The MOOD Podcast
In The MOOD Podcast, Matt Jacob, renowned cultural portrait photographer, dives deep into the world of photography and the visual arts, with guests from all around the creative industry, across all parts of the globe, sharing inspiring stories and experiences that will leave you wanting more. With years of experience and a passion for storytelling, Matt has become a master of capturing lesser-told human stories through his photography, and teams up with other special artists from around the world to showcase insights, experiences and opinions within the diverse and sometimes controversial photography world.
You can watch these podcasts on his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mattyj_ay.
You can also follow Matt's work on his Instagram @mattyj_ay and his website: https://mattjacobphotography.com.
The MOOD Podcast
Are We Out of Time? Jorik Dozy, EO80
“We need to completely change the way we think. Science can give us the data, but what is the solution to greed?”
Jorik Dozy, visionary filmmaker and co-founder of Studio Birthplace, speaks passionately about using film as a catalyst for change. Through his work, Jorik amplifies eco-conscious narratives, tackling urgent environmental and social issues with visually striking and emotionally powerful films. His projects have not only raised awareness but have directly influenced policy changes, proving that storytelling has the power to drive real-world impact.
What we discussed:
- The role of filmmakers in environmental activism.
- How impactful storytelling can create policy change.
- Why people ignore climate issues.
- The emotional toll of documenting global crises.
- The responsibility of creatives in shaping public perception.
- The impact of consumerism, greenwashing, and misinformation.
- What individuals can do to create meaningful change.
Find Jorik Dozy's work on his channels:
Website: www.studiobirthplace.com
Instagram: @jorikdozy
You Tube: @studiobirthplace
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yoreh.
www.yoreh.co
Welcome to the Mood Podcast. I'm covering the art of conversation through the lens of photography and creativity, one frame at a time. I'm your host, matt Jacob. Thanks so much for joining me in today's conversation. And my guest today is Yorick Dozie, a visionary filmmaker and film director whose groundbreaking work blends artistry and purpose. As the co-founder of Studio Birthplace, jurek creates powerful narratives that really raise awareness about pressing environmental and social issues, using the medium of film to inspire change and provoke thought. Known for his immersive, visually stunning storytelling, jurek has collaborated with global brands and organizations to produce content that really leaves a lasting impact. We hope at least In today's episode we dive into Yorick's creative process, the philosophy behind Studio Birthplace and the role of filmmaking in tackling global challenges.
Matt Jacob:I do want to warn you, though this conversation is a heavy one. It's upsetting, deeply emotional and thought-provoking. A few times during recording, we did have to stop to gather ourselves as we discussed the devastating realities of the seemingly insurmountable challenges we face with nature and the world around us, from climate change to animal cruelty and the responsibilities we all bear in addressing these pressing issues. There were moments when Yorick's passion and vulnerability moved us both to tears, underscoring the real gravity of the challenges that we face, coupled with the ever-changing and ever-politicized world around us. We found solace in the beauty of his work and hope through those that are making real changes. So this episode is deep and it is heavy, but it's not without hope. It's a powerful reminder that standing up, educating ourselves and making even the smallest changes in our lives can have quite a meaningful impact. So if you're listening, chances are you have the ability to do something, however small, to contribute to a better future for yourself, future generations and all of those suffering around the world today, and for creatives. Yorick demonstrates how we can channel our artistry into work that is not only beautiful but also profoundly purposeful. This episode was tough record. It was both sobering and inspiring, but I really do hope it moves you as much as it moved me, just to be better, even just by 1%, every day.
Matt Jacob:Here is Yorick Dozie. Yorick Dozie, welcome to the Moon Podcast. Awesome to be here. This was a bit of a last minute thing, so I really appreciate you coming to join me. I wanted to start with kind of more of the general overview of what you do and why you do it. So just go ahead and kind of describe to us exactly what you do, but, more importantly, the reasons behind what you do.
Jorik Dozy:Totally, yeah. Yeah, I'm excited to be here man, thanks for having me and I'm the co-founder of a studio called Studio Birthplace, and Studio Birthplace is a creative studio and a film production company that solely focuses on pro-planet projects. That means that we advocate, we amplify eco-conscious messages and also especially create awareness around the planetary crisis that we're in. So we're doing a lot of work around biodiversity loss, destation, pollution, the climate, climate change, and that's really like the sole focus of the studio. So there's no really hidden agenda behind it. We don't do any commercial jobs on the side to kind of pay the bills or make it work. We've really kind of planted that flag and and, as far as I know, we're kind of the first ones who really took such a stand in this as a mission, and we like to say that the studio is kind of a birthplace of new ideas, new way of thinking. It's also the work that we do talks about our collective birthplace, our planet Earth. So that's a little bit of why the studio is named after Mother Earth.
Jorik Dozy:Essentially, and with every project that we do, we ask ourselves the question is this improving our planet? Like, does this project, once it's made, once it's out into the world, does it have a net positive effect on our world? And that means that we say no a lot. So we, we do a lot of vetting on potential clients that come in on projects, um, to make sure that, uh, we're doing, we're making the right type of work and we're sending the right type of message out into the world. Um, and I myself, I'm a creative director at the company, at the studio I direct, I write for that and yeah, that's pretty much in a nutshell what Studio Birthplace does.
Matt Jacob:It's a nutshell that we're going to take apart and really kind of look at in intricate detail certain parts of that. And you talked about the crisis that we're in today, that word crisis. Can you explain your reasoning behind that, whether that's driven by science, by data, or is it more anecdotal and experiential.
Jorik Dozy:I think the science on the planetary crisis is actually very good at the moment. We understand a lot about what's going on, where we're headed, and the journey of the studio is really that once we started to learn about where we're at as a species and as a humanity, this train where we're all kind of in it really came. This mission came to the forefront and that's where the studio started from. So me and Sil, my co-founder we were actually both in the entertainment industry before this, and once we started to educate ourselves and started to really realize where we're heading, that's when this idea of we want to use our skills, our talent, for positive change and to contribute to creating a better world, so to speak, and that's where the studio came from and it's all from really learning and understanding the data and the science behind it. I think it's very powerful, like once you know, you can't unknow that it's. You have to kind of start seeing the world through that light and that means you have to probably change things.
Matt Jacob:Yeah and how has that change gone for you since the inception of the studio and the, the creative team that you put together and all the projects you know? My first kind of like high level question would be like are you impacting, are you making positive change in the world or do you feel that you are?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I hope so. I think there's a lot to unpack here actually, because we are. I've seen that there are projects. For example, one of the projects maybe we can dive into that one a bit deeper later it's called wasteminster. That we did for greenpeace and we actually managed to change the law. So that was a project where we um had a very direct and clear impact. It was very um, you could point of a tangible tangible, exactly very tangible, um.
Jorik Dozy:But besides that, of course, you can influence a lot of people just by changing the way they think and changing the way on how they see something or see the world or a specific issue. And that is just, in general, awareness creation, which is what most of our projects are doing. And then a lot of times we're also trying to connect these projects with a very specific call to action to have that tangible change. I think the entertainment industry and advertising, social media, etc. Creators, we have a massive responsibility because we have an audience and the entertainment industry determines what's cool, we determine what people want to buy, we determine, really, the path of culture to a large extent, right, the films we watch, the series we watch, the celebrities that we look up to. For some reason, people are shaping their way of thinking a lot by the culture that we live in and the entertainment that we see. So, and the advertising industry I mean, we know right has played a huge part in creating this endless consumer behavior mostly nefarious part, exactly.
Jorik Dozy:so we have a massive responsibility collectively, as the creative industry, to turn this around and to change the conversation and to start talking about, like, things that are really important and that can help this transition.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, Interesting that you feel like it's the creative industry that has that responsibility. I mean and you use the word part um one of the first ones to do it. In other words, in my eyes, I don't see anyone else doing what you're doing right now, which is both scary, I'm sure, for you, but, in a pioneering aspect, hugely inspirational Joining the creative world with the global environmental and sustainable world. Where does politics fit into that? Because we know that a lot of this stuff is politicized or a lot of this stuff is taken advantage of to make money, whether it's the advertising world or the social media platforms, or the governments or local regulations. How do you balance this kind of real, delicate environment when it comes to dealing with these huge, huge topical projects?
