About The Film

Sea Turtles are some of the most majestic and ancient creatures on Earth. For over 100 million years, they have traversed the seas, surviving multiple mass extinctions and playing critical roles in maintaining healthy, marine food webs. Not only do these friendly animals captivate us as they peacefully glide through the ocean, but their personal journeys of survival are equally fascinating.

These remarkable reptiles will traverse thousands of kilometers of open ocean for as long as 50 years and then, from half a world away, migrate, with mysterious precision, back to the very beach where they were born - to lay eggs that are the foundation of the next generation.

With the turtles guiding us, our crews voyaged the same thousands of kilometers to capture the wonders of their habitats. Encountering many kinds of strange and compelling creatures from enormous breaching whales to the coral wonderland of the Great Barrier Reef - all have been filmed in stunning 3D - so that playful sea lions, tiny sea horses and vibrant clown fish will float right out into the theater. Sea turtles remind us just how interconnected we all are in this amazing world and audiences will be moved to cherish them even more.

Filmmakers
Nick Robinson
Executive Producer
Nick Robinson

Nick Robinson began his career as a marine biologist but soon found a passion in documentary filmmaking. In 2013, Nick directed and shot Kakadu, a landmark, blue chip documentary series for ABC in Australia. This series won him an AACTA award for Best Cinematography and the Australian Directors Guild award for Best Direction in a Documentary Series™.

More recently, Nick directed and shot Life on the Reef, a natural history, documentary series about the Great Barrier Reef. This series also won the AACTA award for Best Cinematography and was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography at the 2016 Emmy® Awards.

Nick founded Wild Pacific Media, after being in the business for over 25 years, and now has credits in 100+ programs with plenty of commercial films under his belt. He is currently working on feature-length documentaries for IMAX and a wildlife television series.

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Wendy MacKeigan
Executive Producer
Wendy MacKeigan

Wendy is one of Canada's most experienced and respected film executives, possessing both a strong creative and business background. She is the co-writer of SK Films' current IMAX®/Giant Screen film, Amazon Adventure, in partnership with HHMI's Tangled Bank Studios. Wendy also co-wrote the acclaimed and award-winning Flight of the Butterflies, was Senior Story Editor on the award-winning film, Journey to Mecca: In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta and is the Producer/Story Editor of the outstanding eco-adventure series, The Water Brothers, broadcast in over 50 countries with multiple award-winning awards.

For a decade, Wendy previously ran the film investment agency for Astral Media, now owned by Bell Media, and has served on various boards and advisory committees, including as the former Chair of Women in Film and Television and for the Toronto International Film Festival.

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Amelia McCarten
Writer
Amelia McCarten

Amelia is an accomplished commercial, cave and technical diver with a passion for natural history and documentary filmmaking. Graduating from the University of Melbourne in 2010 with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, and under the guidance of some incredible mentors in the world of wildlife filmmaking, Amelia has produced content for ABC and Discovery Channel.

She has recently worked on a number on feature films including the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) nominated conservational documentary, BLUE. Amelia enjoys the challenges and rewards of working on multiple IMAX feature films with the latest camera and underwater technology to produce 8K, stereo 3D images.

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Jon Shaw
Director of Photography
Jon Shaw

Founder of ginclearfilm, Jon Shaw became a certified diver at 13, commercially trained at 19 and gained his instructor rating at 21. He holds a BSc (Hons) Degree in Marine Biology from the University of Plymouth.

Jon, an Emmy® nominee, has filmed for all the major networks both in Australia and internationally including the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery. He has won multiple awards for cinematography including two ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) Awards and an AACTA for his work on Life on the Reef. Jon's skillful use of the most advanced filming technology allows the audience to feel fully immersed in the environments he captures on film.

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David Gross
Producer
David Gross

Founder of Definition Films, David leads a team of world-renowned and dedicated specialists based at the heart of the Australian Film Industry: Fox Studios. He has been involved in over 30 feature films and works closely with international clients and distributers including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, PBS, Discovery Channel and Entertainment One. Turtle Odyssey is David's first Producing role, he is supported by industry mentors John Maynard, Andrew Mason and Tristram Miall.

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Jonathan Barker
Executive Producer
Jonathan Barker

Jonathan with over three decades of award-winning film and television experience, is a world leader in 3D film production and distribution. He specializes in IMAX®/Giant Screen films that combine human drama and natural history discoveries, such as his most recent multi award-winning release, Amazon Adventure and the internationally acclaimed, Flight of the Butterflies, starring Gordon Pinsent (Away from Her).

In addition to Amazon Adventure - taking home five of six possible awards from the Giant Screen Cinema Association and the Lumiere Award for Best 3D Large Format Documentary at Stereopsia in Brussels, Flight of the Butterflies was awarded Best Immersive 3D/Large Format film at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival - some of his outstanding productions include the Oscar® shortlisted IMAX® film, Bugs!, one of the most successful Giant Screen films of the past dozen years.

Jonathan successfully ran the film and distribution arms of IMAX Corporation before starting up his own company, SK Films and has produced films in of the deep ocean and in outer space.

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Caspar Mazzotti
Director
Caspar Mazzotti

In addition to his cinematography accolades, Caspar is a distinguished video editor and has a strong foundation in documentary television. Having cut shows for all the major networks – including National Geographic, Discovery, ABC and the History Channel, he’s worked on everything from big budget tourism commercials to long form 3D documentaries. Caspar is the acclaimed editor of the ABC natural history and wildlife series Kakadu and of the documentary series Life On The Reef, having won and been nominated for ‘Best Editing in a Documentary Series’ at the Australian Screen Editors Awards for both projects respectively.

He has also received a AACTA award nomination for sound design. Recently, Caspar has spent his time in the field shooting in some of the most challenging locations on Earth, from volcanoes to swamps. Using the latest technology in large format 8K and 3D filmmaking, Casper and Nick Robinson’s aerial imagery also won them the highly sought-after Landscape Award.

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Paul Phalen
Director
Paul Phalen

Paul Phelan began his career as a Sociologist working with semi nomadic tribes in Tanzania and Kenya. His love of learning and teaching eventually lead to a career in media, in particular children's factual/educational programs.

Paul has over 25 years experience working in film and television. Starting as an editor he has progressed and mastered a number of roles in the industry from script writer, post production supervisor to series producer and recently settled into the director's chair. He has won multiple awards for his efforts and his projects have aired on National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Disney, Fox, Australia's Channel Nine and the ABC.

Recently, Paul has been focusing on Australian Animals that are endangered or threatened, and giving a voice to creatures that can't speak for themselves.

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