The beginning of CauseCentric Productions…
While on a filming expedition in the Brazilian Amazon I learned about the health crisis of the indigenous tribes of the Vale do Javari. After this visit, I tried to put a project together to bring medical help to that region, to no avail. Having to let this go was a very emotional decision as I felt I was letting them down. Shortly after this decision, I had an opportunity to join the non-profit Amazon Promise on a medical expedition to the Peruvian Amazon…bringing much needed attention to remote indigenous communities who had asked for help. It did not seem to be a coincidence. Or maybe it was.
Without much medical experience, I offered my services to translate for the American doctors, assist with wound care and in the traveling pharmacy. I proposed to film the expedition and created a short film about their work. This is where CauseCentric grew it’s first wing without being a defined entity yet. The short film that resulted from my journey is here (link) – CCP’s first project.
Seeing what resulted made me realize that this could really be something ongoing and substantial, a way to tell an audience about these stories in a visually appealing way and my path to contribute through my own work. To borrow someone’s sentence- “I collect stories” and I not only truly love learning about people’s stories, I want to share them. Through film and related media, I saw the potential of short films as a way to help the organizations reach a greater audience and thus also reach potential supporters. I saw this as my ability to give these organizations a megaphone.
And so CCP started as a natural progression and extension of my own work and a way to help support that of others.
The first four projects that created the foundation of CCP happened through word of mouth and my own interest. Current stories for CCP’s short films are selected with our organizations guidelines and through a series of advisory meetings. The other section we are currently developing, the CauseCentric Minutes, happened because we meet so many incredible people along the way it’s tough to limit ourselves to the short films about non-profits. So these “Minutes” are a celebration of the everyday person who is cause-minded and taking positive action in some form.
We now celebrate the launch of our new website and the building of our team. The pieces of the puzzle are all falling into place, revealing the image that is CauseCentric.
Photo: Representatives of the five tribes participating in the 2007 Javari Valley conference are crammed together inside the schoolhouse. Céline Cousteau, sitting on the floor, takes notes as sound engineer Matthew Scott follows the proceedings. A Marubo man wearing a baseball cap and white shell beads tape-records each of the speakers. © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society
A bientôt,