Jorik Dozy:yeah, I mean, this is also a constant learning curve for for us, and the landscape is always shifting. Um, I think, like the entertainment industry, has a massive industry, a massive responsibility to to bring this message to the world and to to change the way that we consume, that we think. But, of course, the political side, that's where the real change can be made. We need policy change, we need to shift, you know the kind of laws and the kind of things that we, that our leaders, are agreeing to do and we need to hold them accountable. So a big part of our work is to try and find a way to bridge the communications gap between the science, the policymakers and the public, because there's a massive gap there in understanding of our situation.
Jorik Dozy:The scientists are talking in a language that the public doesn't fully understand and the policymakers are not held accountable by the public, because the public doesn't fully understand it, and the policymakers are usually not even in the room as the scientists are explaining what is happening in the world.
Jorik Dozy:So they're not really listening and we're not holding them accountable. So that is what we are trying to kind of come in and say we're going to create these projects that are very entertaining that are very highly appealing. We use a lot of really high concept and high production value to appeal to that general public and then sneak in these messages of the scientists and of the state of the world so that the people can start to better understand the situation that we're in. But of course, our goal is to really get to the policymakers. So we're trying to find ways actually actively this year especially, we're trying to find ways actually actively this year especially, we're trying to find ways to to make work that really talks to the policymakers as well, cause that's, in the end, where we need to. We need yeah, we need to make changes.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, it's almost difficult to have the conversation without being cynical, skeptical and almost nihilistic in the hope to get to the policymakers. And then what? We know that it's not an easy conversation to have with the policymakers and news topics that just come out, such as a few days ago from recording the 1.5 degree, as a few days ago from recording the 1.5 degree, over 1.5 degree increase in global temperatures since the industrial revolution, which is way sooner than anyone ever expected, that's a really good example of no one really listening at the top, no one really listening really at the middle, at the top. No one really listening really at the middle. What do you say to those people that think that that kind of rhetoric is scaremongering is just wrong. It's wrong data, it's wrong science, it's conspiracies, it's politicized to change a certain power hierarchy or a certain political movement.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, yeah, I mean that's a really good topic, because maybe here we can unpack the 1.5 a little bit. Let's do it, because, again, it's not clear, communicated to the world, like what this really means, and even we hear the scientists now say, like it's no longer enough to do science for science, like we need to do science for the public now, because we're misunderstanding, um, our situation. So, um, the reality is that we're at, uh, at a risk of destabilizing, um, the livability, the, um, the way that our earth can actually sustain what we're doing to it. So we're at, really, the cliff edge of a very scary moment.
Jorik Dozy:And the 1.5 degrees we've crossed it so last year was the first year in history, right, since modern recording began is that we've crossed 1.5, or we've been above 1.5 degree of average increase for an entire year. This does not mean, however, that the global average is 1.5, because that's measured over 5 to 30 year period. So we're actually, when you, when they talk about the 1.5 degree, uh, paris agreement, um, uh, goal, we're still not, we haven't crossed that yet, because we're around 1.2 to 1.3 degrees when you look at it long term. So the IPCC, the UN, united Nations Climate Change Panel, they will kind of look at it over a five year to a 30 year period and then say, okay, this is the global average over that period and that is the world we're living in, because a one year average can be kind of an anomaly.
Matt Jacob:How do you?
Jorik Dozy:say Anomaly, anomaly, that's the word An anomaly. Yeah, so we're still aiming for that 1.5. And do you actually know why the 1.5? Because this is also no, I don't.
Matt Jacob:I mean, I would guess from what I've read and heard that it's almost an irreversible limit. Essentially, we can't really recover from that yeah, you're well informed actually.
Jorik Dozy:So 1.5 is where um, science has kind of determined that there are irreversible tipping points and some of those tipping points, honestly, honestly, we're already. We could be there already, we, you know, that's still. We have to see how things go. But, um, at 1.5, we're talking about losing, um, all of the coral reefs, uh, tropical coral reefs in our world. We're talking about, um not being able to stop the melting of the Arctic ice. You know the Greenland ice sheet, the Western Arctic ice shield, the arctic ice, you know the greenland ice sheet, the western arctic ice shield, which combined is like 10 meters of sea level rise or something. So 1.5 is kind of that critical point where we're saying, uh, you know, the, the science is saying we should not cross that. Is that? Um, are we? I mean the, the debate of like if we're going to cross that or not, I mean, yeah, that's, that's a whole nother thing, like who knows. But um, yeah, it's, uh, it's scary.
Jorik Dozy:And I think attached to this is that what people don't realize and what they don't know is that we're playing like a massive experiment right now with humanity, and the world has never been this warm before since we've been around. So for the last 12,000 years, since we invented farming and then the industrial revolution happened, we've lived in this like corridor of life, this kind of garden of Eden of humanity, where the climate was extremely stable, stable enough for us to invent farming and depend on rainfall, depend on seasons being accurate, that wasn't always the case. That's been only roughly for 12,000 to 15,000 years. That has allowed humanity to flourish and to become what we are today.
Jorik Dozy:Before that, you know, 200,000 years of human in our modern form roaming the world. We were hunter-gatherers, reacting to ice ages, reacting to a very unstable climate, and even in that period the Earth's temperature never really reached I think it's something like near two degrees or one and a half degrees. So we are. The latest UNEP report, the United Nations Environmental Program, has estimated that we're heading towards 3.1 by the end of the century. We have never lived in a world like that. So there's no science that says that we can sustain modern society in a world like that Happy January everyone.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, it's a bit depressing it is it?
Matt Jacob:but yeah, but this is the, this is the, exactly the problem. My next question was really you know, you must know the film don't look up.
Matt Jacob:I thought it was just the the, as you're talking and reminding me of that film and how well it was and how subtly it was, uh, written so many kind of sub layers of different stories, but the overarching story is why, you know, people just not listening, right? People not listening to the data, the scientists, the people that we know, and there's, for me, there's a lot that goes into that. You know, covid was another kind of perfect analogy to this environment where people don't trust the experts, they don't recognize experts anymore, they don't trust institutions because of many reasons social media being a huge one, disparate politics, many, many things but there is this huge, huge issue that the general public don't care or don't want to listen. Can't, really, and we were obviously generalizing. Why is that?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, this drives me crazy also because if the information I just told you was publicly known, we would all change our life right away, because it means that your child it's important to realize that people who have a child today, their child, will be not living in a world that looks like this right, they will be 60, 70 years old in a very different world, and I think that once you know that you, I don't know how can you still do what we're doing? So it's very frustrating that this is not fully, um explained in a in a good way, and I think it's also because people cannot. There's this thing with humans that we cannot empathize with our future selves. We cannot feel empathy for us in 10 or 20 years, like there's something that holds us back from that. We're all about short-term survival.
Jorik Dozy:Our instincts from our caveman days have taught us that right, like we need to survive now, we need to do this now, and there's no long-term thinking, and that is, I think, what's holding us back to a large extent that people cannot make decisions for the long road, and you know there's so many beautiful quotes about planting a tree that you know your children will will sit under. That way of thinking is what, um, we need, you know, we need to start thinking long term, and people need to. We need to have like we like to say it now. It's like a revolution of kindness. We need to wake up, um, yeah, and be, have empathy towards each other yeah, I, I, I kind of battle with um, you know.
Matt Jacob:Take animal cruelty, for example. Yeah, I, I don't. I just try really hard to empathize with you know, various countries have different, you know, cultural practices and they kind of wash themselves of any kind of harm because they hide behind that.
Matt Jacob:But it's analogous to these types of environmental issues because I can't grapple with any understanding of it. Like I just don't understand why anyone would be cruel to an animal. I just don't. I do understand why people eat meat I eat meat sometimes and fish and stuff. As long as it's treated humanely in the killing process. I do understand why people eat meat I eat meat sometimes and fish and stuff. As long as it's treated humanely in the killing process, I can kind of get okay with that.
