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歷時15年的真實紀錄
一隻小北極熊及小海象的成長故事
揭開北極的神秘面紗
全球暖化 冰雪日漸溶化
動物如何適應劇變環境求生？

國家地理電影誠意呈獻

小雪熊流浪記
Arctic Tale

http://www.arctictalemovie.com/

3月20日愛在風雪中

故事大綱

在地球的最北面，一層層厚冰覆蓋的冰雪帝國裡，小北極熊小白(Nanu)及小海象舒兒(Seela)正開始牠們人生的旅程，學習如何在冰天雪地裡生存。

因為全球暖化，北極的冰塊越來越薄，並以驚人的速度溶化，專家估計，未來北極的冰海面積將每年遞減10%，預期2040年的夏天，北極將再沒有冰海。這樣不單嚴重影響北極的生態系統，亦影響小白及舒兒的生存。因為北極熊需要以厚冰作為掩護，突襲躲藏在厚冰下的海豹作為食物，而且由於春天提早來臨，令牠們的狩獵時間因而縮短，找不夠食物維生；海象則需要大塊的厚冰作為休憩的地方，牠們需要努力適應環境的急劇變化，否則將會面對絕種的危機。

另一方面，電影亦將北極的自然純白美景，以及其他生物的美態呈現眼前，包括靈活敏捷的白狐、可愛的海豹、敏銳的海鷗及體態優美的獨角鯨魚，讓觀眾得以窺探北極鮮為人知的一面，揭開它的神秘面紗。

導演阿當(Adam Ravetch)及莎拉(Sarah Robertson)夫婦熱衷於攝錄野生動物生活，曾製作多套紀錄片並獲得包括艾美獎的獎項。他們以往參與製作不少有關北極生態的紀錄片，並成立了The Arctic Exploration Fund，志在拍攝及探討北極動物對劇變環境的適應，將種種不為人知的北極生態變化呈現我們眼前，喚起人們對全球暖化及環境保護的關注。

他們與攝製隊克服嚴寒惡劣的天氣及生命隨時受到動物襲擊的威脅，並特別邀請《芝加哥》《戀愛大爆髮》金像女星昆妮拉迪花(Queen Latifah)擔任電影旁白，帶給觀眾一個最真實又發人深省的北極旅程。

一個長達15年的製作旅程

《小雪熊流浪記》可算是嶄新的紀錄片類型，近距離拍攝北極熊及海象的日常生活，甚至用了15年時間去紀錄一隻小北極熊及小海象的成長，由牠們的幼兒期到成為母親都一一呈現在觀眾眼前。

導演阿當華域治(Adam Ravetch)、莎拉羅賓遜(Sarah Robertson)夫婦及攝製隊不辭勞苦，克服嚴寒的天氣，並冒?隨時受到動物襲擊的危險，長途跋涉到偏遠的加拿大北冰洋，拍攝動物在浮冰上的活動，甚至深入冰冷的北冰洋海底，拍攝動物的水中動態。他們希望製作出一齣重電影感的成長紀錄片，所以他們在呈現小白(Nanu)及舒兒(Seela)的生活時，儘量從牠們的角度出發，希望能更觸動觀眾情緒，而不是像一般的動物紀錄片，只限於?述及紀錄動物的生活。15年來，他們總共攝錄了48,000分鐘的珍貴片段，再精挑細選剪輯成96分鐘的電影，讓觀眾在個半小時見證製作組15年的心血。

另一方面，拍攝動物紀錄片通常都會利用隱蔽式的拍攝方法，儘量不驚動動物，否則很容易引起牠們驚慌，因而受到襲擊。但阿當及莎拉卻一反傳統，採取開揚式的拍攝手法，沒有任何掩護，他們認為這樣更能取得動物的信任，因為動物可清楚知道攝製隊的一舉一動，更加習慣他們的存在，令攝製隊可更接近牠們拍攝，取得更珍貴的片段。

然而，攝製隊還是要隨時提高警覺，因為實在有太多環境的變數，如面對刺骨的寒冷天氣、突如其來刮起的大風雪及冰海下的低?。他們試過在浮冰上?營，半夜醒來發現?營的冰塊裂開了，帶來的物件有部份浮在水面。

驚險的水中拍攝

水中拍攝的部份由導演阿當主理，他同時亦是一位資深的水底攝影師，冒著生命危險在攝氏零下29度的水底進行拍攝，雖然他有保?的裝備，但每次最多可以停留水底大概30到40分鐘，否則會發生低?症。另一方面，他也要冒著隨時被困水底及被動物襲擊的危機，所以一開始時，阿當特別建造一個用作潛水的籠子（類近拍攝鯊魚用的籠），保護自己進行水底拍攝，但這樣反而引起海象的襲擊，最後他放棄使用籠子，反而更能融入其中，取得牠們的信任，順利進行拍攝，且捕捉到不少珍貴的鏡頭，如有一幕，他與一對海象母子只有幾吋距離，方發現原來海象是如此?馴。

此外，阿當也有參與拍攝北極熊游泳的片段，長時間的相處令他發現每隻北極熊其實都擁有不同的性格，有些比較冷靜卻又嗜睡，有些則比較好鬥的，甚至想爬上他們攝製隊的船隻。

藉著這次長時間的深入拍攝，攝製隊更了解不同動物的特性及牠們的生活習慣。

長期耐性的考驗

15年的拍攝時間，除了有那些令人腎上腺素上升的緊張時刻，大部份時間都是在等待，攝製隊需要有無限的耐性，等上數天、數星期甚至是數月、數個季節，去捕捉一些扣人心弦的鏡頭，如那個小北極熊爬上媽媽背上的珍貴鏡頭，這個短短的片段，他們就用了4個半星期方捕捉到那一刻?馨！但他們覺得這是值得的，因為能捕捉那些獨一無二而又十分珍貴的鏡頭，一切努力及等待都沒有白費。

神秘而又美麗的北極

電影主要集中在兩種北極特有的動物─北極熊及海象。

北極熊向來形象討好，是不少兒童故事的可愛主角，但對於現實的北極熊的習性及生活則不完全了解；人們對海象的認識更少，甚至常常把牠們與海獅海豹海狗混淆，透過《小雪熊流浪記》這部電影，可以窺探牠們赤裸而又真實的一面。

其實北極熊及海象有不少相同之處，例如當牠們成為母親時，都會細心照顧自己的子女，教導牠們一直傳承下來的生存技巧及獵食方法，而且母親與子女的關連十分強。

根據科學家的研究，北極熊與海象原本是兩個互不相干的族群，北極熊主要的獵物是海豹，而海象的食物主要是貝類。但是在本片卻可以看到一個極少出現的現象--北極熊襲擊海象作為食糧。這完全是因為環境及氣候急變，令牠們難於，迫於改變以往的獵食習慣，不再限於體形細小的獵物，海象也成為獵食對象。但由於海象體形龐大，通常只有成年的雄性北極熊才能成功獵獲。電影中小白曾經嘗試捕獵海象但不成功(因為小白是一隻雌性的北極熊)，只有向另一隻雄性的北極熊索取食物，但小白遇到的困難是雄性北極熊其實不習慣與其他同類分享食物，可是小白知道，牠再不進食就會餓死，所以鍥而不捨地向雄性北極熊索取食物，最後也成功，可見動物努力在劇變的環境中掙扎求存的實?。

