[Texascavers] Request for Caving Movie Footage

[Minton, Mark]

FYI in case anyone is interested in helping out.  I know nothing about this outfit.   Mark Minton     Hello,   My name is Alex Dove and I manage Big Imaginations, Inc. which is a children's education and entertainment company.  We are creating an original series cartoon and puppet series and supplementing content with live-action video footage or still photos to help educate  and entertain our audience.  We have many different characters to assist children identify with them and also real-life situations. One of our goals is to educate kids on geology, geography, and caves.  We are currently working with Mammoth Cave, Cave of the Mounds, and some other National Park cavern systems.  We would absolutely love video footage of Mexican caves, cenotes, etc, including wildlife such as the bats that fly out, and possible footage from inside the sinkholes.  Also of interest is the ecology of the environment, nature, wildlife, energy, transportation, natural resources and people interacting together. We understand that some of the areas in this request fall outside your area of expertise, however, we wanted you to know and understand wide reaching goals of ours in case you might know of other instances of footage which might be useful for us.   1.  We want to educate and entertain children and families to show them about the effects of deforestation, human impact and other conditions which erode the existence of plants and animals on different geographical areas of our planet, and subsequently the inverse with the re-population of trees, plants, green energy, and healthy habitats for animals. 2.  Teaching kids about the weather, what it is like, made of, how it comes about and the effects it has on plants, animals and the geography of our land. 3.  Showing wildlife and animals in their natural habitats 4.  Ocean wildlife and marine biology is important for children as well as trees, mountains, rivers and streams 5.  Watching families interacting together is a primary interest for us as we desire to educate kids to interact with their families in a meaningful and nurturing way and to get outside into nature doing activities together, such as biking, boating, walking, swimming, camping, fishing, etc.. 6.  Creating energy and the use of energy 7.  Natural resources around the globe   Our show concentrates on various topics such as: geography, animals and insects, weather, people and culture, and important facts and educational topics.  All sorts of footage could be useful whether it is “green” or simply activities that people are doing together or shots of nature or animals.   So, much like PBS and shows like Sesame Street, Electric Company, and Mister Rogers, which integrate live actors, animated cartoons, and puppets with live action video to help illustrate a learning example we are doing the same.  We are doing much similar things with our show but a bit different as we are focusing on outdoor activities, nature and animals, and scholastic learning.  Our show is working with professionals in the puppet, animation, and filming industry who have worked with Jim Henson's Muppets, Sesame Street, Wiggles, Big Comfy Couch, and other programs.   We are interested in video footage of the world from nature shots in the U.S. and all over the world.  We are working with various businesses, non-profits, associations, state and local offices as well as federal offices.  We have collected footage from 25 U.S. states' Dept. of Tourism and  are also working with some safari experts who travel the globe to gather footage of animals from Africa, Europe to South America and also under the ocean.  This footage helps us educate and entertain children. Our interests are vast as we look to teach children about geography around the globe and here in the United States. Along with general geography we are focusing on animals in these areas.  Plus, we hope to help inspire kids and families to be more active together whether hiking, swimming, rafting, or taking a walk together so teaching kids about these different areas and the animals and activities that are available will broaden their understanding of the world around them and hopefully get them out and participate.   The footage we are interested in is broad and covers many different areas and geographies, but all focuses on nature and activities to get kids interested in active lifestyles.   Much of the video footage we receive is either B-roll, on tape, or DVD.  Some is raw footage but some is already edited.  We would re-work the footage clips in post-production but require the rights to use in our shows?  Our use would be to cut the video into segments and post-produce clips of various items together with sound and other animations.  We have been documenting contributors’ contact information as a bibliographic credit reference to each instance we use their footage.  I would gladly include any such reference to your organization as you see fit.   Please let me know if you need more information or a formal request.  So we wish to offer a wide breadth of topics and subject matter to teach, educate and entertain children about the world around them.  Most all of the footage and still photos we have received have been donated and we require copyright approval before we can use any footage.  Some contributors have requested use of logos or other graphics as representation of their reference in the credits to help brand identification for their company while many are requesting name, address, phone, email, website, etc. We would be happy to negotiate most anything you request.   Best Regards, Alex Dove Big Imaginations, Inc. 14 Montebello Drive Vernon Hills, IL 60061 www.bigimaginations.com a...@bigimaginations.com 847-561-9441 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com