Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire – Meet Filmmaker Trip Jennings

Right now, there’s a lot of explosions everywhere ah. It’s okay. You guys it’s okay. Oh my god. Oh the last thing I remember hearing Daniel say was don’t worry. I’m gonna find you. We have a real problem whole neighborhoods being incinerated by wildfires. We cannot stop. I had to walk away from everything that we have ever known six of the seven largest wildfires in State history have happened in the span of just a year the idea that we can fire proof this huge landscape that’s impossible when you’ve got thousands of homes in the fires path. So, I’m glad we got out with our lives, you know, the most important thing residents are now left wondering if there’s anything that can be done to keep their communities safe.

I didn’t spend decades, learning about all of this to not have people use the science the research shows us that we have opportunities. So, here’s what it looks like we have these square blocks carved out of the Boreal forest and we ignite that with essentially a mobile flamethrower. I’d get really excited about burning houses down there’s nothing that influences fire like fire? Oh, I love that sound in a few short years. We could maybe eliminate communities being destroyed by Wildfire, but if we continue our current approach Wildland Urban Fire disasters will be inevitable. All right. Well, now we are joined by filmmaker Trip Jennings of Elemental reimagined Wildfire the trailer.

You just checked out what a powerful and very informative documentary on wildfires forest fires and really our relationship with them, which I don’t think a lot of people think about before we kind of really dive into this really sensitive and informative topic, how does it feel during years of research all the work you put in coming out on the other side now to see the rave reviews, you’ve been getting oh, it’s awesome. I mean, it’s you know for any filmmaker? It’s like so good to just make it to the Finish Line. And we, you know, we really, you know, you can hope for a lot of people to see your film.

But what I’ve been so excited about and so far that we’ve we’ve really been experiencing the success of legislators and decision makers watching the film and taking a lot of interest in it. And you know, to the point that we’re we are like really talking a lot about future policies with people who can make the difference. And so, you know, the experience of like bringing those folks together with the people in theaters and of course. And streaming, you know who are going to see the film. Like that’s just that’s the thing. That’s I’m so excited about right now, we love to hear that and I think it’s great because you’re talking about politicians and everything.

And you know, some politicians are very hit or missed and I think at the end of the day in general we’re in this Tick-Tock generation, right? Or social media age where we need to make things more digestible in everything. So when you were making this documentary were you worried at times like, okay, is this gonna click with everybody? Like did you have to kind of go through several rounds. They’re like, all right. We want to make sure I don’t say it’s idiot proof, but you know, and enough layman’s terms where people can really understand and get behind what you were putting out there. Oh yeah.

I mean, I think anybody who’s trying to inform people using a feature film should like constantly be asking yourself why do I not just have a tick tock Channel. You know, and which I was and I think that you know, I do gosh. I love being able to put it all together in one piece at one time. Because I think that’s how you end up, you know, with one understanding in the beginning and one narrative right? Because our narratives around fire are cultural sort of 100 Years of upbringing around thinking about fire is what we have to change. And I think it just does take a feature, but starting at the beginning and then just an hour and 20 minutes later.

I think you can really yet so much deeper. Than in the beginning. So, yeah, you know, you can use a lot more terms at the end than you can in the beginning and we were really conscious of that, too. What made you decide to do this documentary and when you had the idea for it was it what you intended like did it end up being that finished product or did you learn along display like, holy crap. This is totally different from the understanding I had a fire from when I decided to do this in the first place the reason I decided to do this was the first time in Portland Oregon where I live that we really, you know, portlanders kind of looked up and we saw ashes raining down on the city, you know, covering our cars and our roofs and our Windows was in 2017 the Eagle Creek Fire was burning 40 miles away in a place that I just love like a place.

I love to go hiking and kayaking and it was very, you know, near and dear to my heart. And people. I had produced a student film in college 15 years earlier about fire about a fire. And so I knew like a little bit, you know, I 15 years old knowledge, but still oh enough to say wow. I think that the conversation that’s happening publicly you know, decision makers politicians general public. Social media, wherever it’s happening there’s a big gap between that and all of the opportunities that we have from the new research the best available science. And so I went into it thinking like, okay, this is a film about we need more fire fire is good for a lot of Landscapes.

And here’s how we get more fire on the ground and that’s still sort of part of it, but then a few months later. A researcher said, hey, when it comes to homes and communities safety what you do more than a hundred feet from the home doesn’t have much to do with whether or not it burns in a fire. And I was like, that’s crazy. I’m sure you’re wrong, right? All of the stuff that we do in the forest thinning and burning and prescribed Burns and all of that. It’s good stuff, but I was like that. Obviously that has an effect on it. And so anyway, I basically spent five years proving myself wrong and him, right?

And so I it took a very different. Course than I expected at first? And so that’s what you get in the film you get sort of my experience of like learning and unlearning a lot of the things I believed when we started the project. How important was it for you to kind of end on a high note. Obviously action needs to be taken by the people in charge the decision makers, everything else, but you know, was it a conscious decision say. All right, no, we’re not going to end this on. All right, the world is screwed? Well, I, you know, I think that from the beginning even with my initial kind of concept of the film.

You know, I was like there are a lot of Doom and Gloom stories out there and fire actually has this fascinating positive thing and part of the unlearning that we all have to do is, you know, fire is bad it means that the forests are gone. It’s even in the way we talk about it this fire destroyed 270 000 Acres, right? Those acres are still there didn’t destroy them they’re different they changed real quick and we don’t like that as humans right? We like stability. So yeah, I think that there’s also this sort of genre of techno optimism in terms of, you know, in the climate space, which I really steer away from.

