Last year we had a crazy idea... We were fed up with the way the news tends to focus on conflict and controversy, bombarding people with all that’s going wrong in the world and rarely covering what’s being done about it. My girlfriend and I are social entrepreneurs and spent years living in conflict zones, going beyond the headlines. We wanted to share a fresh perspective: Yes, the world is messed up… so what are people doing about it?
That's what UPLIFT is about: going to the front lines of social and environmental challenges to meet the entrepreneurs and innovators working on solutions.
We turned to Kickstarter to make the pilot episode and support poured in! We raised 250% of our goal and were able to go shoot the pilot episode. So after months of planning, we headed to Myanmar with our filmmaker friend, Greg Francis. This war-torn country is slowly emerging out of decades of dictatorship and repression. People have risked everything to make change happen, and now, it seems, change has finally come. We went to get an on-the-ground perspective from the people who live there, and to meet those putting it all on the line to build a better Myanmar.
After months and months of difficult editing we released the pilot episode. The response was really positive and we were able to sign with a major production company currently pitching the show to broadcasters to hopefully turn it into a TV series.
It's been a wild, difficult journey. We learned everything we could about making a TV series and documentary film making from books, people in the business and watching the work of people we admire. The pilot was done with just the two us and our friend. Now with the production company involved, we can really evolve the concept into a groundbreaking TV series, but we need to get picked up by a broadcaster to make it a reality.
Through our work and travels we’ve seen firsthand that despite some very tough realities, overall the human story is much more about resilience and innovation than it is about death and destruction. We need more TV that inspires, connects and builds empathy. We need to see the good news and well as the bad. There's a revolution going on for people and the planet with community builders, artists, activists, social entrepreneurs and innovators working hard to make the world a better place. We want to make sure the revolution gets televised.
You can watch the pilot and learn more on our site. And if you feel it's an idea worth spreading, please share! www.upliftfilms.org
More info: youtu.be
Barnabe and Nisha during the filming of UPLIFT
Exploring a controversial dam site on the Salween River
A shot of the beauty to be found in Kayin State, site of one of the world's longest running civil wars
Looking at the many environmental challenges that people face
Powerful spirtual scenes at the Golden Rock
One badass monk just chilling
