One of my favorite books on that part of Indonesia is Nathaniel’s Nutmeg by Giles Milton, which we’ve affectionately dubbed Nate’s Nuts… It’s a fascinating look into the history of this part of the archipelago. Nate’s Nuts tells the story of the battle for Run, a tiny, 3.5 km island at the far end of the Banda group. At one point, the island of Run was the most expensive piece of real estate on the planet and Captain Nathaniel Courthope and his tiny rag tag group of men were charged with defending it. Eventually the Dutch traded Run for Manhattan but not before killing the good Captain and most of his crew.

We spent a week shooting in the Banda Islands. Covering Run from all angles, we tried to imagine how the Dutch would have approached it and how Captain Courthope and his men would have defended it. We shot farmers in Run harvesting fresh nutmeg and mace as they’ve done for centuries and produced time lapse of the eastern bay, the island’s main port into the tiny town. I can only imagine how that might compare to a time lapse of the bay in Manhattan for which it was traded! On Banda Naira we shot beautiful images nutmeg processing deep in the heart of a dilapidated Dutch warehouse. Later, on the sea front, we used an old colonial barracks to re-create how Dutch traders would have bought and bartered nutmeg from the Bandanese.

To get a feel for just how “far out there” the island of Run really is, we bashed up Gunung Api, the 650 meter volcano that dominates the view from Banda Naira – challenging with the weather as there were only momentary windows of clarity where we could see the tiny speck of Run off in the distance. Across Banda’s calderic bay lies Banda Besar (Big Banda) where we shot an ancient nutmeg grove which locals say dates back all the way to Nathaniel. Our stay coincided with Eid al-Adha, an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma’il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice instead. Throughout the day cattle, goats and various other animals were sacrificed as the locals paraded through the streets singing and dancing.

The war during those times was intense and the main line of defense for the area was Fort Belgica on Banda Naira. A lot of blood was shed at that fort and you definitely got the feeling that there were some restless spirits still in the area… Spending the night on one of the turrets to capture time lapse and shots from the defenders perspective was a bit un-nerving. About 1am, while the gatekeeper and I slept, Djuna had a visitation – what sounded like keys banging out morse code on the metal ladder up to our location. Much later, after escaping into the turret from an incoming squall, I kept hearing what sounded like people sprinting across the rampart. In the morning, we asked the gatekeeper and he said “oh good, you heard them too huh? Yeah, they do that all the time…”

Please watch History of the World on BBC 1 and definitely go to Maluku and the Banda Islands if you get a chance.

BBC Comment:

—— Forwarded Message
From: RENNY Bartlett
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:07:07 +0000
To: Chris O’Donnell
Subject: Banda Island footage

Hi Chris,

I never got the chance to say what an amazing job your friend Joe did
filming the Bandas. We’ve spent the last few hours going through the
many hours he shot for us and there are so many gorgeous shots. Our
only problem is not having enough time to use  them all. A nice
problem to have. So please pass on my very belated thanks to him.

Renny

PT Media Nusantara Film is a dynamic production company based on Bali specializing in broadcast and educational television. Having recently launched a Nation-Wide TV Network we’re seeking a TV Station & Traffic Manager to join our team. This position is full-time, open to bilingual WNI candidates and Bali-based with travel required.

Qualifications & Related Experience

The ideal candidate will:

• have excellent communications skills
• be highly organized, and able to think “out of the box”
• be bilingual – written and verbal
• have excellent computer & social media skills
• have a passion for building positive change in Indonesia
• professional experience in television and university education preferred

Job Responsibilities

• maintain and updated demographic profiles for 52 local TV stations
• review on-air advertisements, compile log proofs and prepare client reports
• collect program feedback from stations
• coordinate with post-production team

Job Details

• position is full-time and open to bi-lingual Indonesian (WNI) candidates
• position is bali based with travel required

Please send resumes (no phone calls) to info@jungle-run.com.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Jungle Run has just been chosen to support WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) with the production of a nine-month webcast series. The GFTN promotes legal and sustainable forest  practices with market-based incentives, including certification.

Jungle Run’s relationship with WWF and GFTN began back in 2003. We traveled three days deep into the “Heart of Borneo” to document WWF and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) joining forces with timber giant Sumalindo Lestari Jaya. A ground-breaking project tracking wood from stump to shelf helped the company achieve FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification and revealed to this crew some of the healthiest forest we’ve seen anywhere in Borneo – including the national parks! Indeed, there’s a lot to be said for forest management with vested long-term interests.

