Blackfish Report

8/20/2019 Blackfish Report

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BLACKFBlackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performinseveral people while in captivity. Along the waCowperthwaite compiles shocking footage anexplore the creature’s extraordinary nature, thcaptivity, the lives and losses of the trainers anbear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industryconsider our relationship to nature and revealslearned from these highly intelligent and enormmammals.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID“A mesmerizing psychological tand battered killer whale at its ccaptivating and entirely success

Satellite Award WinnerBest Feature Documentary

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THE C


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CONTEXTT H E C A M P A I G N

The filmmakers did not set out to campaign withtheir film; their main goal initially was to create masspublic understanding of a previously unrecognisedissue, with a behaviour change goal developing postbroadcast as the distribution rolled out.

CHANGING MINDSMass awareness and understanding – creating in public attitudes.

The team wanted to generate mass awarenonly known to animal advocacy and whalehappens to whales in captivity. To bring thconsciousness was the overarching goal.

CHANGINGActively whether

In makinsome ofcaptivity

IMPACT DYNAMICS

As a tool for analysing campaign strategies, Bhas devised what we call the Four Impact Dynbroad categories for the kinds of change you in the world. This has been developed by studfilms that we have worked with as well as wo

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HOW THE CAMPAIGN WORKEDT H E C A M P A I G N

SeaWorld bought full-page ads ineight newspapers, rejectingallegations of animal mistreatment.Jim Atchison, the company’spresident and chief executive,insisted most park guests “seethe story for what it is — anactivi st agenda.”

This SeaWorld statement wasjudged to be in response toa wave of negative publicityfollowing the CNN broadcastand two high-profile eventsinvolving schools; a Malibu,California school cancelled itsannual overnight field trip tothe park after students spokeout in opposition, and a SanDiego, California, high schoolcinema class posted a video toYouTube with students pledgingto spend no more money atSeaWorld until the companychanges its practices.

ADVOCACY BY PETA

Throughout the distribution lifeof the film, animal advocacy

groups used the film for theirown campaigns and helpedpromote Blackfish, amongthem Humane Society of the US,Born Free Foundation, Voice ofthe Orcas and PETA. This wasnot directed by the filmmakersbut happened independently,which allowed the filmmakersto distance themselvesfrom perceived partisanshipwhile positioning the film to

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To this end, the film premieredat Sundance Film Festival inJanuary 2013 and hoped to pickup a distribution deal, which wassecured from Magnolia Pictures.A theatrical roll out in 100 territorieswas supported by the director andthe cast of ex-SeaWorld trainerswho attended Q&As and gave pressappearances. The LA premiere wasco-sponsored by The HumaneSociety which was associated with

the film at that time.

SEAWORLD RESPONSE

The media coverage – news,speculation, comment – generatedaround the film has beensubstantial. After initially keepingquiet, SeaWorld changed tackwhen three days prior to the UStheatrical release in July 2013,the company issued statements

that the film was one-sided, andaccused the filmmakers of mis-information. The filmmakers feltforced to respond to their detailedaccusations and a point by pointrebuttal was crafted with the helpof marine biologist experts. Thisexchange set off a tidal wave ofpress which only served to bringthe issue out into the open. Thispattern was repeated throughoutthe life of the film as SeaWorld

mounted an aggressive PRcampaign and held a positionwhich sought to paint their criticsas “extreme animal rights activists.”

A broadcast on CNN Films followed,ensuring a wide viewership for thefilm and huge press and socialmedia interest, at which pointSeaWorld realised that thephenomenon was not going togo away. In December 2013,

Blackfish was not initially conceived of as an “impactfilm” that would use an outreach and engagementcampaign to amplify and deepen its message; rathera piece of journalism that would serve to raise awarenessof how marine mammals are kept in captivity at SeaWorld.

Cowperthwaite’s overriding concern was one of

independence; thus the film’s journey into the world wasplanned along traditional marketing and distribution lines.

A BROADCAST ON CNN FILMSFOLLOWED, ENSURING A WIDEVIEWERSHIP FOR THE FILM AND HUGEPRESS AND SOCIAL MEDIA INTEREST,AT WHICH POINT SEAWORLD REALISEDTHAT THE PHENOMENON WAS NOT GOINGTO GO AWAY. IN DECEMBER, SEAWORLDBOUGHT FULL-PAGE ADS IN EIGHTNEWSPAPERS, REJECTING ALLEGATIONS

OF ANIMAL MISTREATMENT.

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CAMPA

IMPACT


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(20,426) which resulted inTaco Bell severing promotionalties with the company.

— “South West Airlines: stoppromoting animal cruelty”(32,467) which resulted in SWAirlines dropping their SeaWorldassociation.

— As of October 2014 BritishAirways has agreed to meetthe Change.org petitionersto discuss their concerns.