另一方面，電影亦將北極的自然純白美景以及其他生物的美態呈現眼前，包括靈活敏捷的白狐、可愛的海豹、敏銳的海鷗及體態優美的獨角鯨魚，讓觀眾得以窺探北極鮮為人知的一面，揭開它的神秘面紗。

以下是一些有關北極的資料：

• 因為全球暖化，北極的冰塊越來越薄，並以驚人的速度溶化，專家估計，未來北極的冰海面積將每年遞減10%，預期2040年的夏天，北極將再沒有冰海。
• 北冰洋是五大洋中最小的，面積大概是5.5平方哩，大約等於半個美國的大小。
• 在2004至2005年間，北冰洋流失了大約等於美國德州面積的冰塊，是歷史上溶冰最多的一年。
• 北極最低的?度可低至攝氏負90度。
• 據資料顯示，早於四萬年前已有人類在北極居住，現有約4百萬土著在北極居住，也有不少生物學家及環境科學家駐於當地，研究生物及氣候變化的影響。

逐漸消失的北冰洋

一直以來，北冰洋夏天的冰海對於北極熊及海象的生活都十分重要，因為北極熊需要以厚冰作為掩護，突襲躲藏在厚冰下的海豹作為食物；海象則需要大塊的厚冰作為休憩的地方。但由於春天提早來臨，冰塊變薄而且提早溶化，令北極熊難於捕獵海豹，因為牠們不再躲於厚冰下，而是在浮冰上，對於北極熊的接近一目了然，可以迅速逃走，而且狩獵時間因而縮短，找不夠食物維生；而海象則需要游至更遠的地方找尋穩固棲息之地(如大塊的岩石)，才能承受牠們的重量。

因為全球暖化，北極的冰塊越來越薄，並以驚人的速度溶化，嚴重影響北極動物的生存。為了適應環境急劇的變化，北極熊及海象都不再遵從自古以來生存的模式，而是學習如何面對環境的新挑戰而掙扎求存。導演阿當從中得到一個訊息，就是我們的下一代，無論是北極熊、海象或人類，都面對著環境的變遷，都需要學習適應，面對新挑戰，他希望透過電影能把這個訊息帶給觀眾。

北極的國王─北極熊

北極熊體形龐大，號稱地球上最強的捕獵者之一，但外形卻十分惹人喜愛，白白的軟毛，笨重的體形及呆呆的樣子，令牠們成為不少故事及電視電影的主角。

以下是一些有關北極熊的資料：

• 根據估計，現在大約有二至三萬隻北極熊在北俄羅斯、阿拉斯加、北加拿大及挪威一帶生活，但由於生態改變，加上環境污染(有毒的化學物質)，嚴重影響牠們的生存，令牠們面臨?種的威脅。
• 成年的雄性北極熊可達8呎高，重1700磅；雌性的北極熊體形較小，只有600磅。
• 牠們的皮下脂肪有2-4吋厚，可抵禦北極嚴寒。
• 在白色的軟毛下，其實北極熊全身皮膚都是黑色的。
• 只有懷孕的雌性北極熊才會在冬天挖掘洞穴棲息，其他北極熊會終年保持活躍。但若糧食短缺，牠們的新陳代謝會減慢，讓牠們可以數月不吃任何食物繼續生存。
• 北極熊媽媽通常一胎會有兩個小孩，每隻出生時只有數吋長。牠們成長得很快，一般會跟隨母親兩三年，學習生存之道，年紀最大的野生北極熊可活至30歲。
• 北極熊的嗅覺十分靈敏，可以察覺數哩外在冰上活動或是在3呎厚冰雪之下的海豹。
• 牠們一般慢步而行，亦可奔跑至時速25哩。
• 牠們也是強而有力的泳手，可以一次過游40哩以上。

北極的長牙動物─海象

海象是群居的動物，常見數千隻聚集一起生活，而且十分人性化，會像人一般擁抱及擁吻牠們的子女，並與子女十分親近。族群之間的連繫十分強烈，甚至會犧牲自己的性命去保護族群及幼小的海象。例如電影中有一幕，阿姨為了拯救舒兒 (Seela)免受雄性北極熊的襲擊，不惜犧牲自己的性命，牠們那種無私的精神實在超乎想像，令人印象深刻，成為電影中令人最難忘的一幕。

以下是一些有關海象的資料：

• 海象可長至3000磅重及12呎長，相等於一架小型私家車的大小。
• 海象的長牙可達3呎，通常用以登上冰塊，也用來抵禦襲擊，亦是牠們獨有的特徵；另外，牠們的觸鬚也十分有用，可用來搜尋水底的食物及用作聯繫母親及子女。
• 牠們的身體長有一層幼毛，夏天會脫落，令牠們發癢，這是牠們在電影不斷磨擦抓癢的原因。
• 和北極熊一樣，牠們也受到氣候變化的威脅，難於找尋大塊的厚冰棲息，令到牠們數目有減少的跡象。
• 海象十分喜愛睡覺及打鼾。
• 牠們可深潛到300呎海床尋找食物，成年的海象可每天吃掉4,000隻蛤蜊。
• 牠們的游泳速度是每小時4-6哩，但逃避追捕時可高至每小時30哩。
• 與北極熊一樣，小海象會隨母親生活兩至三年才分開，而牠們可生存至40歲。

金像級旁白昆妮拉迪花(Queen Latifah)

昆妮拉迪花不單止是一個演員，更是一個HIP HOP歌手、一個作家及一個企業家。她於電影《芝加哥》中出色的演技首次獲得金像獎及金球獎最佳女配角提名，最近在歌舞電影《戀愛大爆髮》中亦大展歌喉。

她於1989年發表處女饒舌大碟，先後4次獲提名格林美獎項包括最佳饒舌歌手，並於2006年成為第一位在荷里活星光大道留名的饒舌歌手，足證她不論演戲還是唱歌都取得驕人成就。

昆妮拉迪花更與拍擋Shakim Compere成立製作公司Flavor Unit Entertainment，一開始為MGM製作了大熱電影《我的野蠻網友》﹝Bring Down The House﹞及《美麗無限公司》﹝Beauty Shop﹞，之後亦為Paramount及Lion's Gate製作了不少電影。

她更將自己的成功之道寫成一本書《Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman》，訴說如何成為出色的演員及歌手，更提到女人要堅強及自立。另一方面，她亦熱心公益，不單止付出金錢，更熱心參與，她每年都為其母親成立的Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc擔任共同主席，讓那些經濟有困難但成績優異的學生繼續升學。

導演夫婦拍擋 製作令人動容的紀錄片

導演阿當華域治(Adam Ravetch)及莎拉羅賓遜(Sarah Robertson)夫婦對於拍攝野生動物紀錄片有十分豐富的經驗，曾製作多套紀錄片並獲得包括艾美獎的獎項。

阿當本身是海洋生物學家，對於潛水及海底攝影亦十分有經驗，他曾經參與製作超過九十個有關於野生動物的電視節目，包括最近一個BBC知名的Planet Earth Series。

莎拉除了是影片製作人，還是一名編劇，善於編寫那些景色令人驚嘆不已的紀錄片。她大學畢業後，用了兩年獨自環遊世界，之後決定成為一個影片製作人。她的第一套影片在Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival獲得Marion Zunz Newcomer Award，之後成立了她的製作公司Arctic Bear Productions。

