When you hear the words “Audubon Dakota,” you might imagine pretty pictures of birds or a bunch of tree-hugging nature folks. What you might not think of is a group of out-of-the-box thinkers who are revolutionizing the way we interact with nature—AND changing how they’re sharing their story. 

Audubon Dakota strives to conserve and restore our natural ecosystems through work in three primary areas of focus: Working Lands, Bird-Friendly Communities, and Climate Change. For the past who-knows-how-many years, the organization has sent out a 16-page Annual Report newsletter to the same 500-person mailing list, garnering a respectable number of donations.

But in order to be more environmentally friendly and reach a broader, younger audience, Audubon Dakota  shook up that formula and enlisted us to create a National Geographic-esq mini documentary for their 2019 Annual Report. In the first two months after its launch, the film was shared over 100 times with more than 28,000 views! That’s a lot of new eyes. 

Noah, our Lead Creative, collaborated with Audubon Dakota’s team to sift through hours upon hours of existing footage from their archives and from the national Audubon Society. Along with this existing footage, we captured interviews with farmers, government officials, and Audubon employees; majestic, sweeping drone footage; and close-up shots of some incredible animals. 

What was intended to become a 3-4 minute film turned into a full-fledged 13-minute mini documentary. It was a lot of work, but it was work we loved doing—plus, we got to do it with some really fun people.