Just in time for Earth Week, Amazon Prime has launched Eating Our Way to Extinction (E2E), an eye-opening documentary that premiered in cinemas last September. Produced by UK-based Broxstar Productions with a major assist from technology partner OWC, E2E sounds a warning like a five-alarm fire. The film calls out the animal agriculture industry and its devastating impact on the planet.
Narrated by Academy Award winner Kate Winslet, E2E leaves little doubt that animal agriculture has “changed the face of our planet.” It has decimated forests and escalated greenhouse gas emissions to sustain our ever-rising level of livestock production. As Beyond Beef author Jeremy Rifkin remarks in his E2E interview, “Our diet is taking us into the abyss.”
E2E‘s message and mission
Brothers Otto and Ludo Brockway began producing the film in 2017 to educate consumers about the true consequences of our food choices and the conservation benefits of a plant-based diet. So E2E documents the widespread destruction of forests and the loss of 60% of the planet’s animal species since 1970. This means mass extinction on a scale not seen in 65 million years. And it’s all to meet the enormous demand for livestock production for human consumption.
“Our beautiful planet has passed some major tipping points. And we’re rapidly heading towards a world that may soon become inhospitable for human life,” E2E writer and director Otto Brockway explained. “The research now shows that the main driver of environmental destruction and biodiversity loss is our insatiable demand for meat and dairy. Sadly, this is not being talked about enough. We are excited to bring this subject to a global audience in a powerfully inspiring and moving way.”
We are excited to bring this subject to a global audience in a powerfully inspiring and moving way.
Otto Brockway, E2E writer and director
Partnering with OWC
OWC signed on as a valuable and simpatico technology partner for the E2E crew. “Given the nature of the film, it was very important for us to partner with companies that care about the planet,” said Co-Director and Editor Ludo Brockway. “And OWC has their own wind and solar farm. So they’re just that.”
“I learned a lot through being involved in that production and research around it,” said OWC CEO and Founder Larry O’Connor. “And it’s really important to be able to see what our impacts are, potentially risking our future. We understand that there is abundance. But we do have the capability to destroy and eliminate that abundance. There’s got to be some responsibility taken to make sure that this land is here for our kids. And now is certainly the time to get out there and start doing things differently. Just like OWC.”
There’s got to be some responsibility taken to make sure that this land is here for our kids. And now is certainly the time to get out there and start doing things differently.
Larry O’Connor, OWC CEO and Founder
Fast, rugged, and up to the E2E challenge
OWC played a critical role in helping the Brockway brothers meet the many technical challenges they encountered in the film. “We shot Eating Our Way to Extinction on a large-format camera, the ARRI Alexa. And we shot it in 4K RAW,” said Ludo. “It was incredibly important that we had extremely fast and rugged systems to store our media on whilst traveling to some pretty harsh and extreme locations. This ranged from the searing heat and dust of the Gobi desert and Mongolia to the hugely humid and very wet Amazon rainforest in Brazil. And not once did we ever have a problem with any of the drives.”
And OWC continued in its pivotal role as the project moved into post. “They also had all the answers for our post-production,” Ludo said. “The OWC Thunderbay Flex 8 was the ultimate solution. And with its end-to-end workflow possibilities, the Thunderbay Flex 8 elevated our productivity across all post-production processes.”
Every mouthful counts
E2E makes its Earth Week Amazon Prime debut not a minute too soon to deliver a critical message about the steps we can take to avert impending disaster.
“Eating Our Way to Extinction inspires its audience that a few small changes to our diet can have a huge, positive impact on our planet, our only home,” Brockway said. “We need to wake up to the fact that every mouthful counts. And as Kate Winslet said, ‘This film will make you feel powerful, not powerless.’”
Eating Our Way to Extinction inspires its audience that a few small changes to our diet can have a huge, positive impact on our planet, our only home.
Otto Brockway
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