ALUMNI CARMEN FORSBERG & ADAM MARS
UBC Film Production alumni partner ‘Rainmaker Entertainment’ and ‘House of Cool’ for 3D animated film Daniel Dolphin and the Guardians of the Ocean. Vancouver-based Silverlight Entertainment has partnered with content production house Buck Productions (Toronto), BC animation powerhouse Rainmaker Entertainment (‘Escape from Planet Earth’, ‘Ratchet and Clank’) and Toronto development ‘extraordinaire’ House of Cool (‘Epic’, ’Despicable Me’, ‘Rio’, ‘Ice Age’) to create Daniel Dolphin and the Guardians of the Ocean
Both Adam Mars and Carmen Forsberg (Silverlight Entertainment) are UBC Film Production Alumni and found the IP while traveling in South America.
“We met Peruvian novelist Sergio Bambaren five years ago and as he told us about Daniel Dolphin, the character from his best selling novels, we immediately knew we had found something extraordinary” says Carmen Forsberg, Producer.
The project has since garnered recognition from the National Screen Institute Feature’s First Program, Telefilm Canada, Harold Greenberg Fund and Creative BC.
“Our goal is for Daniel Dolphin to extend its impact well beyond an animated character, to create a new level of entertainment and driving force for social and environmental change” says Adam Mars, Writer-Director.
As ocean conservancy becomes a powerful topic of conversation, their goal is to position Daniel Dolphin as a key character who represents marine conservation, supporting global non-profits achieve their goals in education and sustainability through a give back model – a percentage of the funds from the film and all secondary revenues will be donated to conservation initiatives.
“We have come this far thanks to our supporters and the companies that have believed in us, and what Daniel Dolphin represents. Today we need a global audience to come together and push this timely vision through the finish line” says the Vancouver team.
The team has launched an Indiegogo campaign to help raise awareness and close the final development funds which will enable the Vancouver team to package the film and commence production.
To contribute and learn more about Daniel Dolphin, visit: www.funddanieldolphin.com
ADAM MARS – BIO
Adam is a multi award-winning Canadian writer/ director. His children’s short films have garnered multiple awards, aired on national television and played in more than thirty festivals worldwide. His first film “Chika’s Bird” (2005) was acclaimed nationally with numerous “best film” and “audience choice” awards. Adam has a degree in film production from the University of British Columbia where he won honors for his cinematography. Adam holds a second film degree from Capilano University. In 2008, through his love of CGI, he pitched and oversaw the build of a state-of-the-art 3D and VFX Animation facility and Faculty in Lima, Peru. The program was created in association with Studio Arts, Los Angeles. Adam currently works in the film industry as main camera operator (IATSE 669) for EPK units.
CARMEN FORSBERG – BIO
With a background in advertising as an assistant director for many high profile commercial productions Carmen decided to commit her passion to filmmaking and large-scale production. She holds a film production diploma from the University of British Columbia, and Bachelor in Communication Science with honors in Marketing from the University of Lima. Her current interest resides in producing high-concept projects with strong commercial viability across all media platforms. She has worked closely with Dolby Canada’s Image and Research Technology Department in the development of HDR software, organized and managed events for the Vancouver film industry and along with Adam Mars built and currently consults for one of South America’s most complete 3D and VFX programs.
OUR TIME AT UBC
As UBC Film Production Alumni we cannot help but look back upon our time at UBC with some nostalgia. Brock Hall was the Film Production ‘hub’ back then, the old building saw endless hours of editing, countless film productions – some more organized than others – detailed conversations about story, characters, directors .. many late lunches and skipped dinners.. it was the fuel that drove us forward.
While at UBC Adam not only directed the short films mandatory for the production degree, he also managed to secure funds from CityTV (for the second time) and a NFB FAP program grant to direct a much larger short film. For “Blue” he recruited most of his classmates (as any resourceful filmmaker would) and worked closely with locations managers in the University to bring his vision to life – and with the use of CG even turned the ‘bus loop’ into a sky train station. Adam’s films have always been ambitious, but with unstoppable passion people follow his lead.
Carmen had come from a background in advertising (as an assistant director) and for her, film was the perfect medium to let creativity shine. Coming from South America, UBC was a city within a city and the Film Program was family. Carmen not only produced several of her peers’ short films but also UBC’s own POV (Persistence of Vision) Film Festival with fellow producer Cat Mills. For Carmen it was always about the challenge, being outside of a comfort zone, pushing boundaries in stories and finding ways to reach as many people as possible. During her last year at UBC she won Air Canada’s Student Film Festival ‘Destination Inspiration Award ‘ which allowed her short documentary film to play in Air Canada flights worldwide.
