Kartiki Gonsalves
Kartiki Gonsalves is an Indian director, documentary filmmaker. She is the first Indian Film Director to have ever won an Academy Award in the history of India, A historic milestone in Indian cinema. Elizabeth Olsen and Pedro Pascal presented The Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film to ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ at THE 95TH ACADEMY AWARDS | Sunday, March 12, 2023, held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
Alongside that she received the prestigious The Paul Harris Award from Rotary International at a ceremony in India in December, 2023.
Kartiki Gonsalves, the debut Oscar Winning director of the acclaimed documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers,' was presented with the prestigious Tara Award by their Majesties, King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the Lancaster House, London in June of 2023. She was honoured by the Royals for making significant contribution to human-wildlife co-existence. The Tara Award, inspired by the sacred bond between elephants and humans, recognises extraordinary achievements in storytelling and advocacy for coexistence.
She is also one of the first women chosen as a Sony Alpha Artisan of Imagery in India. An associate fellow at the iLCP (International League of Conservation Photographers). Kartiki Gonsalves was honoured one of GQ India’s Most Influential Young Indians of 2023. She is also associated with brands like Peak Design, Swarovski Optik Nature Explorer 2021, and photojournalist currently based out of the Nilgiri mountains in the Western Ghats of Southern India. Kartiki infuses her passion for adventure to bring new perspectives and a deeper public understanding to the environmental and humanitarian issues that define our times. She strives to document our natural world and to help others better understand the profound connection that we share with it. On the cultural side, she focuses on capturing the diversity of cultures and tribes across the world where she seeks to give a platform to women and indigenous tribes, especially those working to conserve nature. Kartiki focuses on solutions and highlight projects that show success stories where conservation is working to give hope.
Douglas Blush
Producer | Madpix films, Los Angeles
Doug an award-winning director, producer, editor, writer and cinematographer whose work includes over 130 feature and television projects. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE). Credits include as Executive Producer the 2020 Critics’ Choice Award and 2022 Peabody Award-winning MR SOUL!, the 2019 Academy Award-winning PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE, the 2018 Academy Award-winning ICARUS, and, as supervising editor, the 2013 Oscar winner 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. Recent projects include JUSTICE which premiered at Sundance this year and THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS, which was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th annual Academy Awards.
He is also a longtime film educator with classes and seminars at USC, UCLA, Syracuse University and the YoungArts Foundation in Miami, as well as exchanges and panels in Indonesia, Brazil, New Zealand, Armenia, Malaysia, Nigeria, China, Latvia, The Netherlands and more. Doug co-owns MadPix Films, a Los Angeles-based production and post production company.
Alex Rapaport
Producer I 8 Arms Productions, Los Angeles
A marine biologist turned filmmaker, as of about 15 years ago. His first job in the film industry was in post-production as an assistant editor and then an editor. He then became a cinematographer, mostly doing underwater camera work, while also working as a researcher for various film projects. Later he began working as a production manager, field producer, and now producer. Wearing many hats is an important trait in the world of nature documentary filmmaking, and Alex has proven to be a human version of a Swiss Army Knife, making him quite essential on the projects in which he is part of. Alex has been fortunate to have played major roles in the making of various award-winning and highly recognized films such as, Humpback Whales 3D for the giant screen IMAX theaters (Won GCSA’s Best Film of the Year, Best Cinematography, and Best for Lifelong Learning), Navy SEALs: Their Untold Story (the 4th highest rated program on PBS that year), The Cat That Changed America (helped raise most of the $85 million to build the largest wildlife crossing in existence – to be completed in 2025), among many other projects.
Most recently, Alex is coming off of producing two projects. One is a soon to be released series for James Cameron and National Geographic, The Science of Avatar. This project involves various segments about engineering, astronomy, neuroscience, biology, and marine science that helped inspire James Cameron’s Avatar franchise. And the other is a film titled, The Whale Lagoon, where Xia Bastida, an indigenous climate change activist from Mexico, revisits the story about how people stood up against a major corporate conglomerate to keep them from destroying a very important habitat for the gray whales in San Ignacio Lagoon. She then follows the migratory route of these whales from Mexico up to their feeding grounds in northern Alaska. Along the way, she highlights both the good and the bad in regards to the health of the gray whale population today. For the final segment of the film, we worked with the Iñupiaq people of the North Slope Borough, to show how the changing climate is altering the behavior of the whales and also of the of native people who reside there.
Back in 2014, Alex worked on Spirit Bear Family for River Road Films, where he spent about 2 ½ months along the British Columbia coastline of Canada, filming bears, salmon, humpback whales, bald eagles, sea lions, sea otters, orcas, wolves, and amazing forests. For some of these locations, they worked with First Nations. Alex is excited to be part of a project that will investigate people’s connection with nature. The orca is a marine animal that has always intrigued Alex’s curiosity. Going back to British Columbia and working with First Nations is something he is very much looking forward to. And seeing if we can use this unique take on the First Nations and their relationship with the orca as inspiration for viewers to reconnect, respect, and care for our natural world is something that Alex is delighted to be helping Kartiki accomplish in this wonderful film endeavor.
