TreeTender 2, Digital World’s Faculty and Alumni Short Film Premieres at the Florida Museum
Written by: Layla Dubreucq
On Thursday, January 25th ‘TreeTender 2’ a short film produced by Digital World’s faculty and alumni premiered at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
The event invited attendees to explore the museum’s exhibits and partake in a unique experience of witnessing the premiere of ‘TreeTender 2,’ along with a screening of its 2017 predecessor, ‘TreeTender.’
Behind the scenes, Executive Producer Tim Difato and the production team, featuring Digital Worlds faculty members Darius Brown, Chelsea Cantrell, Seung Hyuk Jang, Aaron Karlson, Eamon O’Connor, and Digital Worlds alumni Hannah Duncan and Dominick Milocco, brought the vision to life.
With the responsibility of protecting the planet’s biodiversity, ‘TreeTender’ follows Gaia, the newest TreeTender. As Gaia begins learning about the Tree of Life, she realizes the relationships that exist between all living things on Earth and their significance. ‘TreeTender 2’ continues the narrative and investigates how biodiversity might be preserved by better understanding the relationships between different species.
The film delivers a powerful message that protecting biodiversity is within the viewers’ hands, and how everyone’s daily actions can contribute to the collective effort of sustaining our planet and saving species.
The ‘TreeTender 2’ cast boasts voices from David Ford, Kristina Leljedal, and Susan Schuld. Ford was the voice of CAaLVIN, Gaia’s assistant in operating the Tree of Life, while Leljedal voiced Gaia.
After the screenings, the floor was open to viewers with a Q&A panel. The panel consisted of the film’s creators, Florida Museum curators Doug Soltis, Pam Soltis, and Rob Guralnick, Digital World’s Lecturer Darius Brown, and Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University Ryan Folk.
“The premiere was a great experience and an opportunity to receive feedback. We gathered a better understanding of people’s perception of the film,” said Brown. “Members of the audience commented on their connection with Gaia. They resonated with her hopefulness in Tree Tender One and then also felt the frustration she had in Tree Tender Two.”