阿當與莎拉這對夫婦拍檔，為National Geographic及其他國際性的播放媒體製作了五齣關於北極的電影，並獲得不少具代表性的獎項包括艾美獎。他們十分關注北極的生態環境變化，成立了一個基金─The Arctic Exploration Fund，志在拍攝及探討北極動物對劇變環境的適應，將種種不為人知的環境變化呈現我們眼前，喚起人們對全球暖化及環境保護的關注。

ARCTIC TALE演職員表

暨NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FILMS聯合呈獻
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FILMS製作
"小雪熊流浪記"
旁白:《芝加哥》金像女星 昆妮拉迪花
音樂:《奇幻兵團LXG》杜比泰保
音樂總監: 《盜海豪情》芬奇派恩
執行音樂監製: 大衛比爾 伊美瑪萊《莎樂的神奇網網》華夫沙爾
聯合監製: 姬蒂伊雲斯 《凶心人》基斯米拿
執行監製: 添基利 《邊緣日記》尊伯曼雷歷斯 米高洛辛費
監製: 《天生老細狂》阿當歷薩 基拿斯瑪
旁白編劇: 《獅子王》蓮達胡花頓 摩西李察斯 姬斯汀歌爾
導演: 阿當華域治 莎拉羅賓遜
發行: 安樂影片有限公司

ABOUT THE STORY

A story of unsinkable family devotion, unfolding courage and extraordinary survival, ARCTIC TALE takes audiences of all ages on an epic adventure inside an icy kingdom at the very top of the earth - where a polar bear cub, Nanu, and a walrus pup, Seela, are about to tackle the brave new world that confronts them as their ancient ways of survival are about to change. More than fifteen years in the making, the film's stunning and emotional images reveal the beauty and urgent dangers facing one of the most awe-inspiring, mystery-filled places on our planet. The storyteller of ARCTIC TALE, a film full of characters and action inspired by nature itself, is Academy AwardR nominee Queen Latifah.

The polar bears and walruses are surrounded by crystalline ice floes; shadowed by quick white foxes, hunted ring seals, watchful gulls, graceful narwhals - the "unicorns" of the North - and thick-billed murres that both fly through the sky and dive through the ocean. Guided by the instinctual wisdom of their doting, protective mothers, the cub and pup begin to explore their frozen world, where they discover a constant array of dazzling and surprising new experiences all around them.

But as Nanu and Seela grow up, they will also develop the power and an indomitable will to survive. Polar bears and walruses have been born in a time when they will face not only the extreme natural conditions that their ancestors did, but also a growing new threat that could change the lives of future generations: the very ice that makes up their kingdom is literally melting away.

Polar bears and walruses might be rivals in the wild, but together they now face a single danger. These two "giants of the North" are losing their beautiful icebound existence and must fight to seek out new ways to live in a world where the rules have changed. Their journey takes movie audiences into the heart of an amazing tale from this vanishing kingdom of ice.

Paramount Classics presents a National Geographic Films production in association with Visionbox Pictures, ARCTIC TALE, directed by Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson. The narration is written by Linda Woolverton and Mose Richards and Kristen Gore. The producers are Adam Leipzig and Keenan Smart. Alex Wurman composed the music, and Beth Spiegel was the editor. Tim Kelly, John Bard Manulis and Michael Rosenfeld are executive producers. Kevin McCarey is co-executive producer. Kattie Evans and Chris Miller are co-producers.

A FIFTEEN-YEAR FILMMAKING ADVENTURE:

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE ARCTIC TALE

ARCTIC TALE is part of a new breed of movie adventure that is breathing fresh excitement into the "nature film" genre. Through spectacular and up-close images of two of the world's most beloved and mysterious animals - polar bears and walruses - unfolds a story as filled with drama, humor and inspiration as any classic or contemporary fairy tale. The story is told not only with admiration for these fascinating animals, but with a passionate urgency because the imagination-sparking world seen in the film could fade away within mere decades.

This unique motion picture journey is a labor of sheer love from determined Arctic adventurers and husband-and-wife filmmaking team Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson. For the past fifteen years, they have worked with the National Geographic Natural History Unit on a thrilling mission to follow the walrus, polar bear and other notoriously hard-to-capture-on-film creatures across the Arctic Circle, onto the ice floes and even deep into the frigid, forbidding oceans. Over many different trips into the remote Canadian Arctic, they compiled over 800 hours of soul-stirring footage - getting as up-close-and-personal with these animals as humanly possible, and even documenting animal behavior never before seen on film.

Along the way, moved by the incredible smarts, affection, and noble acts of sacrifice they witnessed among both polar bears and walruses - especially mothers protecting their young at every turn from the hazards of this forbidding and changing landscape - Ravetch and Robertson began compiling their footage and that of other wildlife filmmakers to create ARCTIC TALE. From the start, they set out to conceive and assemble a movie experience that would be closer to a mythic tale adventure than the normal wildlife film in emotional impact - yet a tale woven out of real events that they had caught on film in the wild.

"Ever since we started filming wildlife, we have always been attracted to the drama and wonders of animal lives and we have always wanted to create a movie completely through their eyes," says Adam. "We wanted to go beyond the limits of a wildlife film, to create something more personal and intimate that reveals something not only about the animals but ourselves, too."

The main "stars" of ARCTIC TALE emerged naturally when Ravetch and Robertson noticed something they had been told almost never happened in the wild - polar bears and walruses crossing paths. "We had been told by scientists that it was very rare for a polar bear to attack a walrus, but we kept seeing these two titans of the Arctic coming together and clashing," says Adam. "And we also began to realize that polar bears and walruses have quite a lot in common because they are both so profoundly dedicated to caring for and teaching their young. We really wanted to share this side of these magnificent animals. We were also drawn to the Arctic Ocean, which so little is known about and is so filled with mysteries."

Polar bears, of course, are no strangers to cinema, having starred in an animated form in several major motion pictures, but the life and loves of a polar bear cub have never been captured so movingly before. One of the most recognizable and beloved of all the animals on earth, the polar bear has been a part of myth, folklore and storybooks for centuries. As predators who must hunt for their food, polar bears also have a deserved reputation for ferocity. However, Ravetch and Robertson saw something else in these massive creatures: their drive to survive and care for their families under truly tough circumstances, and the amazing ways that they triumph in doing so.

"Their capabilities have constantly astonished us," says Robertson. "We've seen how they learn from their experiences and how the mothers are now teaching their cubs new skills, including how to hunt walruses."

Walruses, on the other hand, have not really had their motion picture "close up" yet, and both Ravetch and Robertson think audiences will fall madly in love as they get to know these blubbery giants of the sea who look like special effects creations. Notoriously difficult to film, ARCTIC TALE at last gives the complex personality of the walrus its due.

"Walruses have such wonderful, very human-like qualities of hugging and kissing one another and holding their babies close," says Robertson. "The level of devotion they have to each other is just extraordinary. They really do help one another and act as a whole herd. To see this is quite incredible. We found while we were making the film that the devotion of walrus mothers could bring even the toughest hunters to tears."

Adam became equally taken with them. "The way that walruses can appear to be both annoyed by their families and yet really need their families, too, is just so endearing. There is a real human commonality that I think audiences, and especially children, will relate to. After all, we all have a scary uncle!"

As they followed the walruses, they gathered footage to create one of ARCTIC TALE's characters, Auntie, who steps in to save Seela from a potentially catastrophic encounter with the big male bear and "displays in her selfless behavior what we would call courage," notes Robertson, "and becomes one of our tale's most heroic and memorable characters."

