TEAM
Daniel Byers – Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor
Daniel Byers is the Director of Skyship Films. As a documentary filmmaker, he's tracked cartels along the rivers of Honduras, chased the elusive snow leopard through the mountains of Afghanistan, and rafted through the icebergs of glacial lakes in the shadow of Everest. His documentary films have been featured at numerous international festival screenings, events, and museums including the Smithsonian, Dallas Museum of Art, UN Climate Change Conferences, Banff Mountain Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival, and International Wildlife Film Festival.
Katrin Redfern – Producer/Cinematographer/Sound Recordist
Katrin Redfern, MSc, MA, MFA, is a writer, producer, filmmaker and Creative Director of Be Electric Studios, a hub for the photo and film production community in NYC. She writes about conservation, indigenous cultures, and policy issues for various publications. Katrin serves as Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Newburgh, NY and is a Felipe P. De Alba Fellow at Columbia University and Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Intellectual History at the University of St. Andrews.
Andrew Stern – Producer/Cinematographer
Andrew Stern is a photographer, cinematographer and film producer whose work has taken him to the planet's farthest reaches on countless projects. His primary areas of concentration are the social and political issues of our time, but he has also photographed campaigns for many titans of industry and technology. His photojournalism has won numerous awards and has appeared in Harpers, The New York Times, The Guardian and many other publications and exhibitions both domestically and internationally. Films he has shot and produced have been featured in and won awards at film festivals including Tribeca Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival, and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Andrew is also the CEO of Be Electric Studios, a hub for the photo and film production community in NYC that he founded in 2014.
Behind the Scenes in the Darién
Capturing a rare Harpy Eagle nestling on film was a challenge—days sitting motionless on a handmade bamboo platform 100’ up in the forest canopy along with a heavy rig (a RED Dragon fitted with an incredible Canon 50mm-1000mm lens) that had to be pulled up and assembled and disassembled up in the tree each day, each important part tied to its own individual safety line! The platform swayed on the winds like a boat on a green sea as we waited for the nestling to try out her wings, or an adult to return to the nest with food.
Through all of it we had the help of two world-class tree climbers from Canopy Watch, a biologist, an ornithologist, and the local community! Twenty or so Emberá from Playa Muerto accompanied us from the village on the beach into the forest, crossing 11 rivers and streams in the process, to set up camp nearer to the nest. The whole experience was incredible and a life highlight for all of us.