In addition another 50 touroperators signed a pledge statingthat the captivity of cetaceans forentertainment is morally wrongand the board of Vancouver Parkhas voted unanimously in favourof ending captive breeding ofcetaceans at its aquarium, unlessthey are a threatened species.

In October 2014 Virgin Americabecame the latest corporate toend their association with SeaWorld,dropping them from their airline

reward programme.

In addition, the film has enjoyedsupport from multiple celebrities,who have tweeted and announcedtheir opposition to SeaWorldpractices.

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C A M P A I G N I M P A C T

& A C H I E V E M E N T S

As the noise around Blackfishcontinued, there is evidence thatmass awareness had started totranslate into behaviour changeon the part of corporations andthe general public.

In December 2013 eight out of10 originally scheduled musicalacts pulled out of SeaWorldOrlando’s Bands, Brew andBBQ concert series citing thedocumentary Blackfish. This wasin response to a campaign petitionto Willie Nelson on Change.org which garnered 9198 signatures.Once again this was widelycovered in the media as partof the “Blackfish effect .”

There have been numerouscampaigns on multipleorca/SeaWorld issues onChange.org, a measure of howfar the issue has become partof the public consciousness.

The campaigns include: — “Humanely release the Orca

whale known as Tilikum to asea pen for rehab” (172,025).

— “Shut down the movieBlackfish”(52).

— “Remove Blackfish from yourstreaming line up” (870).

— “Ask SeaWorld to release theirorcas and dolphins to oceansanctuaries” (24,133).

— “British Airways: stop selling tripsto SeaWorld. End your supportfor these cruel orca circuses”(167,571).

— “SeaWorld: End captive breedingprogram” (51,913).

— “American Express: stop

promoting SeaWorld animalcruelty” (26,322).

Notable successes include: — “Please watch #blackfish and

cancel Busch Gardens” (1023)which resulted in The Beach Boyscancelling a gig at a SeaWorldowned park.

— “Why is Taco Bell supportingSeaWorld animal abuse?”

THE TREATMENT OF TILIKUMBY SEAWORLD IS DEPLORABLE.IF THIS WAS AN ORGANIZATIONTHAT TRULY CARED ABOUTTHE WELFARE OF ANIMALS,THEY WOULD ACKNOWLEDGETHE POOR MENTAL CONDITIONOF TILIKUM AND WOULD RETIREHIM TO A MORE SUITABLE SEAPEN FOR HIS REMAINING YEARS.—

Change.org Petitioner

Blackfish as a film has been especially successfulin moving individuals and organisations to action,from passive watching to active engagement withthe issues. As the distribution roll-out continuedactions small and large accumulated around thefilm, creating the now oft-cited “Blackfish effect”.

Blackfish

@MileyCyrus Please

watch BLACKFISH #befree

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C A M P A I G N I M P A C T

& A C H I E V E M E N T S

cause a loss of consumerconfidence in the Company, reduceattendance at our theme parks andnegatively impact our results ofoperations.“

By August 2014 shares had fallenby 37% since the IPO, a factattributed by financial observersto the negative publicity incurredby Blackfish.

A month later, SeaWorld’s denialsof the Blackfish effect came backto haunt them when a shareholderclass-action lawsuit was filedin California federal court. Theaction centred around claimsthat SeaWorld’s RegistrationStatement and Prospectus aroundits IPO “failed to disclose thatSEAS (a) had improperly caredfor and mistreated its Orcapopulation causing mental distressto the Company’s Orca populationaffecting trainer and audiencesafety; (b) continued to featurean Orca that had killed andinjured numerous trainers; and(c) consequently exposed the

Company to material anduncertainties that could adverselyimpact attendance at its familyoriented parks.”

Furthermore,“SEAS falsely claimedthat the drop in attendance wasa product of the timing of Easter,when in reality, the bad publicityfrom the Blackfish film causedfamilies to stay away fromSEAS parks.”

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W H O S A W

I T

Blackfish

CINEMA

United States(over 100 markets)CanadaBrazilUKIreland

FranceGermanySwitzerlandSpainItalyGreece

CyprusNordicsTurkeyMiddle EastIndiaSingapore

Hong KongTaiwanKoreaAustralia

TELEVISION TERRITORIES

USA -CNN Film:Over

24M viewersUK, France, G ermany, Switzerland,Belgium, Central Europe and Balkans.

Ranked No.1 in the25–54 demographicin cable news.

DVD TERRITORIES

USA & UK, Italy

ONLINE TRAILER

1,065,019 Views

SOCIAL MEDIA

360K facebook.com/ Blackfishmovie

379K @blackfishmovie

127,000blackfishmovie.comunique visitors

SOCIAL MEDIA

The day after the film’s initialscreening on CNN, Google searchesfor the term “blackfish” also jumpedto their highest level, and since thenhave remained slightly higher–occasionally spiking, probably duringsubsequent screenings– than searchlevels in the preceding months.