Also driving the development of the film's narrative were the profound changes in the Arctic ice that Ravetch and Robertson saw happening before their very eyes as they made their journey. With predictions that the Arctic's summer sea ice - vital to the ancient way of life of both polar bears and walruses - could be almost completely gone by the year 2040, they wanted to make it clear that these magnificent beasts have no choice but to confront a crisis of epic proportions head-on. In that way, Ravetch and Robertson hasten to add, they are not so different from their human counterparts, who also face a time of exhilarating challenges, and new innovations, ahead.

"We felt a really strong responsibility to tell this part of the story," explains Adam. "Polar bears and walruses are facing the same questions we are: what will happen to our world and what can we do about it? In their own way, they will have to be strong, bold and decisive in order for future generations to survive."

Sums up Robertson: "Underlying ARCTIC TALE is always this idea that the next generation, whether you are a polar bear, a walrus or a human being, will have to take the initiative and learn to live in new ways. Really, all of our fates hang in the balance."

ON - AND UNDER -- THE ICE:

SHOOTING ARCTIC TALE

In ARCTIC TALE, audiences get a chance to be completely immersed in the world of a polar bear cub and a walrus pup in a story completely of their own, without any sense of a human presence. It is almost a shock to remember that Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson were right there, behind their cameras, capturing these stirring images of the polar bears and walruses and their families at work, rest, romance and play.

Filming any animals in such a seamless fashion demands great skill and artistry, but how do you film two of the largest, most powerful and even deadly mammals on the planet without rousing their resentment? "Very carefully," note Ravetch and Robertson. Indeed, a large part of the fifteen years they spent in the wild with polar bears and walruses was devoted to simply getting to know the animals and their ways and, equally important, allowing the animals to get to know them and their camera equipment.

"In the Arctic, you don't have the advantage of platforms or safari hotels, so you really have no choice but to live in the open with the animals," notes Robertson. "You're not really observers anymore, you become a true part of the dynamic, and the animals definitely know you're there."

Not only did Ravetch and Robertson become part of the dynamic, they also became part of the food chain, they note, which made it paramount that they not appear to be either dinner or a danger for the bears and walruses.

Amazingly, the duo achieved their stunning footage largely without the use of blinds or hiding spots. "We discovered that these only make the animals more nervous and concerned," notes Adam. "They want to keep an eye on us the same way we are watching them."

Basing their family and themselves out of local Inuit villages in the far Northern reaches of Canada, Ravetch and Robertson would travels hundreds of miles to remote regions on the ice, where they set up primitive camps and began what Adam comically refers to as "meet-and-greet sessions" with the animals they would live amidst for long periods of time. In some cases, the animals were not always so pleased to meet them, and the filmmakers were prepared to have to head off any attacks; but Adam notes with pride, "we always found ourselves able to 'negotiate' an animal away from us. That simply came with spending a lot of time in the field and really getting to know them. But it can be an exhausting process, because you always have to be on your guard at every moment."

The filmmakers also credit their Inuit guides with invaluable assistance in learning Arctic landscape and the animal's rhythms and quirks. "They know these animals the best of anyone and their guidance really enhanced our access," Adam comments.

In addition to 1,500-pound bears and 2,000-pound sea creatures, the dangers that Ravetch and Robertson faced were at times extreme, including bone-chilling temperatures, grueling weather and perilous underwater dives. Even their camps could be precarious. "We often camped on moving ice floes," explains Robertson, "and sometimes the ice would break up in the night and we'd wake up in water all around with all of our stuff just floating in the tent!"

Several of the film's most riveting sequences take place in the water, as the audience gets a chance to cavort in the icy seas with the walrus family. But what the audiences doesn't see is what Ravetch, an experienced underwater cameraman, went through to get those shots, braving peril at every turn. With water temperatures hovering at 29 degrees and surface conditions well below zero, a human being would freeze to death within minutes of entering these waters unprotected. Even though Ravetch wore a thick, protective "dry suit" - which he describes as "sort of like a giant ziploc baggie" - he could only dive for about 30 to 40 minutes at a time before risking the dangers of deadly hypothermia. "I had to make each second of footage count!" he explains.

Even without the animals, the dives were filled with potential hazards. "There is always danger under the ice - especially the chance of being trapped," notes Ravetch. "So you have to be very aware."

Then, of course, there was the most unpredictable element of all: the giant sea creatures themselves, each about the size of an automobile. After hearing stories that walruses would attack a stranger in the water and could take a man's head off in seconds with their sharp tusk, Ravetch at first built a special diving cage, similar to a shark cage, to protect him. But that only caused the walruses to attack the cage. For Ravetch, it was a moment of terror, as he realized the creatures were even more shockingly huge up close than he had anticipated. Soon, however, his terror turned to amazement as he saw how gracefully they moved underwater and he began to focus on the photography.

As he became more comfortable among the walruses, and they with him, Ravetch ditched the cage altogether, allowing himself remarkable access to their poignant way of life. "They are very gregarious animals and they will come up to you and head-butt you. With the mothers with their pups, I found that once they got to know me, they would really relax," says Ravetch.

In one spectacular sequence, Ravetch was able to get within inches of a walrus mother and her nursing pup. "It took years of building trust to get to that one amazing moment," he says.

These experiences have led to a whole new portrait of walruses as intelligent, highly social animals with incredible charm and appeal. "At one time, walruses were seen as sort of a monster, and they had a very aggressive reputation," comments Ravetch. "But nobody had really addressed what walruses are truly like in their family groups, until we started filming them."

ARCTIC TALE also features the remarkable grace and power of polar bears swimming in the ocean. Once again, it took great care to capture this rarely seen footage. "We found that the bears we filmed would have very different personalities," Ravetch explains. "Some are kind of sleepy and calm, while others are more aggressive and a few actually tried to climb in our boat!"

When the bears were not feeling cooperative, Ravetch and Robertson put some distance between themselves and the more ornery animals, using such remote techniques as using cameras attached to the end of long poles.

While the adrenaline was flowing at times, the fifteen years of shooting mainly required an extreme amount of patience, as the filmmakers waited at times for days, weeks or months on end for animals to show up and engage in their most intriguing behaviors. The short sequence of the polar bear cub climbing onto her mother's back in ARCTIC TALE, "took four and a half long weeks of waiting for those few amazing seconds," Ravetch explains.

"The waiting game can last for several seasons," explains Ravetch. "Sometimes you learn about something one year, stake it out for a year, then maybe miss the event, and have to come back a third year. The waiting game doesn't stop." But when those special moments unfold spontaneously, it makes it all worth the wait. "When you finally get something that's unique, it's an incredible feeling," he continues.

One of the film's real coups was capturing a polar bear hunting walruses on a small island. "It was sort of like a police stake-out, where we waited for a long time for the bear to finally show up. And then when he did arrive, he came and checked us out before he went to check out the walruses," Ravetch relates.

Adds Robertson: "It was something we were very surprised to see at first, but we've continued to see polar bear predation of walruses. It shows how remarkably adaptable the bears are - that the mothers are teaching their young a new skill."

In ARCTIC TALE, the polar bear's attack on the walrus herd leads to the courageous act of Auntie in saving the walrus pup, a kind of sacrifice that Ravetch and Robertson actually witnessed in the wild. Indeed, throughout their fifteen-year journey, they repeatedly watched scenes unfold with incredible metaphorical power. They were especially awed by seeing a huge male polar bear share his dinner with another starving bear - who simply would not give up - demonstrating the power of patience, fortitude and tenacity.

