50.5 million people watch a conservation documentary managed by Zambian Film Fixing company, A to…
50.5 million people watch a conservation documentary managed by Zambian Film Fixing company, A to Z Solutions
In 2018, A to Z Solutions worked on an extremely powerful and emotionally charged Chinese documentary called, “Encounter”.
The idea of the documentary was to use Chinese celebrities with a genuine love for elephants to educate a largely Chinese audience about how elephants are poached and killed for the ivory that is so desired by so many Chinese people. The fact is, many Chinese people do not realise that elephants have to be killed in order to ‘harvest’ their ivory. Many think that tusks fall out and are found lying around in the bush… As such, education through documentaries like this, is a vital part of reducing the poaching epidemic that supplies theChinese market with ivory.
Extraordinarily, the documentary was aired on Tencent, China’s second largest internet movie provider, similar to Netflix, and also broadcast in mainland China, where to date the Zambian episode has been paid for, downloaded and viewed by a staggering 50.5 million people with numbers are growing by the day!
Celebrities, Aya and Dee; Anita Balletto of A to Z Solutions; Rachael Murton, GRI Project Manager; Lisa Olivier, GRI Head of Research
The documentary features celebrities Liu Hanya (Aya), a Taiwanese actress and hostess and Xu Xidi (Dee), a Taiwanese television host, actress, and singer.
Aya and Dee have an immersive trip to Zambia as volunteers and guests of Game Rangers International (GRI). Aya and Dee are both passionate about wildlife conservation, and elephants in particular. The documentary captures the emotional rollercoaster of their experience which included getting to know rescued baby elephants whose mothers had been killed for ivory, and the grief of being present during the gruesome discovery of an elephant hunted for its ivory.
The documentary highlights the fantastic conservation work being done by Game Rangers International and how passionate their team are. You can find out more about Game Rangers International and how you can support their work here.
Behind the scenes, filming the hit Zambian episode, Encounter
A to Z Solutions worked closely with the international film crew, the GRI team and coordinated the entire Zambian trip.
They ensured all necessary licenses, permits, paperwork and immigration visas were in order ahead of travel. They managed the Press Passes, National Parks (DNPW) Permits for filming in Kafue National Park, Temporary Import Permits (TIP’s) for the equipment that was required, Drone applications with the ZCAA, as well as all accommodation, transport, charter flights, and catering for the team of 38 who traveled to Zambia from China and Taiwan in order to film this groundbreaking documentary.
We’re excited to see what A to Z Solutions works on next to help tell Zambia’s story! Find out more about A to Z Solutions on thebestofzambia.com here and on their website here.