The second documentary in the Global Health Frontier Series, Dark Forest Black Fly aired Monday, September 9 on Georgia Public Broadcasting at 7:00pm EST.
DARK FOREST, BLACK FLY describes how dedicated scientists and health workers have joined together to achieve remarkable success against river blindness on two continents.
WHAT IS RIVER BLINDNESS? River blindness is caused by microscopic worms that migrate under the skin, leading to intense itching and eventual loss of sight. The disease is transmitted by small black flies that breed in fast-flowing rivers and streams. Millions were effected in Africa, the Middle East and South America for decades.
Nearly 25 years ago researchers discovered a drug, ivermectin, that kills the worms, but the threat of its return still exists and there are areas that have yet to eradicate it.
Learn more about the documentary and view trailer at http://cieloproductions.org/feature-films/dark-forest-black-fly
The Global Health Frontier series is distributed by American Public Television nationally and Internationally. So if you aren’t in the State of Georgia stay tuned for upcoming air dates.
An Interview with one of the Executive Producers: Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Question: What is the documentary Dark Forest Black Fly (DFBF) about?
Walter: The documentary looks at the efforts to control and possibly eradicate River Blindness disease. This project has been 4 years in the making!
Question: Where did the filming take place?
Walter: Dozens of trips were made by the production team to Africa and Latin America. On-site filming was led by Executive Producer Gary Streiker. Around 200 hours of raw footage was collected to create the one-hour documentary.
Question: What role did your company, Biscardi Creative Media play in the creation of DFBF?
Walter: Biscardi Creative Media oversaw the entire post production and digital asset management for this documentary. That work included Editorial, Sound Design, Color Grading, Logging and Archival Storage.
Question: What did you enjoy about this project?
Walter: At Biscardi Creative Media we pride ourselves on being storytellers and we were once again recognized for that in this project. We were given an outline, no script, just raw footage because Gary knew we could and would craft the most compelling story within it. It’s more rare these days for a producer to hand over the materials and simply say “go” to an editor. I believe that speaks volumes of the trust, creativity and professionalism of our team.
Question: For the post production techies, what tools did you use to complete DFBF?
Walter: The documentary was started and finished in Final Cut Pro, ultimately ending up on FCP 7. The project was so large that we decided it was still better not to move it to newer NLE platforms as this would have caused more headaches than help.
Color grading was completed using DaVinci Resolve. This was a bit of a challenge because the documentary was shot over 4 years in a myriad of formats and shading. But we managed it well. Audio and sound mix was done by Patrick Belden. He has a great ear for blending natural sound and music which was essential for this project.
Question: Any parting words?
Walter: I am very happy to have been involved in this project. I have been an editor for over 20 years and now I am an Executive Producer of my 2nd documentary with Cielo Productions. I’m truly thankful for the opportunity.
Additional information:
Produced by Cielo Productions.
Executive Producers: Gary Strieker, Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Airing on GPB, Monday September 9 at 7:00pm (EST).
Airing nationally on PBS stations and via the PBS World channel which encompasses the top 50 stations in America.
Questions or Inquiries? Contact Biscardi Creative Media | 770.271.3427
BISCARDI CREATIVE MEDIA is a full service digital media production company near Atlanta, Georgia with services that include Video Production, Sound Production, Sound Mixing, Graphic Design, Animation, Post Production, Video Editing, Color Grading, Finishing, Digital Asset Transfer, Digitizing and Archiving. Quite simply we’re the people who make video and media production easy for you. No technobabble. Just clear, concise and creative content delivered where and how you need it, on time and on budget. Office and production space is also available for short and long term projects.