Week 2

This week I have been in contact with Carolina Tiger Rescue and got the "OK" to film there and to interview some of their employees/volunteers for our project. I had to fill out an application explaining our project in detail and had to send them "proposed topics" that our team would like to interview them with. I have also been researching more about the "Predators Not Pets" pledge and am trying to figure out who to contact for further information about the pledge. I have e-mailed the director of HSUS of North Carolina, so hopefully I will hear back from her soon.
As a group we are all putting together a proposed budget based on what we need to successfully make this film. Gas is a large portion of our budget because Carolina Tiger Rescue is located outside of Raleigh. We are trying to have our Indiegogo page launched by Tuesday (January 27th). We wanted to wait until we had confirmation from the rescue that we could film there. I am thrilled to have the permission to film and am ready to get started. We are planning a trip up to Carolina Tiger Rescue to shoot storyboards and become more familiar with the rescue before we get started.

Week 1: Treatment

Tameless

Carolina Tiger Rescue, located in North Carolina, is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary whose mission is saving and protecting wild cats in both captivity and the wild. Tiger populations are decreasing rapidly and are now classified as a highly endangered species. Since 1900, the estimated number of wild tigers has declined from 100,000 to as a few as 3,200. Carolina Tiger Rescue not only rescues Tigers, but also a various amount of other big cats. Many of these rescues come from homes, where people were trying to keep these wild animals as pets. As of now, it is perfectly legal to privately own a wild cat in North Carolina. Carolina Tiger Rescue is in support of the “Predators not Pets” pledge; legislation trying to be passed which bans private ownership of wild cats.

After the film goes over these important facts through interviews and b-roll, the film will move into 2-4 backstories of the wild cats at the sanctuary. At least one tiger and one lion and the third or fourth will be about one of the smaller animals at the rescue. These stories will be told through interviews of the Carolina Tiger Rescue staff/volunteers, with the interview taken place outside near or at the enclosure of the animal he or she is speaking of. B-roll will be of the animals in their enclosures with some shots of volunteers/staff members working with them.  

After exploring the many different backgrounds of some of the animals, the film will move into more information about the “Predators not Pets” pledge. We will start off with one of the Carolina Tiger Rescue staff members mentioning the pledge and then will smoothly transition into an expert’s interview with someone who knows more details about the Humane Society of the United States’ legislation that is currently trying to be passed. B-roll from the rescue can be used. Also, we will add some simple animations of facts, article screenshots, newspaper clippings, etc to further support the information behind the pledge.

The next and concluding chapter of the documentary will return to Carolina Tiger Rescue and will talk about the many different ways Carolina Tiger Rescue itself is working to help save wild cats. We will go into more detail about how the rescue maintains their big cats and how they keep the animals stimulated and fed inside the enclosures. This will also be through various interviews with volunteers and staff.