The Living Desert Film Fundraiser

Help contribute to my grassroots nature documentary on human impact in the Sonoran Desert!

Dear friends & family,

I am in my second year of MFA studies at Montana State University, pursuing a degree in Science and Natural History Filmmaking. As part of the degree requirements, I have been tasked with directing a 10 minute film on the natural subject of my choosing.

For this film project, I am embarking on another journey down to the Sonoran Desert, the most biodiverse ecosystem in the entire United States. My film will draw inspiration from many of the 1950s Disney Nature films that have come to define the genre. Unlike those films, which primarily sought to translate and simplify the behaviors of desert dwelling animals into traditional human roles (ex. mommy bear & daddy bear, cute mouse and villainous snake, etc), I am aiming to reject those anthropocentric notions of animals as people, and frame these fantastical creatures as beautiful, mythic, and sublime.

My other goal with this film is to expose some of the ways in which human impact is destroying this precious ecosystem. The Sonoran Desert is in the midst of a historic twenty year drought, and border wall construction has made it impossible for over a hundred species of animals to migrate and breed. I will look for visual evidence of this natural decline, and interview professionals to get a better grasp of potential solutions.

I will be traveling down to Tucson from March 29th through April 4th, and I anticipate spending every possible minute I can in Saguaro National Park, dodging prickly pears & pointing my camera at everything that crawls, flies, and slithers.

In order to accomplish this audacious run & gun wildlife doc, I could really use your help! I will be driving the 1,200 miles from Bozeman to Tucson, and back again. I will also be spending six nights in a small Airbnb close to the National Park. These expenses, on top of the gear (batteries, hard drives, external mics, etc), are all that stand between me & the amazing images that I plan to capture in one of the most beautiful deserts in the world. Every cent raised goes directly towards the coast of production.

Any support is deeply felt and appreciated. Many of my greatest successes thus far have come from the generosity and support of friends & family donating to campaigns like this one. And I am incredibly grateful. The support is invaluable to me.

To everyone who donates, I will be collecting addresses and mailing out custom postcards from the desert to show my appreciation. I will also be sharing my film with all who would like to see it via private link upon its completion as I gear up to present it at film festivals.

With warmth & many thanks,

Andrew Motte