Matt Jacob:And I don't want to talk about animals a little bit. I mean, your project with birds brought me to tears because it just sheds light on on these issues that clearly the majority of the people don't care about and I still don't know why. And because we I don't have children, but if I did have children, I mean I care about it even without children and not even thinking about the next generation. I want to live in a world where we're not getting more typhoons every year, more wildfires every year, which everyone suffers, right, yeah. So I don't understand why you wouldn't do, everyone wouldn't do their little part to help change. But at the end of the day, it does come down to the people at the top and it's just like a such a difficult maze to navigate right. And I just I still put this question to you again why do you think people don't care about it? Or is it just ignorance and they're kind of like comfortable with that ignorance?
Jorik Dozy:Well, one of the things that we're trying to apply a lot in the work we do is that we have to make people relate to these issues. It's one thing about knowing it. It's another thing that you fully feel it or you understand it, and I think that's a big part here. That we're trying to do with the studio is that we're creating films and campaigns where we make a massive issue or something that we want to raise awareness on and we try to make it human, we try to make it emotional, we try to make it funny or accessible in a way that you suddenly relate to it as a human and that can change you in a different way, because everyone is so tired of the news being constantly you know, doom scenarios, this and the story I just told you like I think people will switch off if that is on the news every day. Right, I mean, in a way, it is right.
Jorik Dozy:Climate change and all the disasters that are happening, and people don't seem to really understand that we have to change the way we live. So we have to humanize it, we have to make it relatable for people so they can engage with it emotionally, they can feel yeah, they can feel it with their heart, you know, and then that has more chance to affect change than if you just bombard someone with with information. And that's really like what we do at the studio. We we try to engage people through a humor or we try to tell, like, a really beautiful story in a way that makes you relate to it, um, as a parent or, uh, as a family member. So I think these are the type of methods that we're trying to engage.
Matt Jacob:There's something in the human psyche about proximity to an issue right.
Jorik Dozy:A hundred percent yeah.
Matt Jacob:You know why I don't care as much about children with AIDS in Africa or children with malaria in Africa as I do about a dog on the street where I live, right, it's not as close to us, so it's almost like and you talk about communication a lot, which is clearly a huge part of the problem Getting actually in front and, like you said, humanizing, making it relatable to these people so that I can actually see this is on your doorstep. This is not the other side of the world. You are suffering or will suffer if we don't. You directly will suffer if we don't do something about that. But also put it in a way that that isn't preachy, that isn't dictatorial right yeah, I think that's really important.
Jorik Dozy:You know we don't want to blame and shame. That's not really what this is. We need a movement of inclusivity. Everyone needs to feel part of creating this change, and everyone is, everyone should be, so I think that's the beautiful thing about it, and talking about animals and talking about something not on your doorstep.
Matt Jacob:Since the 1950s, we've lost 73% of all wildlife it's all right, it's okay, man, it's okay, I'm with you. Yeah, tell you time, yeah. And then you, you do a project like Broken Wings and add one of my favorite pianists to the. Yeah. I mean just wonderful, what a wonderful film. And that brought me to tears because just something about animal enslavement almost capturing animals, killing them for fun, keeping them confined for fucking no reason other than someone's status.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah.
Matt Jacob:Or whatever it might be right, something I, I just it breaks my heart all the time and, uh, we, we try and do our little part. That's why we've got four and a half dogs um four and a half.
Matt Jacob:Well, we have a straight story we have a stray dog who we haven't quite homed, but he comes and says hello every day and yeah, yeah, yeah, we've, we've, yeah, yeah, I'm with you man, I don't, it's hard, I think, like just saying that kind of brought up like the reality of you know, like, yeah, maybe we just slightly changed it for a bit, so yeah.
Matt Jacob:Tell me about how you make these projects. You know from a technical aspect, but also from a conceptual aspect. You, you, your team have worked I mean, we haven't even touched on that yet how, how amazing your team is. You obviously at kind of the forefront, alongside your co-founders and other directors, but this team that you put together have worked on anything from blockbusters to intimate projects that have so much depth and meaning to them. Tell me how this all came about, where you started with this, what your process is like, how the team really evolved with these types of projects.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, yeah, it's an interesting path really that we were on because we like so, both me and Sil path really that we were on because we like so both me and Syl, my co-founder, we come from Hollywood. Really like that's where our journey started. So I was working in visual effects for 10 years at Industrial Light and Magic, which is George Lucas's company the guy who made Star Wars working on the biggest films in the world. So I was on set for like the Transformers movies and I was working on Mission Impossible, pirates of the Caribbean, like those type of films, shit films.
Matt Jacob:Entertainment Popcorn. No, no, I love them, I was being sarcastic. Just small films like Mission Impossible, pirates of the Caribbean.
Jorik Dozy:They're a blast because, yeah, it's really amazing to see the craft you know and the people that make these films and to be part of that. I it's a privilege, you know, and um it it brings together Like I w I worked on the, the new star Wars trilogy and there's really like the best people in the world that are in there in those respective jobs come together to make a film like that and that's just awesome to to see that um, and it really trained my eye, like for me it was kind of my film school like I never went to film school, so this was where I learned about craft and good composition and lighting especially, and how to make an appealing image. And now, with the studio, we are taking that way of thinking. So we're taking the spectacle, so to speak, of those type of films and we are applying them into the eco space. So we're taking visual effects high concept as well, thinking out of the box in terms of ideas, and bringing them into the green sector and the eco storytelling space, where that really hasn't been done a lot Like we don't really see a lot of projects that have that way of thinking or that kind of production value, and that's how we, I think, separate ourselves from a lot of other work done in the sector. So we're really trying to be that super high production value place. Yeah, and I think the team that we have.
Jorik Dozy:There's a naivety to what we do, because a lot of the topics that we we work on are very difficult to talk about or explain or even to film practically. But we always go in with so much throughout like drive and and excitement that we just we're like, yeah, we'll figure it out. You know when, really, if you present a project like that to you know, a seasoned, uh, advertising person, that they would be like, ah, that's, let's change the idea. But we just kind of have that drive to say, let's figure it out. Um, and that's how we end up, you know, following a, an actual bird poacher and combining that with incredible cinematic camera work, and that's how we end up filming an entire film underwater and build a life-size replica of a whale made entirely of trash to talk about plastic pollution. All of these ideas kind of come from combining that spectacle and creativity, different ways of approaching a subject and the real fact, the real documentary aspect of it.
Matt Jacob:I think that's quite unique, very unique and a way to, I guess, get people's attention in a shocking way. Right? Oh wow, this is. This is something different, but there's still a story underneath there that's been either told before or no one's aware of, right? How do you fund all this?
Jorik Dozy:It's different on every project. To be honest, like one of the clients we work with a lot is greenpeace, for example. We've done like five global campaigns with them and um, they have, you know, their kind of communication budget. Uh, we work with organizations like discovery channel, a lot of ngos, where we try to find partnerships with brands. So we try to work with brands who fit our ethos and we're really putting their money where their mouth is and trying to change the way they produce products or the way that they do things.
Jorik Dozy:And also one thing that we've been doing quite a bit is working with musicians, where we make music videos for a specific artist and the music video doesn't feature the artist, but it features one of the you know the messages, one of the topics that we want to shed light on, um, and then the you know the label would fund that, for example, um. But that is a very effective method as well to raise awareness, because when you work with an audio with an artist, you have an audience already, um, and that audience loves this artist, so they will watch it and they will go into watching that film or video, um, listening to their favorite music, and suddenly their whole eyes are opened with this other message that you're presenting to them that otherwise they probably would have never sat down for. So that is a is a method that we really uh, we really enjoy and we do it quite a bit, yeah is that how?
