A new documentary titled “Reef Builders” was announced this week at the South By Southwest symposium in Austin, Texas.
“Reef Builders” spotlights the inspiring stories of the people behind the Sheba Hope Grows program — part of one of the world’s largest coral reef restoration programs led by Mars Sustainable Solutions (MSS) — and the vital role of ocean communities in the move to help restore our planet’s coral reefs.
The documentary was directed and produced by Stephen Shearman, executive produced by Victoria Noble and Ben Padfield, with actor and environmental advocate Auli’i Cravalho participating as associate producer. A watch party for the film took place on Sunday at an event at the SXSW Film Festival.
The film is a result of the SHEBA cat food brand’s — part of the Mars family of brands — longtime commitment to supporting the restoration of coral reefs around the globe. The documentary is a story of how hope has grown globally and was made to highlight the contributions of the more than 200 reef builders who are working to restore this vital marine ecosystem.
Professor David Smith, senior director at MSS and chief marine scientist for Mars Inc., said:
“I’ve witnessed decades of coral reef devastation due to rapidly warming oceans, over-fishing and over-tourism. Restoring the world’s coral reefs isn’t something that can be undertaken alone — it requires the ocean community, businesses and consumers from all corners of the earth to unite around the reef builders and scale their efforts. While we’ve seen promising success since the inception of the program, we still have a long way to go on this journey. Gaining the support of all who view this documentary will help us further the program immeasurably.”
Told through photography — both on land and underwater — captured by Director of Photography Ossian Bacon, Mark Sharman, Tom Park and Kyle McBurnie, “Reef Builders” takes viewers on a journey to Bontosua, Indonesia; Lamu, Kenya; Moore Reef, Australia; and Cravalho’s native O’ahu, Hawai’i to give viewers an unprecedented look into the fight to help save coral reefs worldwide.
According to Cravalho, associate producer, voice actor in Disney’s “Moana” movies and environmental advocate:
“As a proud Native Hawaiian I care deeply about our oceans as coral is a foundational species, both culturally and scientifically. In the Hawaiian kumulipo (creation chant) the coral polyp was the first organism created by Sky-Father and Earth-Mother, so we see coral as our original ancestor and respect them as elders. Working with the SHEBA brand on this restoration program and being part of this documentary has allowed me to partner with the scientists, local fisherman and divers of Hawai’i to give back to my community and help implement a groundbreaking, man-made solution to a man-made problem.”
