Synopsis
As the glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age, they left an astounding gift of connected rivers, lakes and wetlands across the heartland of North America. Today, these largely unknown water highways remain an oasis for sustaining wildlife. From the herds of bison that still roam the Great Plains to the vital honeybees that pollinate our crops and especially for the millions of magnificent birds that migrate along these “flyways.”
Wings Over Water tells the story of the epic journeys of three amazing bird families – the Sandhill Crane, the Yellow Warbler and the Mallard Duck – with extraordinary footage of their fascinating behaviors.
Audiences will be captivated by the triumphs and challenges of these remarkable creatures that defy all odds and soar across mountains, deserts, cities and forests as they head home to raise their young.
Michael Keaton, Narrator
The esteemed Oscar® nominated and Emmy® award-winning actor of BIRDMAN and BATMAN fame. An avid outdoorsman, Michael Keaton is excited to be narrating this entertaining and important film aimed at wetlands conservation.
He is passionate about the protection of these places, essential to not only the survival of these bird species, but to all wildlife in the Great Plains and beyond
Filmmakers
Chris Dorsey, CEO of Dorsey Pictures (a Red Arrow Studios company), is a long-time industry executive with well-over 1500 hours of programming at Dorsey Pictures, including 150+ hours leading the frontier movement in Alaska-centric programming, successful programming in true crime and a thriving branded entertainment division that will celebrate its 20-year anniversary in 2021. Rather than being limited to one sector of media, Dorsey’s extensive personal dealmaking extends to networks, syndicators, and some of the biggest brands in the world. Prior to launching Dorsey Pictures, Dorsey spent 17 years producing more than 50 series in the outdoor adventure genre for ESPN, ESPN2, NBC Sports Network and many more. Before beginning his career in television, Dorsey was a publishing executive, running some of the largest magazine titles in America. His work has appeared in a wide variety of national publications including The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Television Week, National Geographic, Writer’s Digest, and scores of outdoor adventure periodicals. He is the author of seven books on adventure, natural history, and business subjects.
Charlie is president and CEO of the McGraw Center for Conservation Leadership and of the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. He is well known throughout the United States for his leadership in the conservation arena. Charlie has also successfully started and operated businesses in the outdoor recreation industry and has been engaged in the world of agriculture investing to create agriculture properties that benefit conservation and natural resource interests. He has served as CEO of the North American Wildlife Foundation (now Delta Waterfowl Foundation), and has worked on projects to enhance wetlands, habitat, open space and the efficiency of conservation funding throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a past chair of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission and is a past or current board member of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Advisory Board, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Delta Waterfowl Foundation, National Land Trust Alliance, Mississippi Wildlife Federation Sand County Foundation, the Property and Environment Research Center, Lake Forest (Ill.) Open Lands, and The Wetlands Initiative. He is a life sponsor of Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl Foundation and the National Rifle Association. Among his honors: Induction into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame, the Chevron/Times Mirror Conservationist of the Year Award, and Reader’s Digest “Heroes of The Land.” Charlie is a passionate waterfowler; his book Following the Flight chronicled the migration of ducks and geese from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. For more than 15 years, he has hosted WGN Radio’s “Great Outdoors Show,” America’s most listened to radio show on conservation issues. Charlie graduated from Northwestern University.
Andrew Young is an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award winning Director / Producer / Director of Photography. Drawn to stories where the lives of humans intersect with nature, Young is the cofounder of Archipelago Films and Arise Media, a non-profit dedicated to creating ground-breaking media about the most urgent social and environmental challenges of our time. Young’s world-class cinematography is shot primarily in 4K and 8K digital where he uses probe lenses, inventive motion-control rigs, timelapse, and high-speed frame rates to capture wildlife and landscape in never-before-seen ways. At Archipelago Films, he has directed and filmed both documentaries and fiction work, such as Backyard Wilderness, Children of Fate, Americanos, The Last Royals, Deadly Messengers, and Madagascar: A World Apart with HBO, Cinemax, National Geographic, the BBC, and PBS. With a master’s degree from Yale University in Physical Anthropology, he has extensive experience in science and animal behavior.
Wendy has been in the film industry for over 30 years and is the CEO of SK Films, an award-winning and industry-leading production and distribution company for IMAX®/ Giant Screen films. She has produced, executive-produced and co-scripted several multiple award-winning films including Flight of the Butterflies, Amazon Adventure and Backyard Wilderness for which SK is the worldwide distributor.
The company was established in 1998 by IMAX Co-Founder and former Chairman, Robert Kerr and by IMAX’s former Head of Production and Distribution, Jonathan Barker. SK has also had the privilege of working closely with the most prestigious scientific organizations dedicated to science literacy such as the National Science Foundation and Tangled Bank Studios of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI/TBS).
Always fascinated by being in nature, Wendy is dedicated to its sustainability. She feels privileged to be a filmmaker and storyteller in the medium and able to explore remote parts of the planet while working with the world’s leading experts.
Wendy’s achievements include the only ever “clean sweep” of all Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) industry film awards by Flight of the Butterflies. She also led the script writing/research team behind Amazon Adventure – produced in partnership between SK and HHMI/TBS, which was praised in Variety as being “a large-screen triumph” with “such a high level of writing, acting and production polish”. Wendy was also Executive Producer and Co-Writer for Backyard Wilderness. Both films received five major GSCA Achievement Awards.
Most recently, Wendy was a script consultant for BBC Earth’s latest IMAX®/ Giant Screen film, Antarctica, for which SK Films is the distributor. Narrated by academy award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, the film brings audiences to the remote continent and shows the effects climate change is having on the wildlife that calls it home.
Wendy was also an Executive Producer, Co-Writer, and led the distribution team for Volcanoes: The Fires of Creation, which was awarded the 2019 Advanced Imaging Society’s Lumiere Award for Best 3D Documentary. And she was the Producer on all 4 seasons of the award-winning eco-adventure TV series, The Water Brothers, which focused on the sustainable usage and conservation of fresh and ocean waters.
Prior to joining SK, Wendy spent 10 years as Chair/CEO of the feature film development/TV production investment arm of Astral Media (Bell Media). She was also a founding executive of Ontario Creates. Wendy has served on various committees of the GSCA and was Chair of Women in Film and Television. Other boards and committees include the Toronto International Film Festival, the Directors Guild of Canada, the Banff Television Festival, Cinematheque Ontario, the Canadian Film Centre and the Toronto Film Advisory Board.