Matt Jacob:I'm sorry to kind of go back to to the animal thing, but the broken wings project was really took my interest just because, first of all, I was like, how did they do this? You know, the you're balancing, constantly balancing aesthetics with ethics, almost right. And this tightrope walk of following a poacher poaching birds in real life, real person, who does that? How do you go about explaining what you're doing to him and maybe at least getting him to understand that you're not taking advantage of such a kind of nefarious activity? How do you even approach those with the subjects and the people that you're kind of prioritizing those projects?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I think it's really important to have a relationship with the people that you're working with, of course, and for them to feel comfortable with you and you explain what you're doing, in this case with the poacher. And you explain what you're doing In this case with the poacher. We really talked to him about kind of capturing the traditional way of how he goes about it. So we saw the bamboo tube and you know they put glue on branches to capture the birds and that's something that you know that's very specific to this, is a very specific method. So that was kind of what we were focusing on.
Jorik Dozy:We never showed his face in the film. Um, you know, we kind of kept his identity uh blank, because the the the second part of it is that he is just a husband taking care of his family. He's not a bad person, he's just doing this because he doesn't have any other options. So it's never again about blaming and shaming. It's not putting the camera in his face and saying you're a bad person. It's about showing the fact that this is happening, showing the reality of this, but then also showing the other side, that he's just surviving with his family. In the end, we're all captives in this capitalist system. So we're just all caught in this system.
Matt Jacob:So, then, is some of your responsibility to try and educate him or you step away from that.
Jorik Dozy:I don't know if it's my responsibility to educate him, but it's what I hope to do as a person. But sometimes people are also stuck and then you can educate them all you want, but if they don't have a way out, if they don't have an alternative, that falls on deaf ears, Because they might actually understand what they're doing is not completely right, but it doesn't mean that they have an alternative. So actually the the solution there would be to work with government, work with ngos to find alternative for for these situations, and that type of work is being done everywhere, right, like a lot of people are trying to change these exploitative industries and especially wildlife poaching. There's a lot of work trying to change be done to try and change that. But it's really hard when you're stuck in the the kind of system and the situation that these people are, you know they find themselves in.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, not just poaching. I mean what goes into that as well. There's deforestation, right.
Jorik Dozy:I mean the statistics behind that right now yeah, yeah, the deforestation is actually like, if we want to stop, um, if we want, if we want to make sure we don't go above 1.5, the one of the most important things is that we have to stop destroying nature. It's actually nature. We have to start seeing it as like the massive ally that it is. We have to to stop destroying it, we have to restore it, we have to regenerate it. Even if we stop emitting fossil fuels tomorrow, there's already so much in the atmosphere that we will still cross 1.5 if we don't stop destroying nature. So nature is actually this massive carbon sink right, where a lot of the pollution that we put out onto the planet is being absorbed by our natural systems. So the ocean, the atmosphere and land is absorbing a massive amount of the pollution right that we put out into our earth systems, and without healthy ecosystems, this carbon cannot be absorbed. So we're actually, by destroying nature, we're actually kind of shooting ourselves in the foot in trying to stop this planetary crisis.
Jorik Dozy:And I'll go a little bit more like sciencey here, but the really alarming thing that we're seeing right now and scientists don't fully understand it yet is that actually, when you look at the amount of carbon that all of our Earth's systems are absorbing. It's flatlining. So what that's kind of showing is that the ability for planet Earth to respond to what we're doing to it is starting to break. Like maybe it says that the Earth is no longer able to absorb so much of our heat and our carbon and it's kind of at its limit. So that means that nature really is no longer an ally as it was. It's no longer helping us with diminishing the effects of what we're doing to it. So that's very alarming also.
Matt Jacob:Does this come down to money most of the time? Greed?
Jorik Dozy:I mean, it all comes down to that, man. I think power and greed is that is it. That is it Like science can shout all they want, we can come with all the solutions, but what is the solution to greed, what is the solution to capitalism? You know, like we need to completely change the way we think, and that is what. That is what scientists cannot do. That is where people, you know, like us and and like I talked about before the entertainment industry, um, everyone, everyone can be part of that and has to be part of that. Right, we really need to change the way that we look at the planet and and nature. Um, you know, nature is, is our mother, like that's how we need to see it and you would never harm or pollute your mother. So, once you change that way of thinking, we need that kind of thinking in, in, uh, in society, yeah, there's almost a a feeling of resignation as well, though like, oh you know, I'm just one person.
Matt Jacob:This I can't make a difference. Yeah, so how? How do we go about kind of collectively coming together in such a polarized world to to have kind of the same same message and at least to drive because change of the, the public institutions, change of governments, change of? You know, we've got to stay hopeful in that we can at least impact that can come from the majority, can come from the. You know, us people on the ground just going about our daily lives, but certainly in my experience in the 40 or so years that I've lived there, there's definitely just a feeling of, well, you know, I try my best, but you know, really it's up to the people with the power. Yeah, how do we combat that?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I mean this is. This is exactly the point right, of how um, I'm just one person, what can I do? It doesn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, if everyone thinks like that, nothing will ever change, and we don't actually need that many people to change in order to create a revolution. Right? The history shows us that you don't really need the majority. You need a big enough group. I think that's really an important thing to understand. But also, we need to hold our leaders accountable. We're in a point now where, let's say, I'm going to tell you now this list of solutions you can do as an individual, like switch off your light bulb, these things they're important, don't get me wrong. We need to do that collectively.
Matt Jacob:These are solar-powered lights, by the way.
Jorik Dozy:This is a fully green studio, but it's more important to start holding our leaders accountable and collectively start rising up against this destructive system that we have created, because, in the end, it's just a concept, right like capitalism is just an idea that we came up with now that we're seeing as our truth, but that doesn't have to be the truth, and there's many like indigenous ways and there's many different kind of ways of thinking that still exist on this planet that show us that we can have, uh, different systems, that we can have a different mindset, and we should start looking at those and we should start listening to them.
Jorik Dozy:And I think, as an individual, you can start to make that change within you, um, and when you do, you can affect people around you and, um, yeah, it can come from, from, it can start there, because there's a lot of like. Sure, there's a lot of practical solutions and physical things you can do, like, for example, not having kids is actually one of the biggest thing you can do as as to reduce your impact, or just less. You know, like, we don't need four or five children. That's, you know, an individual thing you can do. You can not fly, for example. You can adopt a plant-based diet or reduce your meat intake. Those three things alone are like the biggest things you can do as an individual. But beyond that, it's about here.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, I totally agree. But then you have, I mean, let's say, the kids thing. I do feel, and maybe you can back this up based on what you said with some data but the world is overpopulated, which means we have to expand and expand into the landscapes, into nature, and just expand and expand. Where does it end? We're growing exponentially, essentially as a global population, as science gets better to keep us living longer, and people are still having just a stupid amount of kids. But you look at the countries that are really new in that aspect and developing. Take India, for example, one of the biggest polluters, one of the biggest breeders. Right, I mean, where do you? That's what I mean, like in terms of, well, if India aren't going to do anything about it, then I'm not going to make a difference, but if at least the rest of us can all kind of do our tiny little part and come together doing our tiny little part, then that's enough for change.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, and I think also like it's a great example what you mentioned, because that is true, that's all true, and that's also a reason why people say, well, look at them, you know, but it's not about that man. It's like look at us, yeah, but it gets politicized, but it's not about that man. It's like look at us, yeah, but it gets politicized, yeah. But I think important to understand is that India, like the average emissions, the average pollution a citizen in India causes, versus what someone in the West causes, or in Japan or in a richer country, it's significantly higher, so our responsibility is higher. It's significantly higher, so our responsibility is higher, and we need to make sure that we develop the technologies and we help the developing countries to not make the same mistakes that the richer countries have made, because we have that responsibility collectively.
Jorik Dozy:A great idea that's floating around right now is that we should treat some of these tipping points that we talked about earlier. Actually, so we have these systems on our planet that really regulate the biosphere. They really regulate the livability of the planet, and an idea that's, for example, the Amazon rainforest is one of them Coral reefs, yeah, and the idea is to make these kind of systems global comets so that they belong to the citizens of the planet. And if we do that, then we give poorer countries the ownership of something that now we're saying, hey, you're going to get paid by the world to keep this rainforest intact and you're going to get money from that and you can, you know, spend that on developing your economy and whatever, but you're not going to destroy this rainforest Like. These type of ideas are great, but you know, the richer countries need to start implementing them and agreeing to those.