Twitter said it was the most talked-

about show on CNN in October, with

67,673 tweetsseen by7.3M people.(It was the second-most tweetednon-sports program that night.)Followers of the CNN Twitter accountjumped from 1000 to 2000 the dayafter broadcast.

FESTIVA

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— Tru— Mia

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2013

APR 2013SeaWorld IPO isvalued at $2.3 billion.

JAN 2013Blackfish premieresat Sundance.

JULY 2013US theatrical rollout. LA premiere ispresented by TheHumane Society.

OCT 2013CNN broadcast.

JULY 2013SeaWorld releasesfirst PR defence threedays before premiere.Filmmakers respondin detail.

DEC 2013SeaWorld placesfull page ads in8 newspapers.

DEC 2013Musical acts pull outof SeaWorld’s Orlandoconcert series.

NOV 2013PETA organisesprotests andstunts aroundSeaWorld’s floatin Macy’sThanksgivingParade.

MAR 2014Blackstonesells stock backto SeaWorld.

APR 2014SeaWorldreports 13%drop in attendanc

2014B L A C K F I S H T I M E L I N E


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TRADITDISTRIB

DIRECTOR

Gabriela Cowperthwaite isa documentary filmmaker whofor more than 12 years has directed,produced and written documentaryprograms for television networksincluding ESPN, NationalGeographic, Animal Planet,Discovery and History. In 2010,Cowperthwaite completed theaward-winning feature-lengthdocumentary, City Lax: AnUrban Lacrosse Story , which wasacquired by ESPN and DirectTV.In 2009, Cowperthwaite completeda film for UCLA International

Medicine in conjunction with theInternational Rescue Committee,which focuses on clinics in war-torn regions, with the emphasis onproviding ground-breaking medicalcare for victims of violence. It hasbeen translated into three differentlanguages and will be distributed ineight countries.

PRODUCER

Manny Oteyza has produceda diverse body of work, fromscripted shorts to documentary andfiction features. Prior to Blackfish,he produced Wayne Quinton:Engineering Life , a documentaryfor BYUtv; line produced AmazonGold, a documentary short on thedestruction of the Amazon; anda six-part webisode series, Solvingfor X with Bill Nye for Disney.Oteyza has also served as aproducer, line producer, and fieldproducer on various series fortelevision networks including

National Geographic Channel,Military Channel, DiscoveryChannel and Travel Channel.An alumnus of the American FilmInstitute’s graduate producingprogram, Oteyza has worked onfiction films for both studios andindependent companies. Underhis company Manny O Productions,based in Los Angeles, he iscurrently developing feature-lengthdocumentaries and narrative scriptsto produce.

MANNY / PRODUCER+ Festival/ Theatri

MANGOLIA PICTURES+ Publicity+ Theatrical+ Community/Educational

Screenings

CNN FILMS+ Publicity+ Social Media

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C A M P A I G N P A R T N E R

S

C O N C L U S I O N

A painstaking journalisticinvestigation into a trainer’s deathat SeaWorld, Blackfish was initiallyproduced as a film which aimedto spark awareness around ourcomplex relationship with andresponsibility to marine mammals.However, the dynamic between theoverwhelming popularity of the film,and a corporation’s response to it,

took ocoinedEffectswelleabout entertindividprotescelebrtraditio

PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE“Given the lean team and very mand impact, the film’s success ishaving a broad audience the filmraising awareness and changingthe power of social media.”

BLACKFISH VIEWER“I just went to SeaWorld and I wups at SeaWorld disgust me, blaincidents.”

While there were no traditionalcampaign partners the followingorganisations used the film to launchtheir own campaigns, including butnot limited to:

BLUE FREEDOMBORN FREE FOUNDATIONPETATHE HUMANE SOCIETY

VOICE OF THE ORCAS

BUDGET

Film Budget:Not disclosed

Outreach Budget: $0

WATCH THE FILM

Buy your copy from AmazonStream on iTunes

FOLLO

@Blafaceb

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PRESS


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NEW STATESMANDid a Killer Whale DocJust Kill an Industry?

BUZZFEED‘Blackfish’ Will Make YouRethink Everything You

Thought You Knew AboutKiller Whales

THE NEW YORK TIMESSeaWorld’s Unusual Retortto a Critical Documentary

USA TODAYCalifornia Bill Would BanSeaWorld Orca Shows

HOLLYWOOD REPORTERThe ‘Blackfish’ Effect:California’s Proposed Orca

Ban, Artists CancellingTheme Park Concerts

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A small press sample whichillustrates the quality of conversationaround the issues raised in the film.

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Blackfish Report

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