Three teenage documentary filmmakers from Port Moody hope to shed some light on B.C.'s disappearing glaciers but need financial support to get into the backcountry to get footage and details about the province's climate change story.
And today — Earth Day — Ethan Volberg, Kyler Dickey and Pierce Kinch are launching a crowdfunding campaign oniIndiegogo.com to get seed money for their film, titled Melt.
"It's about the glacier issue in this province. Essentially, it's to highlight that our glaciers are melting and up to 70% could be gone by 2100," said Volberg.
The trio, all recent Heritage Wood secondary school graduates, are friends and backcountry hikers who struck up a friendship with glaciologist Karl Ricker, who has been recording the recession of Garibaldi glaciers since the mid-1970s. Armed with alarming data about disappearing glaciers, the teens plan to strike out into B.C.'s Interior in Volberg's Mitsubishi Delica 4x4 and find out how melting glaciers are affecting the land, important species such as the salmon, and the people.
"It's scarier than just ice melting," Volberg said. "What made us take it to the next level is the extreme effect [melting glaciers] would have on salmon population, hydroelectric power, because of lower water levels, and drinking water year-round."
Funds raised will be used for equipment, converting the van for sleeping and travel costs as the young men plan to travel around B.C. talking to experts, groups and individuals about the impact of melting glaciers and what lies ahead for the future.
Their former principal, Todd Clerkson, said Volberg, Dickey and Kinch have amazing drive and a passion for the issue."
"They seem to have a way of getting things done," said Clerkson, who said the trio did some of the work while they were in school last year. "If anyone can do it, I think these guys are up to the challenge.
"It's kind of inspiring that kids of this age are taking things on for nature and the environment."
The group also has the support of the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society, which runs the Mossom Creek Hatchery, because of a video they did that resulted in Mossom winning a $10,000 grant from BC Hydro for community education.
"I love their deep and well-informed concern for the environment and their fearless determination to raise awareness about the very serious effects of global climate change," Mossom co-founder Ruth Foster said in an email.
• To find out more about Melt, visit www.meltmovie.com; for a video preview, visit vimeo.com/163322291 (password themeltmovie). To donate, visit indiegogo.com and look up Melt Movie.