Matt Jacob:And there are many examples of that on a local level, where you take take Raja Ampat in Indonesia and missoula, the biodiverse reef. Essentially that is protected not completely. They allow scuba divers and liverboards to go in but they pay a fucking premium and that money goes to the protection of that area and in the space of a decade it's the most biodiverse you know um diving site in the world. It's incredible. The earth is resilient. We forget. I think we maybe rest on our laurels in that aspect, but if we give it a chance, it can come back from the brink.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I think it's beautiful. You say that because it's so critical for us to know, and I'm not a scientist, so I've just been on this journey of kind of trying to learn all about this. Right, because the information is out there, right? You can kind of start to understand this if you're willing to look into it. And what's so powerful about it, once you start looking at this, is that nature is our biggest ally and it's the most powerful thing that we have. You know, we invest billions of dollars into all these other technologies, which we also need, right, don't get me wrong Like we need to develop carbon capture technology and all of that. But when you talk about scaling those things and the impact that it has, preserving nature and taking care of our planet does so much more than all of those technologies. So it's so important that we start to look at our planet as part of us.
Matt Jacob:I think it's easy for people to think that, well, technology is going to solve it, the Elon Musk's of the world will figure out a solution. Right, and that may be the case, but I've seen Elon on Twitter and he ain't thinking too much about the environment but this mindset is very dangerous, you know yeah yeah, it's not like there might be a technology that will help us, right, like solar.
Jorik Dozy:Take solar, for example. Like, what an incredible revolution we're on with solar energy. Right, and solar and wind energy are really the the important and and the only problem with this and here comes greed in the conversation is that we're not offlining fossil fuels. So, even though we are developing and we have more energy than ever before because we have all these green energy sources as well, we're not offlining. Yeah, we keep going with our fossil fuel industry as well, so we just keep getting more energy. We're not taking the pollution, the bad energy, offline. Europe is setting a good example, like they're making good headway with it, right, I think Europe is, I believe, one of the only places where our carbon emissions are not rising. But yeah, in general, when you look at the world, we create more sustainable energy, more green energy, but we're not offlining the bad stuff. And yeah, what was your question? Sometimes I just go on this ramble guys.
Matt Jacob:Um about technology and and thinking that that might be the solution to everything.
Jorik Dozy:Yes, yes, so I'll close that one off because, yeah, so we're not offlining that, and the best technology that we have is a tree. You know, the best technology that we have is is nature. It has already invented everything that we need, so we just need to keep that whole.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, there's a lot of greenwashing going on. Do you encounter a lot of that type of financial kind of undercurrent?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, there's always the risk of kind of taking on a project that ends up being a greenwash project, so that's what we're really uh careful with. I think people are becoming very aware of the term greenwashing and and what it is, so that's good, um, but it it's scary like how much it's uh, the word sustainability has lost its meaning. Yeah, there's, everything is nowadays, but it's not. For something to truly be sustainable is very hard.
Matt Jacob:So let's dive into that, just for people who may be confused or not know about the real definitions of. Let's talk about greenwashing, really what that means, and sustainability.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I mean greenwashing is just saying you're doing something great and we're being sustainable and we're investing this much money into this and you're covering up the fact that behind the scenes you're actually continuing as usual or you're still polluting, or you're not really doing what you're saying you're doing. So essentially it's just kind of putting up a picture to the public, but it's not very truthful. So essentially it's just kind of putting up a picture to the public, but it's not very truthful Marketing yeah.
Jorik Dozy:It's a marketing trick, and this is we. We fight this quite a lot with Zero Birthplace. We did a campaign with Greenpeace against greenwashing. Another interesting one is sports washing, which is what we did a project on, where a fossil fuel company is sponsoring a huge sporting event to say, look at us, we're awesome, like we're sponsoring your World Cup. You know, we're sponsoring your whatever event, we're the good guys, but it's all about the association, right? So they're associating themselves with something that we in our culture think is awesome and therefore they must be awesome. That's a form of greenwashing and this is happening everywhere and and you, once you start to be aware of this, it's everywhere actually it's.
Matt Jacob:This is not the same example, but I was watching nfl playoffs yesterday morning and uh, I said to fee my wife, who's watching it with or working alongside me, and uh, this very athletic game right, super healthy, these athletes are incredible specimen, human specimens, and obviously it's American TV. So every two minutes there's commercials and almost all of the commercials are, I remember thinking, some amazing play happened and it's just such a wonderful example of a human at his highest potential. And then it cut to a break and it was a, it was an advert for McDonald's and it's just like that's nothing to do with what it is to do with the NFL. You know they, they take money to put adverts on on TV. So why are we? Why? Why? Why are we not promoting? I know that's off topic, it's. It's analogous to kind of taking money and running so that we can kind of pretend to be be good or to pretend carbon offsetting, whatever it might be, to kind of essentially just get money in the door yeah, it all comes.
Jorik Dozy:it comes back to capitalism, right and greed. It's all about profit, profit, profit. We, we treat the planet like it's infinite. Our whole economic system is built on infinite growth profit, profit, profit. But that's not how the planet works. The planet is circular, so we cannot, the system does not work on a circular planet, and that's we're seeing the results of it. Now we're getting the bill, we're getting the first few receipts.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, anything expensive.
Jorik Dozy:Exactly the last few years have been the most expensive when it comes to how much money we need to pay to rebuild from climate disasters.
Matt Jacob:So we're getting the bill. We haven't really talked about filmmaking that much but, you know, I encourage anyone watching and listening to this to go and obviously watch your showreel. The showreel itself is like like, how do you put this together? I mean, I don't know, I'm not a filmmaker but I'm. I'm aghast at just how, how technically and and well produced these things are, obviously with a team in the background, that you have multiple awards and recognitions, that you have which we haven't even touched upon about the good you're doing in in just the awareness space, which I imagine is really what these awards mean in terms of a little pat on the back. But at least people are seeing these types of this type of content and these types of films and these these moving narratives. Let's let's just touch upon the technical aspect of putting putting the showreel together. For example, there's some AI in there, there's some animations, there's some real life footage. I mean, I don't know, tell me, break that down for me, and, kind of, what techniques are you using on a, on a creative basis?
Jorik Dozy:Interesting. You said it there's no AI, there's no.
Matt Jacob:AI? No, that blows my mind Right. So now you have to tell me how you do it. Um, really, yeah, which part were?
Jorik Dozy:you All, all of it, that just means it's well just well conceived.
Jorik Dozy:No, we we have. We try not to use um ai for like final products or anything. It's uh, it's all you know. Craft, it's all visual effects like the kind of otherworldly things that you see in there, and a lot of it is real as well. So, um, yeah, I think all of what we discussed about you know, finding an original visual or like something that's very appealing and and grabs you as an audience um, they come with different challenges and techniques, so usually it starts from the place of um, you know what is what we're trying to tell here and and what is the? Uh, the message, the story of, and what is the message, the story? Of course, story is everything. That's where we start. But then what is the most original, crazy way to tell this story that you've never seen before or that you might have never thought or felt about this topic in this way before? And that's what we start. That's what we investigate then and we start to write and research.
Jorik Dozy:Research is a massive part of it. Um, last year, we did a project called earth defender, uh, which is about um, you know the people who are really defending the remaining wilderness that we have on the planet? Um, many of them are indigenous peoples and we spent months researching that. Then we spent five weeks on the ground with the community before we shot anything. So the the time it kind of costs to and even though the video is an eight minute piece. So it took months of research and five weeks on the ground sculpting that film with the community to get it to the place where it could become what it became, and I think that process is intensive. And then after that we have the visual effects or the post-production aspect of it as well, and that's where I think our expertise and the background that I mentioned about visual effects and working on these films comes into play, because we understand really well how we can create these images and how we can apply visual effects in an interesting way.