Sven Faulconer
Music Composer, Los Angeles
Sven Faulconer, originally from Belgium, is a Los Angeles-based composer for film and TV. He employs a wide and unique range of musical styles, as reflected in the varied list of credits acquired by him over the years.
His music for the 2023 Oscar winning documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ by Kartiki Gonsalves got nominated for best score at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. He also wrote the score for Pippa Ehrlich’s ‘Older Than Trees’, another finalist at the 2023 Jackson Wild Summit.
Other noteworthy credits of his include ‘The Last Ice’ (NatGeo, nominated for best score in the 2020 Critics Choice Documentary Award), ‘Into the Okavango’ (NatGeo, Emmy nominated) and several ‘Pristine Seas / NatGeo’ films (Enric Sala’s ‘The Nature of Nature’, ‘Last Wild Places’ and ‘Cape Horn’).
In addition to his work for documentary films, he’s acquired a long list of credits for other film and TV genres. Recent scores of his include ‘Scream 6’ and the Netflix comedy series ‘Unstable’. A keen sense for collaboration and strong story-telling skills have earned him credits on well-known movies like ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Ad Astra’, ‘Aquaman’, ‘Black Widow’, ‘Abominable’, ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Nightcrawler’.
Beginning formal music training at age 8, Sven became a passionate clarinet player and showed an early knack for improvisation and composition. His studies took him on an exciting journey starting in Ghent (Belgium), later moving to Rome to conclude his academic career in Los Angeles at the renowned UCLA Film Scoring Program. In addition to his own projects, Sven also has ongoing collaborations with several other composers including Brian Tyler, James Newton Howard, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Steve Jablonsky, Henry Jackman and Lorne Balfe.
https://www.svenfaulconer.com ; IMDB : https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3562733/
Meg Severide
Research and Communications, Canada
Megan is an educator, conservationist, visual storyteller and artist from British Columbia, Canada. She has a B.Sc. in Wildlife Conservation and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. Megan has spent five years as a teacher, sharing her knowledge of the natural world and fostering a sense of empathy towards nature and wildlife. Leaving her teaching career in order to pursue her passion for wildlife conservation and photography, she now serves as the Manager of Visuals and Communications at the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). In this role, she curates impactful visual content in order to raise awareness about pressing environmental concerns, amplify the voices of fellow advocates and inspire positive change. As a freelance photographer, videographer and wildlife artist, Megan uses visuals and storytelling to showcase the beauty of nature and the urgent need for its protection. Through her lens and artistic expressions, Megan hopes to offer a voice for the voiceless.
Megan's lifelong fascination with orcas and the marine ecosystems of British Columbia has fueled her dedication to their conservation. Her passion for orcas was only enhanced through her hands-on experience as a research assistant at OrcaLab, a busy whale research lab on BC’s coast. Here she gained invaluable insights into complex orca social structures, witnessing firsthand the remarkable matriarchal societies that these incredible beings navigate. As an avid explorer and sailor, Megan has embarked on numerous expeditions along the British Columbia coast. She is very familiar with the local geography, coastal ecosystems, and the diverse communities and wildlife that frequent this stunning region.
Yassine Layachi
Managing Director - Earth Spectrum, France I India
Yassine Layachi, originally from Morocco, is a conservationist, Yoga practitioner and nature lover from Paris currently based in India. He has a Masters in Information technology from Supinfo, Paris. Having pursued his earlier passion for computers, he went on to explore the in and outs of network and security engineering for nine years in Paris.
Primarily an Asthanga Practioner he shared his knowledge of Vinyasa yoga as a teacher for five years. Interested in how yoga could transform the mind and body through Grounding and moving meditation which brought a sense of deeper purpose.
Yassine spent the last three years running his co-owned popular Yoga shala in Paris, ‘Munnshala’, which opened its doors in September 2021 to build a bridge between India and France by offering traditional yoga.
A strong connection to Elephants, an interest in travelling half way across the world to Asia and a mission to explore temples repossessed by nature. lead him to travel to the heart of Cambodia to The Elephant Valley Project, Mondulkiri. They are passionate and invest in the protection of our neighbour the 300,000 hectare Keo Siema Wildlife Sanctuary. In partnership with Wildlife Conservation Society and the Ministry of the Environment, we support forest protection initiatives and research efforts, as this forest hosts some of Cambodia’s las remaining of wild elephants and other critically endangered wildlife. Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment (E.L.I.E.) is a registered local non-government organization based in Mondulkiri, Cambodia ELIE’s aim is to improve the health and welfare of the captive elephants in Mondulkiri Province, work to conserve the wild elephants natural habitat and to support the local people who work with these magnificent creatures.
Post his trip to Cambodia, it gave him an opportunity to get closer to the natural world and that experience fostered a deeper sense of empathy towards nature and wildlife and a curiosity to learn more. Leaving behind IT, and his teaching career in Yoga in order to pursue his passion for science, wildlife conservation and anthropology , he now serves as the Managing Director of Earth Spectrum in India. His main goals are to raise awareness about people on the forefront of conservation on our ongoing environmental concerns thorough positive storytelling. As an avid explorer, his next mission is to journey to the depths of the4 ocean and explore the breathing beauty of underwater world and better help to protect it.