Throughout their many seasons in the field, the theme of youngsters finding their way was also a constant. "One of the scenes I find really moving is when the polar bear cub is cast-off from her mother," says Robertson. "That's such a vulnerable time for a bear and it's something you rarely see."

"It was an image that became a key part of the film's bigger story about growing up and learning to take on the problems of the world around you with bravery and heart," says Ravetch.

But will these animals of the Great North, to whom Ravetch and Robertson have grown so close, be able to survive in a warming world? With all the amazing sights they have witnessed, the filmmakers have to believe they have a fighting chance. "From the point of view of the animals themselves, they are very capable of adapting to new circumstances," Ravetch observes. "Both polar bears and walruses are resourceful learners so over the short term, they'll find new ways to hunt and live. But they can't do the impossible, and in the long term we really don't know what will happen to them, which is true also for ourselves. It's going to be a journey for every creature on the planet."

Certainly, the urgency of this situation lit an even bigger fire under Ravetch and Robertson to bring back heart-stirring images that capture the drama and magic of animal lives.

"We often felt like we wanted to give up when we were sitting there freezing in the middle of a blizzard," admits Ravetch. "But by sticking it out and being bold, that's when the Arctic reveals its secrets. You see the animals doing that, and that's the same spirit that embodies our work."

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KINGS OF THE ARCTIC:

ABOUT POLAR BEARS

With their majestic size, snow-white fur, expressive faces and cuddly-looking cubs, polar bears have become one of the most beloved and iconic mammals in all the world. They are among the planet's most powerful predators, yet they have a gentler side too, with a love of play, a wily intelligence and a deep bond between mothers and babies.

These bears, known to scientists as Ursus martimus or "Sea Bears," are among earth's largest land mammals, with adult males growing up to eight feet long and weighing up to 1700 pounds (females are smaller, weighing as much as 600 pounds.)

Polar bears have long fascinated the human imagination, becoming central to myths and folk tales for centuries, and more recently as movie and television characters. Among children around the world, they remain one of the most recognizable animals.

But raising temperatures and changing conditions across the Arctic are also rapidly threatening these giants of the North. Although no one knows for sure how many polar bears exist in the world, current estimates are about 20,000 to 30,000 bears in a vast area that spans across the Great North, from Russia to Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Norway. However, as the Arctic's thick sea ice shrinks, the rapid reduction in those numbers has alarmed scientists and animal lovers. Since polar bears do most of their hunting on the ice and melting sea ice shortens the bears' hunting season for ring seals, fewer cubs are surviving and experts fear that bear populations are in trouble. If the decline continues, these imagination-stirring animals could face extinction in the wild, a loss that would be heartbreaking to the world. They are currently being considered as for the U.S. Endangered Species List.

Here are a few facts about the remarkable nature of polar bears:

• With their bodies covered in a two to four-inch thick layer of blubber, polar bears can endure extreme winter temperatures.
• Even at sub-zero temperatures, polar bears are able to retain virtually all of their body heat.
• Under their fur, polar bears have black skin, which also helps to keep them warm.
• Polar bears communicate with each other through body language and vocalizations, including roars, huffs and growls.
• Only pregnant female polar bears hole up in a den in the winter. Other bears remain active all year round. If food is scarce, however, their metabolisms slow, allowing them to survive for months without a bit to eat.
• Polar bear mothers usually give birth to two cubs - who are just a few inches long when born.
• Polar bear cubs grow quickly and stay with their mothers for about two and a half to three years to learn how to survive.
• Polar bears have a powerful sense of smell, able to sniff out a seal above the ice from miles away or even three feet below thick snow and ice. They have been called "noses on legs."
• Polar bears are powerful swimmers - they can swim over 40 miles or more at a single stretch.
• Polar bears as old as 30 years have been discovered in the wild.
• Although polar bears usually walk slowly, they are able to run up to 25 MPH.
• The primary threat to polar bears used to be hunting, but today it is pollution - contaminating them with toxic chemicals - and global warming, which has shortened the polar bear's hunting season and shrunk the ice pack they need to survive.

"TOOTH WALKERS":

ABOUT WALRUSES

One of the world's most whimsical and humorous-looking creatures, the massive, lumbering walrus goes by the scientific name Odobenus rosmarus - which in translation means the fantastical-sounding "tooth walking sea horse." Their tusks, which can grow almost three feet long, are indeed the walruses most famous feature, and they use these tusks to pull up onto the ice as if they were taking their first steps onto ice. Also adding to the walruses' delightfully different appearance are its mustache-like whiskers, or vibrissae, which are highly sensitive and help the walrus to detect food underwater as well as bond mother walrus and pup. Their wrinkled hide which, along with a hefty layer of fat, helps to protect them from the cold. Their bodies actually are covered with a thin layer of hair that, when it molts in the summer, causes the walruses to itch.

Comical as they may look on land (they are actually full of grace underwater), walruses have long fascinated animal behaviorists as some of the most seriously social animals of the north. They live in herds of up to several thousand members.

Like the polar bear, the future of these truly unique marine creatures is threatened by the loss of summer sea ice caused by rising Arctic temperatures. Recent sightings of lone walrus pups struggling far from shore suggest the population is under new stress, with not enough sea ice for walrus mothers to rest and leave their pups while they feed at the bottom of the ocean. Today, some experts fear they face the possibility of a serious decline in numbers due to receding ice and other warming induced habitat changes.

Here are more facts about the amazing lives of walruses:

• The walrus is the largest type of pinneped or seal on earth - they can weight up to 3000 pounds and extend up to 12 feet long, about the size of a small car.
• Walruses use their long tusks to pull themselves up onto ice floes, as well as for defense from predators and for battling with each other.
• Walruses are very noisy and communicative, using grunts, snorts, bellows, sniffs and even songs as means of expression.
• Walruses love to sleep and are known to snore heartily.
• Like human beings, walruses have vocal cords.
• It takes years for male walruses to master their complex mating songs, which involve clicks, pulses, taps and bell-like sounds.
• Male walruses have two special "air pockets" in their throats that can be inflated to the size of beach balls, making them more buoyant and allowing them to sleep upright and these air pouches also are used to produce their bell-like mating calls.
• The bottom of a walrus's flipper is bumpy - giving them extra traction on ice.
• Walruses can dive 300 feet to dine on small organisms on the sea floor, and an adult walrus can suck out the meat of 4,000 clams per day.
• Walruses swim at about four to six MPH typically, but are capable of swimming up to five times that speed for short bursts.
• Walruses give birth to a single calf, who usually stays very close with the mother for about two to three years; females usually remain with their mother's heard once they mature.
• Walruses can live to be 40 years old.

MELTDOWN:

ABOUT THE VANISHING ARCTIC ICE

The spectacular Arctic habitat that keeps polar bears, walruses, narwhals and other beloved creatures of the Great North alive - a place once known as "the land that never melts" - is literally dissolving into the ocean, endangering all who live there and the balance of the planet itself. Over the past three decades, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice at the end of each summer has shrunk by some 600,000 square miles - equivalent to the size of Alaska. Winter sea ice levels are declining, as well. Like a canary in a coal mine, the Arctic is revealing, in dramatic fashion, the climactic changes that are affecting the entire globe.

A recent study suggests summer the sea ice may continue to decrease by as much as 10% per decade. Some forecasts predict that if the trend continues, there will be virtually no summer sea ice by as early as 2040, depending on the acceleration of the ice melting.

