be working with everyone. I am utterly overwhelmed by the number of people happy to give their time, expertise and resources to help bring this to life. Both the team who travelled up and our contributors in Oban made this by the best shoot I’ve been on to date and I miss everyone already!

Finn: My best moment was definitely guiding and filming a shark swim off after a successful log, up to my belly in water in my (not so) clean clothes, then seeing them swim off in to the deep. The worst had to be looking up from a dive at 25 metres to find the water had gone a hellish red from the mixing minerals above us….
Finally, the funniest moment had to be either when everyone on the team jumped in the water to get footage of a shark, boots and trousers filling with water in the pitch black - or Libby getting locked in the shower on Honeydew.

Abbie: The best moments for me were trekking around Scotland together in terrible weather, getting to know our contributors and experts, and catching sharks at unexpected moments - the first time I’d ever seen a shark up close!

Richard: The first dive somewhere new is often a very special experience. You’re told for example that it’s very dark. Well, for me, dark means something close to dusk- this was like jumping into tea! It was just amazing that you could get into the water in the middle of the day and, below surface it would be like diving at night.

Q: Why should we care about a shark most people haven’t heard of?

Liberty: There are many reasons but the long and short of it comes down to our connection with the Ocean and wider environment. We have forgotten how heavily we rely on it, so your life will be impacted in different ways by species and things you don’t necessarily know about. Spreading that knowledge in some small way and hopefully helping people to think about reconnecting with the marine environment and the species within it will only get us closer to a more sustainable future. But perhaps more importantly this shares a story of how different people can all connect over our love for the same thing.

Finn: This is one of the most enigmatic and interesting species that our planet has to offer. It has an awesome form of self defence and is just a beautiful creature. It is vital to its local ecosystems as an apex predator and white blood cell of the sea. If this sea pup went extinct not only would my heart be broken but so would the environment it lives in

Abbie: Most people don’t even realise we have sharks in the UK. Sharks are a vital part of our ecosystem and deserve our protection which can’t be provided unless people know about the threats they face.

Richard: The fact that the masses haven’t heard about this species, among others is important. People need to know what’s out there. How can they care about something if they don’t know it exists? People need to know just how much is out there, and just how much they stand to lose. Making people aware was my primary reason for joining this project to be honest. It’s such a unique species and doesn’t look or behave like people would expect a shark to do. This is great to showcase and I’m all in!

Next phase of the shoot will be down in the Southwest. We’re looking forward to meeting with the team when they head this way!