In 2006 we returned to Borneo to work on TIMBER FUTURES. This film, produced by Television Trust for the Environment and broadcast on BBC World’s Earth Report, asked the question, “Can the market save Indonesia’s forests?”

Cut to 2011, the UN’s International Year of Forests, and the jury’s still out. Embarking on our latest forest film series in Indonesia, we find destructive logging and wholesale forest conversion still very much the norm. But thanks to organizations like WWF, the push towards sustainable forest management remains strong. Coming years bring special hope in the run-up to the 2012 climate talks. That’s when the global community can deem trees worth more alive than dead. Here at Jungle Run, we hope that Indonesia’s vast stores of forest carbon will be valued in the fight against global warming, while conserving precious habitats and sustainable resources for humans and animals alike.

Indonesia forest photo by Djuna Ivereigh

Jungle Run founder Joe Yaggi and GM Stephen DeMeulenaere are just back from East Timor, where we presented our final film series chronicling the grueling 2010 Tour de Timor mountain cycling race.

The 5-day race was an intensive production, powered by 8 jam-synced HD cameras and 4 Avid editors. In all, we headed up a 15-person crew hailing from East Timor, Indonesia, the US, Canada and France. After a run of all-night editing sessions, the post team turned out an adrenalin-pumped product.

The trailer:

The buzz:

“Thank you very much, excellent work!”
His Excellency Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor Leste

“Wow, that was amazing. Was your editing team wired on Red Bull or what?”
Toby Gibson – Participant TdT 2010

“I can’t wait to sign up for the next race!”
anonymous participant

“I’d love to work with you again.”
Clementino Maia – Timorese freelance cameraman

“Excellent guys, well done. You’ve made our jobs much easier.”
Sean Borrell – PR Manager, Office of the President

From the race on through editing and animation back home, the final outputs for Tour de Timor 2010 include:

• 6 x 7 minute films on each district the race passed through
• 10 minutes of race footage uploaded nightly for international broadcast
• 5 x 6 min short stage report films
• 1 x 30 minute final race film following the entire tour
• Heaps of HD stock footage

Timor Leste scenic photography by Djuna Iveriegh
Jungle Run staff photography by Shinta Okta

UPDATE! Catch the series premier of MAN VS MONSTER, led by “bear man” Richard Terry, on Nat Geo Wild this Monday, May 30th, and on rotation throughout the week. Then catch the Komodo ep premier on Monday, June 6!

Sneak previews:

MAN VS MONSTER Giant Lizard Hunt – starring Joe as the “Missing European Tourist”! Don’t blink

MAN VS MONSTER Flores Whip Fight

********************************************************************************************

FRESH FROM THE FIELD, Jungle Run has just returned from the villages, caves and dragon-dwelling beaches of Flores and Komodo islands. There Optomen USA shot Ep 2 of a new series for Nat Geo Wild. We can’t spill the beans on the series name just yet. You’ll just have to watch this space for air dates later this year.

Jungle Run provided research, story development, permit services, production support and location management for this exciting natural history program. Leveraging our close contacts and experience, we put together a shoot covering 10 locations over 14 days. The crew was thrilled with the support they got:

“You were the glue that held this shoot together.“

Richard Terry, Presenter

“It was excellent to work with you, I’m looking forward to more.“

Kyle McCabe, Director

“Thank you so much, you guys are a great team.“

Amanda Abel, Producer

J R P    P R O D U C T I O N    T E A M

Joe Yaggi – JRP Production Manager

Shinta Oktania – JRP Production Coordinator

Elizabeth “Sasa” Andries – Researcher

Stephen DeMeulenare – General Management & Finance

Kadek Nuastini – Accounting

Komodo dragon photo by Djuna Ivereigh

Production photography by Shinta Okta.

After a pleasant weekend in Bristol we followed the festival with a series of meetings in London with potential broadcast and distribution partners, FFC partners, TVE and the Guild of Television Cameramen. The week ended with a visit to the set of the BAFTA nominated cooking program “Raymond Blanc’s Kitchen Secrets” which boosted another JRP project-in-development here at home.

Recommendations:

1. Qatar Airways

2. Avonside Guest House

3. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons

4. The Water Shed Bristol