The consequences of such a massive change will be devastating for the entire Arctic eco-system. Already, shifts in temperature have resulted in warmer winters, earlier spring break up of the ice, and thinner ice, complicating hunting and survival for animals and local human populations alike. While animals have demonstrated remarkable ability to adapt to new circumstances, no one knows if they will be able to adapt fast enough, considering the speed of the changes. As the ice continues to shrink, today's populations of polar bears, walruses and other fascinating animals are also in grave danger of shrinking.

Scientists are still attempting to understand what the planetary effects of such a massive loss of ice will be, especially when taken in concert with other changes due to rising temperatures.

But there is no doubt that no one wants to lose the majestic grandeur and pure wildness of the icy snow-bound Arctic kingdom, which throughout human history has fired the imaginations of young and old. A world without polar bears, walruses and narwhals moving in perfectly synched rhythm with the ebb and flow of the ice is a world that will have lost an immeasurable amount of joy, beauty and mystery.

ARCTIC FACTS

• The Arctic commonly refers to all of the area of the Earth that are located above 66 degrees latitude, and encompasses parts of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Greenland and Scandinavia.
• The Arctic Ocean, the smallest of the world's five oceans, spans approximately 5.5 million square miles, about one and a half times the size of the United States.
• The largest single block of ice in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, existed for 3000 years, before beginning to break apart in the year 2000.
• Between 2004 and 2005, the Arctic lost enough year-round ice to cover the state of Texas, the highest rate of melting seen yet.
• The land mass of the Arctic is largely made up of permafrost tundra - mossy areas where the subsoil is permanently frozen.
• Despite its harsh environment, the Arctic is home to more than 40 mammal species, including not only bears but musk oxen, moose, arctic foxes, wolves, wolverines and lemmings.
• In addition to the walrus, Arctic marine mammals include seals, beluga, bowhead and gray whales, narwhals and sea otters.
• The most plentiful creatures in the Arctic Ocean are planktons and tiny crustaceans, which provide rich nutrients for the other animals in the sea.
• The Arctic experiences periods of continuous daylight in the summer and continuous night in the winter.
• The coldest temperature ever measured in the Arctic was -90 degrees Fahrenheit in Siberia.
• The Ancient Greeks believed that the far north was home to a group of mythical people known as Hyperboreans. The Greek explorer Pytheas may have sailed near the vicinity of Iceland around 330 BC during explorations of northern Europe.
• The earliest known evidence of human habitation in the Arctic is about 40,000 years ago.
• Today's native Arctic peoples include the Inuit of Canada, as well as the Inupiat, Yupik, Saami, Sakha and Chukchi. About 4 million indigenous people live in the Arctic.
• The first explorers of the Arctic were the indigenous peoples themselves, who have been traveling through the ice and tundra for thousands of years.
• The first intensive scientific expeditions in the Arctic began in the 19th Century.
• Today, the Arctic is considered an essential outdoor "laboratory" for many different kinds of scientists, including biologists and environment scientists, studying climate change.

ABOUT QUEEN LATIFAH

Musician; television and film actress; a label president; an author and entrepreneur. Blessed with style and substance, Queen Latifah has blossomed into a one-woman entertainment conglomerate. Heralded by the press and the industry as a force to be reckoned with, Latifah has quite simply done it all and shows no sign of slowing down.

Latifah has had amazing success in Hollywood in recent years, and became the first hip hop artist to be crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 4, 2006. She received rave reviews, an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG Award nomination for her portrayal as Mama Morton in Miramax's Chicago. Following Chicago, Latifah starred in Disney's box office hit Bringing Down the House, on which she also acted as executive producer.

Her latest film, Life Support, in which she was both the star and executive producer, is a true-life drama, in which she plays a mother who overcomes an addiction to crack and becomes a positive role model and an AIDS activist in the black community. This recently aired on HBO on March 10th and Latifah received rave reviews for this project. In July she will star in Neil Meron and Craig Zadan's Hairspray playing Motormouth Maybelle.

Latifah was seen in Wayne Wang's The Last Holiday, and starred in MGM's Beauty Shop (a spin-off of the hit Barbershop), which she also produced. She also appeared in Marc Forster's Stranger Than Fiction, playing opposite Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman and was the voice of the Wooly Mammoth in Ice Age 2.

To most people releasing multiple movies would be enough, but Queen Latifah wasn't satisfied. In September of 2005, Latifah once again returned to the music scene with a brand new album, demonstrating her singing talent. Latifah teamed up with Grammy Award-winning producer Arif Mardin as well as Ron Fair to release her first vocal album, Queen Latifah - The Dana Owens Album which earned her a Grammy nomination this year. The platinum-selling album was a collection of timeless classics chosen and covered by the Queen herself. As Latifah demonstrated both in Living Out Loud (1998) and her Oscar-nominated performance in Chicago (2002), her vocal talent is as impressive as her acting.

Queen Latifah is also one of music's most well respected rappers. From her ground breaking 1989 debut All Hail the Queen, which set the visual and contextual standard for female rappers, to her bold foray into R&B, Latifah continues to define what a woman in the music industry should be. She has earned four Grammy nominations as well as a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. Latifah toured the U.S. as part of The Sugar Water Festival with fellow soul sisters, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott.

And then there's Flavor Unit Entertainment, a production company owned and operated by Queen Latifah and her partner, Shakim Compere. The company, based in New Jersey, is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important production companies in the film industry. They began by executive producing the box office hit Bringing Down the House and then continued with Beauty Shop for MGM. They are also co-producing the action-comedy Bad Girls at Paramount with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Overbrook. They have also produced The Cookout with Lion's Gate.

Latifah is also not a stranger to the small screen. Her first television series, Living Single, was a huge success and is currently in syndication. From the small screen, Latifah made a leap to film and her acting skills have earned her the status of leading lady.

Since her screen debut in Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever, her film career has taken off. She starred in Set it Off, which earned her a nomination for a Spirit Award in the Best Actress category and co-starred with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud. In 1999, she was seen in Universal's The Bone Collector directed by Philip Noyce starring Denzel Washington. Next up she begins filming Mad Money, which she will star alongside Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes.

In addition to music, film and television, Queen Latifah has also written a book on self-esteem entitled Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman.

Queen Latifah is diligent in her pursuit of excellence, as is evident by the awards she has received for her work in film and music. Her sincere concern for others is revealed by the generous amount of time and money that she donates to worthwhile charitable organizations. Every year, Queen Latifah serves as co-chairman for the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Established by her mother, Rita Owens, to perpetuate the memory of a loving son and brother, the foundations provides scholarships to students who excel scholastically, but are limited in financial resources.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

ADAM RAVETCH (DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER)

Marine naturalist, scuba diver, and award-winning wildlife filmmaker, Adam Ravetch has been involved in a myriad of projects that has taken him to the far corners of the earth. Dedicated to creative filmmaking, he strives to bring to the screen the unforgettable details of animals' lives and their relationship to man.

Starting out with a B.S. in marine zoology from San Diego State University, Ravetch pursued all things underwater. Winning the Our World Underwater Scholarship enabled him to learn from the greatest minds working in marine science. However, impatient with science, Ravetch became interested in the more physical job of underwater photography and wildlife filmmaking. Working in television, Ravetch has helped film more than 90 programs for the small screen, including a recent sequence for the renowned BBC's Planet Earth Series.

