Our Land

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TYPE: Documentary Feature
GENRE: Documentary
STATUS: Production

LOGLINE

The 640 million acres of America’s public land is the last commonly held asset on the planet, which puts them squarely in the crosshairs of the immensely powerful.

SYNOPSIS

In a time of growing income inequality in America, there is one asset that remains in the hands of the American people: the 640 million acres of America’s Public Lands. Given its status as the last large-scale public asset on the planet, powerful forces have aligned to attempt the largest land grab in modern history, rob Americans of this unique birthright, and make modern day vassals of the American people.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

Our Land aims to achieve the awe-inspiring style of BBC’s Planet Earth series with the compelling narrative of Wild Wild Country, all while immersing the viewer in the drive of the political exposé. In addition to beautiful cinematography and compelling, character-driven storytelling, making a film so broad in scope presents a number of unique challenges that we are experimenting to address artistically. America’s 640 million acres of public lands are a thing so large and complex that it is difficult for the human brain to wrap itself around them as a tangible object, although the object in question is as real as a bag of hammers. In addition, the history of how we ended up with our public lands is incredibly complex and muddled. Rather than bogging the audience down in endless bullet points and dates, we will be developing and utilizing a unique “time-lapse” map that will incorporate shifting borders, growing city lights, and hyper-realistic animated elements to give the audience rudimentary understanding of what public lands are and how we ended up with them. From here, we will zoom in to focus on our geographies, placing them within the context of the larger landmass and creating a narrative mental continuum through the geography of North America. The history of land is as old as the history of the earth, and connecting audiences to this perspective is important to remind them that, as John Jeavons said, “Humankind, despite its artistic abilities, sophistication and accomplishments, owes its existence to a six-inch layer of farmable soil—and the fact that it rains.” In service of that goal, we will be experimenting with different kinds of animation to be combined with simulated century-scale timelapse to land the audience in geologic time. This will be important to express the depth of historical connection that certain of our characters have with the geographies they are trying to protect. In addition, we need a visual aid to bring us through the centuries of European colonization to today. In pursuit of this, we are experimenting with a moving, drone-hyperlapse that brings us through the first colonizers stepping foot on the continent, through the environmental excesses and lives of relative ease that has come at the cost of destruction. All of these elements will be combined seamlessly into one narrative, immersing the viewer in the majesty of public lands and providing them with the necessary context to understand the current controversy surrounding public lands. Our characters will provide the threads, and their journeys will all come to a head in a common narrative that ties all Americans together.

KEY CREW

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