And so yeah, I think it’s really a cool unique story in this space that we get to say no. They’re a real ecological and social we positive outcomes and I mean I work on climate issues all the time in my day job reporting on it for PBS. And I mean, I’ve got to say that this one I’m so hopeful about I really think that in five years with the work that we’re doing with this film. And so many other people and scientists and Advocates. I think we’re going to make some serious progress. And I don’t feel that in so many other issues great to hear.

And man, when you had one of the scientists. I was one of the scientists who said, you know, I didn’t spend all my life. You know, doing this research everything just for it to be I’m paraphrasing here just to be like disputed and it’s tough. I mean, that’s another thing to come back, you know, anti-intellectualism anti-research and all that jazz. How do you and your crew kind of stay sane in your cause. Not just of course promoting this film and you know, the great messages sends, but just in general in your day-to-day with, you know, I mean there are a lot of smart people there are a lot of people who are willing to learn, but there’s also a lot of people are just fine to let things go and not do anything about it?

Yeah, I think there’s a huge difference though between. What’s actually happening on the ground and some of the conversations we see on Twitter for example, right? Twitter thank goodness, isn’t boots on the ground and I mean, there’s great stuff on Twitter, you know, recent changes be what they may but the I think what helps me just stay hopeful is the fact that there are so many smart people on the ground doing really smart good work. That’s informing how we’re gonna live in a hotter drier world in the coming future and that’s not being stopped by sort of the yeah, there’s negativity. Yeah, there’s people like I don’t believe in science.

And some of those people have a lot of power, but boots on the ground there’s a lot of smart really good people. And that’s often where the work gets done. Well said. Very very well said there. Now you mentioned PBS, of course, you also have worked with netgeo for many years as well. So were you kind of always kind of drawn into environmentalism active, you know, climate change. Activision, All That Jazz were there any other paths that you saw your filmmaker and career going before heading down this path. Yeah, absolutely. So I started out just like as a white water kayaker, right? And I started just like a skateboarder or like, you know, snowboarder or whatever.

I was watching all the cool action sport films. And I was just like I saw the people running waterfalls and traveling all over the world paddling New Rivers and that was what I was passionate about and I was like I want to be those guys. That is what I want to do with my life. So I got a camera this was in like high school, I like borrowed a camera and you know, my first stuff that I ever made was two two VCRs and just so me and my buddies kayaking and that actually turned into my job. Like, right out of high school, I started doing like promo videos for kayaking companies.

And I made a couple of you know, just Adventure films that did pretty well. And it was really it was like doing that traveling going deep into the backcountry in Papua New Guinea in Congo. South America like all over the place. To just for this like sort of things self-indulgent Voyage this experience, you know, this journey. So then bring back and just say. Yeah, we ran some sick Rivers bro. It was like, not enough for me. I just needed to I needed to get deeper. I was so curious and fascinated by the places. I was going and I felt like the ecosystems the countries the places needed more of a story and that’s kind of where I started, you know delving into more documentary stuff.

I tried to incorporate a bunch of it into action sports videos, which is now more of a thing it wasn’t so much thin. And then I just realized, man. I’m having a lot of fun tickling. My very nerdy side of my brain doing these deep documentaries this investigative work, you know what was the most challenging aspect of filming Elemental where there was it tough to get like certain people in a room. You know, did you find any pushback, you know, from certain leaders like anything that stands out to you in the process. You’re allowed to talk about, let’s start with culturally firefighters don’t love media, right in a lot of fire Crews there’s a deal where anybody who gets interviewed and makes it into the press or makes it on TV or whatever.

They’ve got to buy the rest of their crew a round of drinks, right? So, it’s like you have this cultural disincentive disincentive for people to even talk to the media, right? So, it took a lot of trust building, which I love to do and you know, Jack Cohen who ended up being one of the, you know, stars of the film. Also bevlar who you’re recording earlier, you know, those are two scientists who have spent. I mean they’ve taken considerable critique and just black, you know, in their careers resistance just from the good science. They’re doing because it is counter to a long-standing cultural narrative, right?

And so that’s hard enough, but also I got firefighters. I got certified As A Firefighter just to be able to get in to film these fires, you know, we were on the front line. I mean, you can see we’re filming houses burned down, we’re filming Wineries and forests around us. So I had my fire shelter I had my fire boots I learned the whole deal. And I mean? Yeah, it was just, you know, and then waiting all night in the path of a fire to get the time lapse, you know, it’s it was full of challenges full of challenges. I boy I hope the next one’s a little easier hope it’s a little easier a little safe for next time indeed, right at the end of the day.

You didn’t make it Trip. We really do appreciate the time. Before we let you go, why should people watch Elemental Reimagine Wildfire because I think this is a problem. That is only growing, but it’s a problem that we have a solution for. It’s also fascinating. I mean, we are like moths drawn to fire. There’s a lot of cool fire in here and to learn about our landscape and how to stay safe in a hotter drier future. I think that’s what we bring definitely recommend people checking that out and before we let you go, where can we find you online and where can we find you next?

Yeah, so elementalfilm.com is this website of course, I’m all over the social media Trip Jennings video. And also my show weathered on PBS, you can catch every three weeks.