In his pursuit of the ultimate photographic challenge, Ravetch has become one of a handful of filmmakers to shoot beneath the Arctic ice cap. Even more unusual is his perseverance in the north with fifteen years of experience working in the brutal, polar environment. The unforgiving Arctic has rewarded Ravetch with some of his most fantastic cinematic images.

Working with his wife, director/writer Sarah Robertson, Ravetch has produced five Arctic films - for National Geographic and other international broadcasters - rare gems dramatizing the beauty and terror of the north. They have all collected awards from around the globe, including an Emmy.

Ravetch likens filming in the north to guerrilla warfare. One must be ready for anything, change plans on a dime, willing to live on the land for months at a time, sometimes totally alone and be willing to eat just about anything. It has been an unusual evolution for Ravetch, considering his origins as a California surfer and diver.

He first became interested in filmmaking as a teenager after attending the Hollywood world premiere of John Wayne's The Cowboys. The movie had been authored by his uncle and aunt, the legendary husband and wife writing team Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., whose many classic films include: The Long Hot Summer, Norma Rae, and Hud, which they also co-produced.

With a view at helping to preserve the Arctic, and Ravetch and Robertson founded The Arctic Exploration Fund, an organization that seeks to discover and film the responses of Arctic wildlife reacting to the rapid environmental changes taking place in the North.

Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson live on Vancouver Island with their three children - Cooper, Rosie and Jessica - and his boat.

SARAH ROBERTSON (DIRECTOR/CINEMATOGRAPHER)

For the past fifteen years, Sarah Robertson has been a filmmaker and writer specializing in stories that explore the extraordinary landscapes and inhabitants of our planet's extreme north. After receiving her B.A. from Carleton University in Canada, she spent two years traveling alone over the globe before becoming a filmmaker. In 1990, accompanied by her husband, director/cinematographer Adam Ravetch, Robertson journeyed to the Canadian Arctic and dove under the polar ice cap. It was the beginning of an enchantment with the north that lasts to this day.

After winning the Marion Zunz Newcomer Award at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival with her first film, Robertson formed her company Arctic Bear Productions. She has produced and co-written six award-winning Arctic-based films for National Geographic TV and other international broadcasters.

Robertson and Ravetch are known for putting themselves in remarkable rigorous situations in the wild to get stunning images, and yet they make it a family effort. Robertson regularly takes her three children north to live closely with the indigenous Inuit people who are among the most interesting survivalists in the world. In recent years Robertson's devotion has been writing stories that lament the loss of "traditional knowledge" in the lives of modern man.

Robertson comes naturally to her keen interest in the Canada's Great North and the Inuit. Her uncle was Robert Gordon Robertson, Canada's Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Robertson and the Council of the Northwest Territories recommended a revised structure of government for Canada's north based on the division of the NWT to create Nunavut, a new territory. Nunavut gave a homeland to 16,000 Inuit, a people who trace their ancestry to this land back over 4000 years.

With a view at helping to preserve the Arctic, Robertson and Ravetch founded The Arctic Exploration Fund, an organization that seeks to discover and film the responses of arctic wildlife reacting to the rapid environmental changes taking place in the Great North.

Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson live on Vancouver Island with their three children - Cooper, Rosie and Jessica - and his boat.

LINDA WOOLVERTON (WRITER)

Linda Woolverton wrote Beauty and the Beast, which won a Golden Globe Award and was the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy AwardR. She also co-wrote the live-action feature Homeward Bound and the animated blockbuster The Lion King. For Broadway, she wrote the book for the Broadway adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which won the 1998 Olivier Award Best New Musical for its London production, and co-wrote the book for the musical Aida. She is the author of two young-adult novels, Star-Wind and Running Before the Wind. ?

In 1980 Woolverton began a four-year stint as a development executive of both children's and late-night programming for CBS-TV. She first started writing on such children's television shows as "Ewoks", "The Real Ghostbusters," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Ducktales."

Earlier Linda Woolverton had her own children's theater company. She wrote, directed and performed all over California in churches, malls, schools, and local theaters. She also was a coach to children acting in commercials

MOSE RICHARDS (WRITER)

Mose Richards has written more than 50 non-fiction TV films, many of which he also produced, for National Geographic, NOVA, The Discovery Channel, ABC/Kane, Disney, The Cousteau Society, Graphic Films, National Wildlife Productions, and The National Air and Space Museum. He also recently completed writing the 3-D Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure for National Geographic Giant Screen Films.

Richards has been honored with the Peabody Award, the Writer's Guild Award, and the Distinguished Achievement Award of the International Documentary Association. Among his dozen IMAX films are: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, Africa: Serengeti, Alaska: Spirit of the Wild, Lewis and Clark and Forces of Nature. Mose has also written five natural-history books and six children's books.

Mose Richards began his film career with David L. Wolper Productions, followed by 20 years filming with Jacques Cousteau.

KRISTIN GORE (WRITER)

Kristin Gore was nominated for an Emmy and shared a Writers Guild of America award for her writing on "Saturday Night Live. She also wrote for the animated series "Futurama." Earlier in college, she was an editor of the Harvard Lampoon, which has been the start of so many top writers and humorists.

She is the author of the book Sammy's Hill, which chronicles a young woman's life as she copes with balancing her career as a Capitol Hill congressional aide with the search for the right guy. The sequel Sammy's House has just been released.

ADAM LEIPZIG (PRODUCER)

Adam Leipzig is president of National Geographic Films (NGF) and National Geographic World Films (NGWF), divisions of National Geographic Ventures. He heads the Los Angeles-based divisions overseeing the acquisition, development and production of motion picture projects.

NGF co-presented with Warner Independent Pictures the 2005 Academy AwardR-winning March of the Penguins, Luc Jacquet's hit adventure about the emperor penguins' long trek across the Antarctic. Grossing over $77 million and named Best Documentary Film of 2005 by the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association, March of the Penguins ranks as the second highest grossing documentary ever.

In 2004 NGWF co-presented with ThinkFilm, The Story of the Weeping Camel, which won the 2004 Director's Guild of America Best Documentary Award and was nominated for the 2004 Academy Award for Best Documentary. In 2005 NGWF co-presented the award-winning Chinese adventure, Mountain Patrol: Kekexili.

Leipzig currently is developing Undaunted Courage, a NGF co-production with HBO, Edward Norton's Class 5 and Brad Pitt's Plan B. This miniseries is based on Stephen Ambrose's best-selling, award-winning book Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West. Leipzig executive produces this epic retelling of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

NGF is currently a production partner on Michael Apted's upcoming, The Power of the Game, and also partnered on the Sundance award-winning God Grew Tired of Us, which was released by Newmarket Films in January 2007.

Before joining National Geographic Films, Adam Leipzig produced Julie Taymor's Titus, and he was a producer for Interscope Communications on such films as Roommates, Two Much and The Associate. Leipzig previously was senior vice president, motion picture production for Walt Disney Studios and Touchstone Pictures, where he supervised such films as Good Morning, Vietnam, Billy Bathgate, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, Dead Poets Society and The Doctor. For HBO he produced Dead Silence, and for ShowTime, I Was a Teenage Faust.

Adam Leipzig was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Written By, American Theater, Theater Communications and High Performance. He was the founding editor of Theater LA magazine.

KEENAN SMART (PRODUCER)

Keenan Smart has headed National Geographic Television's Natural History Unit since its inception in 1991. The unit's productions have garnered virtually every accolade in natural history filmmaking and are among the highest-rated programs of their kind airing on television today. Smart is responsible for the creation and supervision of all NGT&F natural history productions.