Jorik Dozy:So, yeah, most of the visuals you saw are done, I guess, the traditional way of non-AI like visual effects, 3d animation and parts of the Caribbean way, exactly, and like trying to combine it with doing as much as we can on location itself.
Matt Jacob:Right, yeah, yeah, I mean the Earth Defender. I didn't think I watched all of it, but I watched four or five minutes of it. And again, just there's something that you do with the story in the cinematic way, which it certainly appeals to me and gets me like getting emotional and without just knowing much about it, just diving into the, diving into the film, suddenly like bang, fuck, you're in this world. How do you, how do you go about that storytelling aspect? You talked about research. Obviously. What? Where does it even start? Is it team meetings and conceptual kind of drawing on whiteboards or it's? Do you already have it in your head or is it a bit of everything?
Jorik Dozy:yeah, I mean, I think it's different per project, but okay, um, with that film, for example, what we try to do and the broken wings about burr poaching is a similar method where we bring in cinematic equipment like high, high end equipment with a really good crew to put. To put you like you're. You feel like you're watching a film that you might see, you know, on a streaming platform or on the cinema or whatever, but it is actually a real documentary piece. So we we try to lens it very differently than how a traditional documentary filmmaker would portray it, and I think that way of thinking comes from that cinema background that we have and that is not something that's done a lot.
Matt Jacob:So maybe that's why the films they're quite immersive in a lot of ways, because you almost feel like you're watching, you know, a narrative film and not a traditional documentary yeah, it's definitely a pioneering way of doing these, or at least telling these, these stories right in a very beautiful way, because which I talk about that all the time and even with photography, if I can make something that looks nice, I've already got someone curious, and so you know, that's the difference with documentary, like you might watch a documentary because it's a topic that appeals to you, but I still I'm still here, I want to see something that's nice and therefore is going to like, really appeal to me at a different level.
Matt Jacob:I'm going to keep watching it because it kind of looks nice and it's making me feel really weird. And then I start kind of paying attention to the story. And in the Broken Wings case, you know, you have one of my favorite pianists playing such a wonderful piece of music. He moves me every time I listen to him Ludovico Ainaudi. How do you go about the production side of getting in touch with someone like that who I would consider is almost unreachable?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah With him. It was a unique uh approach actually, because we collaborate with this streaming platform called uh, called water bear, uh, water bear network. They are, um, they call themselves kind of the netflix for the planet, so they only have films on their platform that are for the planet and about the planet. And we pitched the film to them and they actually allowed us to, they funded it and they allowed us to produce it and then, once we had an edit, I send it to Ludovico with his music under it and his label, and I mean his management responded with like, let's talk, so that's how that project came together.
Jorik Dozy:And then we, once you know, we it all kind of connected and and they were on board um, we actually flew to one of his uh concerts where he was performing and we got a few hours with him before the show to film the opening and the ending of the film when he's on stage.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, yeah yeah, so that's how that kind of came together, but it's a unique case because the film was already shot when we presented it to him, which is not, you know, normally what happens yeah, music, I guess, is an important part of these videos. Yeah, key yeah.
Matt Jacob:It's so emotive.
Jorik Dozy:Exactly his straight emotion like yeah, so it's very important. And the way that ludovico composes, there's a very um, like primal kind of feeling to his music, I think, like this kind of he uses like very repetitive kind of rhythmic elements and it's it's a perfect to depict nature, uh, with this, with that kind of music. And a lot of people who listen to Ludovico says that he's kind of their portal into nature and into connecting with nature.
Matt Jacob:Very, yeah, it's very natural in this nature.
Jorik Dozy:Natural, no, very natural yeah, I don't know what it is.
Matt Jacob:It sparks nature right, and in that case it was perfect, because even the song sounded like birdsong right.
Matt Jacob:And in that case, it was perfect because even the song sounded like Birdsong, right, yeah, it's, um, even in the dark part, the darker movements and the brighter movements. So, um, yeah, one of many projects. We could spend hours going through all your projects because I'm so interested in all of them. Um, but where was before even these projects were conceived? Where was the pivotal moment for you in in terms of moving from Hollywood, essentially, and that kind of sector of VFX and filmmaking, to these more global issues and more of an kind of NGO aspect of making films?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah.
Matt Jacob:Was there like a click at some point?
Jorik Dozy:I think it was. There was a bit, but it was. It was gradual in a way that it started with this educational part that I mentioned about really understanding the situation that we're in and and and learning about the science. But then at the same time, while I was learning that and I changed. I became a vegetarian, I became more aware of like my own impact as well, but then at the same time, I was still just making entertainment right, which is great, like people need that. I want to come home sometimes and put on a film and just not think like we, we need that in our society as well. But I was feeling like how can I use my time? How can I use my time?
Jorik Dozy:How can I use my uh whatever skill that I have, whatever I've learned um for change. So that became my my kind of question. And my co-founder, sil, was also on that same journey and we actually we been like best buddies for for a long time, so we were talking about this a lot and we started to direct projects together and and we made a project about sulfur miners which was also a music film. Actually it's kind of music video. That's really the foundation of where Studio Birthplace came from.
Matt Jacob:It's like music videos.
Jorik Dozy:And we made that film and it kind of depicts the life that sulfur miners have and how they need to go into a very toxic place to make a living and how it affects their bodies and how little money they get for it Essentially a form of modern slavery, in a way right Like the fact that this is still happening and sulfur is in everything it's in our electronics, it's in our toothpaste, it's in our makeup, like it's everywhere.
Jorik Dozy:And we made that film and then we fell in love with the community. They were just so beautiful, the people, we were so welcomed and it was such an amazing experience that we set up a fundraiser and the fundraiser I think it collected something like $25,000 for it and we were able to send like a hundred kids to school, you know, like fund uh the education of the kids, like even renovate some of the school, uh classrooms, and that like really was like, oh, like my, my, me pointing a camera somewhere can make like a huge impact to people's lives. And I think that project became kind of like a kickoff point for us to say we should turn this like into a studio, into into our job really, and it really also came from the idea of what is activism, because activism can be, can look very different for everyone. It's. It looks different for everyone you don't like.
Jorik Dozy:Sometimes I feel like I want to take a sign and go block a road somewhere you know and then and demand change. But maybe that's not the best use of my, of my skill. Maybe I can use my whatever I've learned to influence other people and to educate other people, and filmmaking is kind of my way of, you know, giving back to everything that I've obtained and I've learned and all the privileges that I've been given to make that change.
Matt Jacob:How do you balance the emotional toll of these projects? And do you? I mean, how do you even process it? Maybe not balance because it's so difficult, but when you go to these places and you do these projects and you invest so much time, energy, mental capacity, empathy, money into telling these incredible stories in the most innovative and artistic way that you do, do you even kind of get back? I mean, there is that thing of you leaving right. How do you process the emotional toll that these projects have, or do you?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, process, that the emotional toll that these projects haven't, or do you?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, um, I'm like a pretty, I would say I'm a positive person, like I have usually, you know, quite a lot of energy and I look at life like I'm enjoying myself, you know, like this, it's a privilege to do what I'm doing.
Jorik Dozy:Um, so, yeah, I'm not someone who really kind of gets comes away from a project broken, but more just feeling grateful and privileged that I was able to experience that and to share the story with the world.
Jorik Dozy:And there are many people who are doing the work that I'm putting a camera on who are experiencing the real intense bad stuff, and maybe I'm telling their story or I'm capturing a little bit of that, but it's I'm not living that right, I can, at the end of the day, I can go home, and that, I think, gives me this perspective that I should just be nothing more than grateful and, and I'm here to should just be nothing more than grateful and and I'm here to, uh, do my part and try to kind of, you know, contribute and telling these people stories or these animal stories, or whatever it is that we're pointing the camera at, um, and and it gives me a lot of kind of energy to to keep going.
