An Interview with AESA Film Company on the Documentary “Murder on Reef” at Mipcom

CGGE: Why do you make such a documentary?

AESA: For the last 5 years, there have been so many changes in Australia, like the increasingly severe environmental problems. So we started investigation 4 years ago, conducting research, testing water and watching the reef. Then we found the reef was affected by the increasing water temperature because of global warming, that’s why we decided to share my experience, knowledge and feelings on the problems of the reef through this documentary.

CGGE: What messages do you want to share through this movie?

AESA: We want to share both the bright side and the dark side of the reef, so that people would know about the danger it faces.

CGGE: If you want to show it in China, on which platforms do you want to broadcast it? On TV or streaming platforms?

AESA: We will start from TV, showing it on a lot of TV Stations like CCTV. We haven’t got other issuing plans so far. In the end, we will decide the distribution channels according to the areas.

CGGE: So what caused the problems of the Reef? Is it global warming?

AESA: Yes, the global warming caused a rise in water temperature in 2016 and 2017, which made the reef become white and die. Also, the industries caused a degradation in the water quality, especially the rendering plants, which caused the death of the reef.

CGGE: Since the purpose of the movie is to tell people about the danger of the Reef, why not choose to show reefs around the world, not just in Australia?

AESA: Australian Reef is one of the biggest three reefs surviving in world, with the most complete structure and categories.

CGGE: What will happen if the ecological system collapse?

AESA: Fished and corals will die and disappear as the ecological structure is destructed. On an economical sense, even locally it will cost a huge loss of a million if there’s no reef as it will affect the agricultural structure and cause massive unemployment.

CGGE: What is the government doing?

AESA: It has invested half a billion dollars into protecting the reef as the destruction affected the agricultural runoff. We also have donations from many companies, yet it’s a political story, with many footage from the government. Also, the government has taken protecting measures, like making enclosures, lowering the water temperature and migrating industrial programs.

CGGE: Have you done University circulations, showing it around globally?

AESA: Yes, we’ve made circulations in film schools in Australia. And we plan to do more screenings in future.

CGGE: Will you be interested to put a program in China, such as showing a video?
AESA: Yes. Certainly.

CGGE: We can help you sell it to YouKu and Tencent. There have been a lot of environmental documentaries showing up in China, such as documentaries about wild animals, which aroused people’s tensions about the environment. And many companies have come to china for co-production of documentaries, like those on corals in Chinese islands, similar to yours. You can see them on our film festivals.

CGGE: So will the corals regrow after this destruction?

AESA: Some will never be back, some will regrow, yet 50 percent has been lost so far.

CGGE: What are some of the solutions for this problem?

AESA: We’ve received many proposals about making a related film so we shot the story about the bleaching problem. Also, the government has been trying to regrow the reef and cultivate reefs of many species artificially with the guidance of the scientists, which is one of the solutions.

Reporter:Sophia