Before joining National Geographic, Smart spent more than 14 years with BBC's acclaimed Natural History Unit. While with the BBC, he filmed nature from the rain forests of Borneo to the tundra of Alaska, producing numerous award-winning programs for "The World About Us," "Wildlife On One" and "The Natural World" series. He has received honors from such film festivals as Wildscreen, the International Wildlife Film Festival of Missoula, as well as earning a BAFTA for Best Factual Series for the BBC's "Trials of Life" series. Films from Smart's Natural History Unit have won numerous major awards from the Wildscreen and Jackson Hole festivals and have received more than 30 Emmy Awards. In 2004, five NHU natural history films were Emmy-nominated by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, with two receiving awards.

BETH SPIEGEL (EDITOR)

Beth Spiegel shared an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming for her editing of 1998's "The Dragons of Galapagos." Her many other editorial credits are "Leimert Park: The Story of a Village in South Central Los Angeles" and "Mystic Iran: The Unseen World," and she was editorial consultant on the independent feature film In the Land of Milk and Money.

During her 20 year editing career, Spiegel has worked at, among many others, National Geographic, Vulcan's Films, PBS, Turner Broadcasting, Animal Planet, ABC's "World of Discovery." She started her career as the acquisitions editor for PBS' "Wonderworks" series'.

Beth Spiegel also illustrates children's books.

TIM KELLY (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

Tim Kelly is president and CEO, National Geographic Ventures (NGV), a wholly owned subsidiary of National Geographic Society. NGV holds and manages the Society's interest in the National Geographic Channel (both domestic and international). In addition to the Channel, Kelly is responsible for National Geographic Television (NGT) production and distribution, both National Geographic Films and National Geographic Giant Screen Films, National Geographic Kids Entertainment, National Geographic Home Entertainment, National Geographic Digital Media business development, including Digital Motion (formerly the National Geographic Film Library) and Nationalgeographic.com, as well as National Geographic Maps and The Green Guide. NGV creates and distributes content across multiple platforms and media.

Before heading NGV, Kelly was president of National Geographic Television & Film. For 20 years Kelly has also been responsible for a wide array of NG productions airing on National Geographic Channel (U.S. and international), NBC, PBS, Fox, CNBC and MSNBC. He created one of the world's renowned natural history production units that, under his direction, has won more than 129 Emmy Awards and more than 1,000 other industry honors.

Kelly serves on the National Geographic Channel (both the U.S. and international) boards. He also is a member of the National Geographic Ventures board, the Destination Cinema board and the National Geographic Channel/Europe board. He also has served as a board member for the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival.

Since 2000 Tim Kelly has overseen the development of National Geographic Films and National Geographic World Films (NGWF).

JOHN BARD MANULIS (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

John Bard Manulis is president of Foundation Entertainment, which is dedicated to ventures connecting the power of entertainment with social/environmental/political activism.

Manulis' diverse career in theater, film, television and live events has included work as a director, producer and distributor. As the CEO and lead producer of Visionbox Pictures and Visionbox Media Group, he was a pioneer in the use of digital technology for the production and distribution of motion pictures.

He has produced or executive produced productions including Tortilla Soup, The L.A. Riot Spectacular, Believe In Me, Charlotte Sometimes, The Basketball Diaries, Swing Kids, Foxfire, HBO's Daybreak and Blind Side, the U.S. documentary segments for "American Idol Gives Back," CBS's "Comedy Zone," the MOW "Intimate Strangers," and off-Broadway's "The Umbilical Brothers' THWAK".

As head of filmed entertainment for Samuel Goldwyn Films, Manulis supervised the production or acquisition of such films as: The Madness of King George, Master and Commander, The Preacher's Wife, Angels and Insects, I Shot Andy Warhol, and Big Night.

MICHAEL ROSENFELD (EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

Michael Rosenfeld is president of National Geographic Television (NGT), overseeing all business and editorial activities for the company, which produces 120 hours of documentary television each year for the National Geographic Channel, PBS and other broadcasters worldwide.

In his prior position as senior executive producer, responsible for Specials and event programming, Rosenfeld oversaw the renowned National Geographic Specials on PBS as well as some of National Geographic's most high profile programs, including "Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack," "Pyramids Live" and "The Gospel of Judas."

Before taking over National Geographic Specials, he was executive producer of National Geographic Explorer and was instrumental in shaping that series' creative and ratings success. Under his guidance, Explorer won 16 Emmy Awards and for three years in a row took the Cable Ace Award for best magazine series on cable television.

Rosenfeld worked on Explorer as a supervising writer, senior producer and series producer, producing and writing a wide variety of films, covering many topics from volcanology to Indonesian death rites. His productions have won numerous awards, including an Emmy award, a Chris Award, Best Video from the Banff Festival of Mountain Films, a Gold Award from the Houston International Film Festival, and a Special Jury Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Before joining National Geographic, Rosenfeld worked as a field producer for New York's WNET and as a freelance writer, producer and journalist.

KEVIN McCAREY (CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER)

Kevin McCarey is a writer-director of nationally broadcast natural history films as well as internationally distributed features. His narrative work includes "San Juan Story," an Academy Award semi-finalist for Best Live-Action Short. His feature film debut as writer-director, Coyotes, was an Audience Favorite at the Palm Springs Film Festival and was selected Best Feature Film at the Savannah Film Festival.

His film career began with Turner Networks' "Portrait of America." This acclaimed series, hosted by Hal Holbrook, won the Peabody Award and McCarey won two Emmys for directing and three CINE Golden Eagles. McCarey also created, produced and directed "Trumpet of Conscience" a musical and visual interpretation of the last Christmas sermon of Martin Luther King, Jr. Airing on the Turner Networks every Christmas, it won the CableACE Award, the CHRIS award and an Emmy for direction.

In 1995 McCarey wrote and directed "Pirate Tales," a four-hour docu-drama series featuring Roger Daltrey. He also directed The Learning Channel's "Gunfighters of the West," a five-hour series with Brian Dennehy.

For National Geographic Specials, McCarey wrote and/or co-directed numerous films including the Emmy-winning Sea Monsters, Tigers of the Snow, Okavango: Africa's Wild Oasis, Storm of the Century, Dolphins: the Wild Side, and Adventures in Time. For two years he was Supervising Producer for National Geographic Television, winning a 2004 Emmy for "Wolf Pack."

KATTIE EVANS (CO-PRODUCER)

Kattie Evans heads acquisitions for National Geographic Films and National Geographic World Films, where she was instrumental in arranging NGF and NGWF's partnering on March of the Penguins and The Story of the Weeping Camel. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in Environmental Science, Evans previously worked in development at Fox Searchlight Pictures and marketing at Paramount Pictures.

CHRIS MILLER (CO-PRODUCER)

Chris Miller is president of post-production of Visionbox Media Group, a production, post-production and distribution solutions company dedicated to utilizing digital technology.

Since joining Visionbox, he has served as co-producer on such films as "The L.A. Riot Spectacular," "First Show," and "Charlotte Sometimes," and he has provided post-production supervision and services to many films including The Painted Veil, The Illusionist, The Cooler, Duma, South Park, In the Bedroom, and Saving Private Ryan.

In 1994 Miller left teaching emotionally disturbed teenagers in the Los Angeles Unified School district to pursue a screenwriting career. In 1997 he joined The Digital Difference, to work as a post-production supervisor and producer, later becoming the company's president.

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