Telling stories with impactful films.
Tom is a licensed drone pilot and flies with a commercial drone license in Fiji. He oversees a large library of stock footage from several Pacific island nations - get in touch with him if you are looking for extra b-roll for your films and projects.
Manta Conservation Fiji
This self-funded film project tells the story of Manta Project Fiji and its collection of the first-ever photographs of oceanic manta rays (Mobula birostris) in Fiji’s waters. If you would like to dive deeper into the topic, I recommend having a look at the open-access scientific publications I authored together with Luke Gordon.
This film was selected to be shown at the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York in November 2022.
Wakaya Island is an ultra-luxury private island resort located in Fiji’s Lomaiviti Group. By collaborating with Manta Project Fiji, the resort not only ensures the most sustainable interactions between guests and manta rays but also supports scientific research. The results from this collaboration will help better understand the movements of these beautiful animals throughout Fiji’s waters.
What does “Closeness” mean in Fiji?
Produced by the Alliance Francaise de Suva and the Institute Francais for the 2021 "Night of Ideas", this film explores the meaning of the word “closeness” in the context of Pacific Island countries. Largely untouched by COVID and with only "border cases", life in Fiji is close to normal. The island state in the South Pacific consists of more than 300 islands and travel between those islands can be strenuous and take time. Three individuals share their experiences and describe what "closeness" means to them - an associate professor from the University of the South Pacific, a social worker from Empower Pacific, and a local Fijian musician.
Finding Fiji’s rare Pink-billed parrotfinches
The elusive Pink-billed parrotfinch (Erythrura kleinschmidti) is only found on Fiji's largest island Viti Levu and has to date to the best of my knowledge never been filmed. Thanks to Fiji's leading ornithologist Vilikesa Masibalavu, who had previously identified an active nest in the Sovi Basin in Fiji's Naitasiri Province, we were able to capture many stills and video of two individuals tending to their nest at about 9m height in an African Tulip tree. The pink-billed parrotfinch is listed as 'Vulnerable' on IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, mainly due to increasing deforestation and resulting habitat loss in its small distribution area on Viti Levu.
Telling stories with impactful visual content.
Short Videos / Explainers
The need for short films that are suitable for ever-decreasing attention spans of a possible viewership has never been bigger. Tom has produced a variety of social-media short films for NGOs, commercial businesses, intergovernmental institutions, and tourism operators.
Kokomo Manta Conservation
Kokomo’s Private Island Resort’s Manta Conservation Project is unique in the South Pacific. Supporting the Manta Project Fiji with funding is a prime example of the private sector combining forces with scientific research to advance knowledge. By mapping the individual’s movements and building a manta database for Fiji, this s project aids decision-makers in basing their policies on data.
Tom started purely as a still photographer but has over the years steadily progressed towards moving images to a point where at least half of his work consists of producing, editing or shooting films and documentaries.
No matter the project, Tom always strives to utilise his creativity and technical know-how to tell a story that is both, engaging the viewers and supported by stunning visuals . More important than the technical side is the ability to tell a story.
Fiji’s Sharks
Over the last six years, Tom has been intensively involved with sharks here in Fiji. He started with his own shark research in 2015/2016 which resulted in a scientific paper and continued as an overarching topic for several of his photography and film assignments.
Having transitioned to full-time professional photography and filmmaking, sharks continue to be Tom’s passion and remain a central part of his personal storytelling ambitions. Tom also wrote a book about Fiji’s Shark Reserve which you can order here.
Bird Conservation in Fiji
This film documents the quest of Fiji’s first local Non-Governmental Organisation NatureFiji-MareqetiViti to find a long-lost bird that is of national importance. Last seen more than 20 years ago, the Kulawai (red-throated lorikeet) is a small, elusive parrot that might still be located in areas of Fiji’s vast and dense forests.
Screenings & Awards:
2023 - ‘Highly Honoured’ at Nature’s Best International Photography Awards
2021 - Wildlife Conservation Film Festival - Official Selection
Climate Change & Baby Sharks
Besides fishing, pollution and habitat destruction climate change is a major threat to sharks. Increasing ocean temperatures, as well as decreasing oxygen availability, affect all animal's physiology including sharks. The Physioshark project specifically investigates how climate change impacts induced stressors affect baby sharks. Around the island of Moorea in French Polynesia, a team of scientists conducts several field and lab-based experiments to find out more about the early-life stages of blacktip reef sharks and sicklefin lemon sharks.
Screenings & Awards:
2021: Cinemare International Ocean Film Festival Kiel - Offical Selection
2019: Raw Science Film Festival - Official Selection
2019: Barbados Independent Film Festival - Official Selection
2018: A Show for a Change Film Festival - Cinematography Award
2018: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival - Official Selection
Promotional Films
Videos that capture the feel of a resort can drastically enhance online visibility and attract new and more clients in the long run. Browse through some of Tom’s promotion films.