Jorik Dozy:Actually, it keeps me, it gives me a lot of like will to, so to speak, because there are stories out there that we need to know about and that we need to change, there are situations we need to change and that kind of feeling is just deeply rooted, I think, in me to have this kind of endless kind of mission. I feel like I'm on this mission and that kind of keeps me going.
Matt Jacob:I feel like I'm on this mission and that kind of keeps me going.
Jorik Dozy:Do you think us as artists and creatives should have a purpose behind their work, ideally, I think. If you don't have a purpose, then why are you doing it? I think, sure, because it's fun, fun. But how long can you keep doing that? I think everyone you know has to find their purpose, and everyone has a purpose for sure. Maybe you're not sure about it or you haven't found it, but as if you create something, I hope that it has purpose yeah.
Matt Jacob:Should we feel guilty that if our purpose is not saving the world? Should we feel guilty if our purpose is not saving the world?
Jorik Dozy:no, not at all not at all not at all.
Jorik Dozy:I think it's not. It's not something that you know. Um, in the end, we all have our own things going on. We have our own lives, we have our own priorities and challenges. And, um, if you're able to have the capacity in your life to think about this, this conversation that we're having, and to think about how can I contribute, that's enormous already. And then if you have that privilege because that what it is right, you have a safe place, you have food, you have everything then you're actually in the position to contribute something positive, in whatever form. That is that's great. You don't need to feel obligated because maybe you just can't, maybe you're not in that position that you can contribute.
Matt Jacob:It's where we are as individuals. On Maslow's hierarchy right, we've got everything, certainly in the West and the capitalist societies that we've been talking about, developed nations, we have all of the kind of survival stuff, sort of obviously that there are many people still suffering and still in bad situations.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, but to quickly add on that, because what I think it is important to kind of think about is that we need change and innovation in every aspect of our lives right, All the issues that we spoke about before. It trickles down into the hierarchy of everything. So if you have a desk job and you don't know how you can contribute, you can think about well, what kind of changes can I make in my job that I can suggest to my manager? Or what kind of changes can I make into the way that I get to my job? All these little things you can start thinking about and you can see what can I implement. That makes a difference Because, as we said, activism looks different for everyone. If you even discuss some of these topics with your colleagues, that's a form of activism yeah.
Matt Jacob:And I think that's important, and that's one of many reasons why you're on the show is just to talk about it, right? I think if we're in a position where we're having discourse around these topics without it being politicized, objectified or any type of kind of bias to anyone's opinion or a political situation, then that's what's important to be able to have these conversations, because, at the end of the day, that's the real driver of change is is when we have, when we're able to talk about these things without someone getting offended or without saying the wrong thing or without it being politicized, without feeling attacked by the other side, which is all of which we experience on a, on a, certainly on a, on the digisphere that we see in social media and everything. But I think that's the most important thing. That's all we have, right? All we have, at the end of the day, is the ability to communicate with each other about these topics, and if we don't do it, what do you think is going to happen? Right, it's just going to end in chaos, and we're we're going along that, that road quite fast at the moment.
Matt Jacob:But, um, which brings me to kind of a story or something that is so resonant with you now that you might look back on all the projects and all the awards that you've won and the incredible work that I'm sure you push aside, because the most important project is the next one and you want to be better and bigger and drive more change. What is probably the one story that means so much to you, or has meant the most to you, ooh well, I guess there's different ways of looking at when.
Jorik Dozy:Something means a lot to me, I think, in terms of the emotional weight of it and what I've learned is on a project, as with that film, because it exposed us to the ways of indigenous peoples, we learned about indigenous values and there's an incredible kind of way forward and solution there and solution there, or at least it gives a lot of positivity when you start learning about indigenous values and that there's people on this planet alive today who are living the kind of life that shows us how we can live on this planet positively, sustainably, looking at the things we talked about, seeing nature as one, they have these values intrinsically in their nature.
Jorik Dozy:These values intrinsically in their nature and I think that gives so much hope. We were at COP 29 in Azerbaijan, the United Nations Climate Conference, and listening to the indigenous leaders there when they speak. They should be our world leaders and I think, knowing that these people are here and they are becoming more present on the global stage, they're given more room to speak and they're giving more rights as well that gives me hope. We need to listen to indigenous values and peoples and we need to protect their rights. They need to be given a platform everywhere, in every conversation, when we talk about the future.
Matt Jacob:What was the project called Wasteminster about? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah. So the other side of projects that are very memorable and that made a lot of impact Wasteminster, I think, is one of the best examples that we have in our portfolio because it went viral and it eventually actually influenced the law. So that's again very tangible, something that you never expect, that you work and do, and it shows the power of a piece of film. And in that film it was a collaboration with Greenpeace and we visualized the amount of plastic waste that is every day being shipped to developing countries while the government is saying that they're recycling it. So 1.8 million kilograms of plastic waste is being put on ships and sent to Philippines, malaysia, turkey and dumped on dumps there.
Jorik Dozy:While you at home think you did the right thing because I put my plastic in the recycling bin, so it's being recycled, in reality, I think it's 9%, 7% or 9% of all plastic waste is actually recycled. The recycling industry is a massive, you know, smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors. Yeah, it's really complicated to properly recycle something. So that's another thing. But, um, it's being used by the fossil fuel industry, by the plastic industry, to say we can keep doing what we're doing because we're recycling. But that's not really the true story. And so we again, we kind of thought how can we visualize this piece of data, how can we tell this story in a way you've never seen before? So we unleashed a CG simulation, a 3D animation, of 1.8 kilograms of plastic pollution and dumped it onto Boris Johnson in front of Downing Street where he's giving a speech about how great the UK is in environmentalism.
Jorik Dozy:So that film, once it got released, it picked up millions of views within a couple of days and it went all over and people shared it and it really gave a reaction. People were upset. When they learned about this. They were like really gave a reaction, like people were upset. You know that they, when they learned about this, they were like how is this true? Like how can this be true? Um, and greenpeace followed it up with a campaign with, uh, the research that they did. So they showed look, these are all the data, this is all the facts. And that whole campaign eventually pushed um legislation to change the plastic exports. Turkey was the main importer of plastic waste from the UK and they completely banned any import. So it gave the UK government a massive problem.
Matt Jacob:So what are these countries doing with it? Are they recycling, are they using it for materials, or are they dumping it in landfill?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, Most of them are dumping it in landfill because data themselves don't have the capacity to recycle that. If we in the West, in the UK, cannot recycle this waste, then why would the Philippines be able to do so or Malaysia? It just ends up in landfills where either it's burned or before it's burned. People are going through it to find things they can sell. Pl know they can uh plastic waste they can try to uh sell to uh little recycling shops here and there, um, but most of it is is landfill or burnt yeah.
Matt Jacob:Fuck's sake.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, yeah.
Matt Jacob:It was also.
Jorik Dozy:You know, uh, and then this is happening, you know still everywhere, Everywhere. Every rich country is exporting their waste to developing countries.
Matt Jacob:It is that psychological experiment. It is governments and large institutions that control all of this, the ins and the outs of all of this, and the money is the flow of money, essentially and power that make us feel like, oh, we're doing something. I put my recycling in my little red bin at home and then never see it, but I feel okay, I feel cozy because I've done my part, and they don't want to kind of pull the curtain up and just show you that this is not really true, we're just making money off it. Yeah Well, let's try and propel this into a more hopeful scenario. What can we do? What can we do as general population, as creators, filmmaking and visual effects to tell stories rather than go into journalism, for example but journalists have a role to play in this as well. People who want to drive awareness at least, if not change, yeah. But what about lowly people like me and the other people that are just kind of doing their jobs day in, day out? What can we do to help?
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, I mean we spoke about this a little bit. I guess you know activism looks like many different things, so you can do your own uh reflection and see how can I change my life. Can I change my diet, for example, right like that is a massive thing if you do that and you can influence the people around you very easily with that.
Matt Jacob:But people don't know how people you know it. It's easy for us to say I mean, even take nutrition. It's such a confusing fucking because everyone's got their own opinion and one scientist says that you look at any of the big podcasts out there, they'll have one scientist one week talking about this type of nutrition is best for you, and then another scientist the next week perfectly eligible scientists with years and years of doctorate experience saying completely the opposite. And now we as the general public are expected to kind of pick one and go with it. I mean, the argument over vegetarianism and veganism is palpable. There was a massive uproar because this guy had created a documentary on Netflix about how veganism is essentially better for you, better for the planet, right? That was basically his overarching narrative. He got ripped apart, yeah.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, because, like telling people to change their diet is directly telling them to change their culture and who they are, because our food is very interconnected with who we are as people and the country I'm from. Right, we have cuisines from every specific country. You know I'm from the US. I want to eat my meat. You know it's a very like. You identify with it. So that's why, also, that's such a challenging subject.
Matt Jacob:But surrounding this one specifically, there is a weird rhetoric about you know, not even rhetoric, they don't even come out and really say it, but I mean some of them do. If you don't eat meat, you're considered uncool, you know? Oh, you're so soft, you're a snowflake. Why don't you eat meat, especially in America? Like there's this machoism surrounding eating meat, which is just again, it's cultural, but it's incredibly misguided and misdirected and personally I don't know how we kind of get through to these people Because, like you said, it's years and years of genetics, cultural kind of practices that haven't changed over all these times, even though now we have the opportunity to not do those things. But you get, you get.
Matt Jacob:There's even laws in some places for for things like this, and it's it's just bog beggars belief and I don't really I mean I just I guess that triggered me a little bit when you said well, you know we need to change the diet. I totally agree with you, but you, but people don't, I'd fucking why not? Do you not want to be healthier? They don't believe the data, and that's a huge issue we have right now. They don't believe whether it's climate change, covid or nutrition. They don't trust what they're seeing, because we're in a world of TikTok, instagram, X, netflix, legacy media, all spinning their own narrative, depending on who's paying for it, and us, as just normal people go. What the fuck? What am I meant to listen to?
Jorik Dozy:It's a confusing world. I think that's really what we live in very confusing times, because you're just bombarded with stuff. One of the ways to kind of get around that that I'm quite bad at but I'm trying to is to shut of. Get around that that I'm quite bad at but I I'm trying to is to shut off a lot of that stuff and to just kind of reconnect, you know, with what, what makes me feel good and and and where does my real yeah uh, when I look inside, like where do I feel happy and good?
Jorik Dozy:and a lot of times that's for me. You know that's a specific way. For everyone that's different, um, but it's a. It's a way to kind of shut off all of that for a little bit, like just don't absorb so much of all that information and just kind of think about okay, if I change my diet, um, take it one step at a time, like progress, not perfection, I think is a really good way of looking at it, because a little change is better than no change at all. So, even if you can make a small change as an individual in your personal routine that becomes part of you know what you do, that's already a really great step forward. And then try another one and another one. And I think that that way of thinking is is different than like I'm going to cut out everything because that's hard, it's doable, but it's hard.
Matt Jacob:People feel defensive and also it's a huge challenge that they probably won't be able to keep. And the old adage of take nutrition and vegetarianism.
Jorik Dozy:If you give up meat just one day a week, if everyone did, that would basically solve um global starvation yeah, the the other thing is like we're killing so many animals that if we would kill the human race at the same rate, we would be extinct in a week. Yeah, that'd also be complete uproar. Yeah, but a week that's how many animals we kill, and I think that's only land-based animals. When you look at fish is something like billions a week, you know, and and it's it come to a level where we have normalized like mass murder. Yeah, that's as a society, that's we think it's okay to do this, right, because these animals are there to feed us.
Jorik Dozy:When you come, when you think about that, uh, combined with like uh, 50 of all the agricultural land that we use is for animals, right, 20 of all the land on the planet is to just for our animals. Yeah, just so we can eat them, just so we can eat animals. Right, imagine all that land like being wild nature, right? So I think again, understanding the reality, the reality that, like the amazon rainforest is being destroyed to plant soy that feeds the animals we eat yeah it's not even the soy that we eat.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, so, like when you, when you think about these realities, do you want to be part of a system that is that insane, because that's really what it is right Do you want to participate in that? I think, again, it comes from that feeling of like asking yourself that question.
Matt Jacob:That was meant to be the positive part of our conversation.
Matt Jacob:To like okay, let's, let's wrap this up with with a, with a hopeful message, with what the future looks like on a positive spin. You know, we all know what we actually all know. And just to actually finish that part off, I think deep down, many of us in developed environments really know what we can do. We just choose not to, or we push it aside, or we're happy in our ignorance or naivety. I think, deep down, we all know that, and I'm I'm the first one to you know.
Matt Jacob:I feel like I do some. I could do more. I know what I need to do, but I just don't because I'm selfish in many and we. That is human nature, but we, you know again, it's all those, those little bits. So I I think ignorance is a cop out. I think it's like, well, I don't know what to do and I don't know where to turn for information. Yeah, you do. Yeah, I think you do. I think most people, most people with just a very basic form of education, if you can spend three hours doom scrolling on fucking TikTok, you can spend three hours actually figuring out what you're going to change in your life, even if it's just a one percenter, a hundred percent.
Jorik Dozy:Yeah, and I'm the same. I doom scroll. I'm not perfect, I don't do everything that I know I could be doing, and that's again. It's up to you individually to see how much can you change, and I walk around with the exact same feelings that you just described.
Matt Jacob:And I think actually you're right, it does start and we've implemented this. I say we myself and my wife implemented this a little bit more strictly recently. I've never been a scroller on social media, Obviously, I'm present on Instagram. I rarely do scroll unless I see a cute funny dog video and then I'll try and find another one, and then I'll try and find another one, and then I'll try and find another one you gotta see those.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, you gotta see those. Press the smile on my face and then, but I catch myself. So it all comes down to awareness going oh fuck, actually, what am I doing? Can I be doing something a little bit better, Even if it's just reading a book and switching off from that environment? There is right. We just think that we identify ourselves with these platforms and I think there's a lot to be said for that.
Matt Jacob:I think there's so much responsibility. We're not going to go into social media and the politics of it, because it's such a fucking maze of hatred and politics and power. But you know it's not. We seem to forget it's not real life, it's. It's. It's not reality and it just harms us most of the time, and we all know this again, deep down, we all know it's not reality and it just harms us most of the time, and we all know this again, deep down, we all know it's not a healthy thing to do. There is enough data now after a decade more than a decade of social media being in our lives. There's enough data to basically tell us to put that fucking phone down right. It is damaging in more ways than we even discussed. It is damaging in more ways than we even discussed. So I think a lot of it does start there. But hey look, what are we going to see in the next five, 10 years? How can we look at this in a positive way? Where's the hope?
Jorik Dozy:Where do we find the hope?
Jorik Dozy:I think what I discussed, what I touched on a little bit earlier about and that's, I guess, my personal journey just like learning about indigenous values has given me a lot of hope Understanding that there is a way of leadership and looking at life that is positive for the planet and that can give us answers against this capitalism.
Jorik Dozy:Really, that's just destroying us, right Like indigenous values are so the opposite of that. That is a good example for us to kind of get ideas from, and if we put indigenous leaders in leadership positions, they can you know, they can get those values to the rest of us and and they can create systems that, you know, respect those values. I think that that hope that I I've learned about that and that that is a possibility, uh, gives me uh, hope. And of course, also the fact that you and I having this conversation now, when maybe five years ago you wouldn't want to talk about this, or you know media in general, like the fact that there's a massive uprising in young people, um, who are saying, uh, that's my future, yeah, that's powerful.
Matt Jacob:Yeah, well, it's been. We've talked a lot about, I guess, the negative side of things, but I I still feel, you know, being a little bit more educated by you and bringing this into the world of discourse whether it's podcasting, articles, tv, whatever it might be there's a lot of hope and, more important, there's a lot of inspiration from you and what you do. So keep it going, man. You're fighting the good fight. I want to support you in any way we can and we'll get this episode out as soon as we can. And, um, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. I know it's been difficult, but I've loved every minute. So, thank you, appreciate it, thanks, man.
