Science Out There Series

Documentary Educational Resources Inc. (DER) is please to be collaborating with outdoor science educator Rich Blundell and Omniscopic Productions to produce the Science Out There Profiles – an innovative educational series of personal profiles of adventurous young scientists, reported from the field.

Each digital video in SOT Profiles will follow one dedicated natural scientist through a week of arduous, adventurous fieldwork. Expedition footage will be edited into character-driven news stories suitable for web and broadcast. Using biological field stations as base camps, these human stories from the field will deliver credible science content, cast science as an attractive career path for young people, and promote outdoor opportunities for all ages. Our goal is to insert science into the consciousness of a young, and now mainly indifferent 18-35 year-old audience.

The call for support is urgent. The SOT Profiles is the webcast precursor to the nationally broadcast Science Out There ™ television series, currently in development. We anticipate partial National Science Foundation funding to begin in Fall 2003. NSF support will enable us to profile two scientists and produce a limited demonstration tape for future fundraising of the SOT television series. But to take advantage of the current opportunity that this presents, we need the SOT Profiles project to begin in July 2003.

We have developed an strategic fundraising campaign and multi-media, multi-market, distribution plan. For financial support we are depending on a combination of foundation grants and corporate sponsorships. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, DER is providing fiscal supervision and tax-deductible status.

Segments will be made available for licensing to local news bureaus, the Annenberg/CPB Channel, cable networks and other broadcast outlets. Each stand-alone story may also serve as part of a full-length documentary suitable for the film festival circuit.

Participation in the initial phase of our strategic fundraising plan is being offered to a limited number of select sponsors and foundations. For sponsors, we are developing customized packages designed to meet marketing needs. Opportunities range from category exclusive, official sponsors, to sponsorship of individual profiles, and brand loyalty clips. Brands included in this introductory phase are chosen based on the producers' actual pre-established allegiances to their products/services. This approach provides ample, opportunities to integrate natural screen-time of authentic brand loyalty, in action – out there.

A customizable menu of benefits is available to sponsors depending on availability and "Buy-in" level. Buy-in typically includes a combination on product/service (when appropriate) and cash. Benefits include:

Category Exclusivity	Product Placement Opportunities
Brand Loyalty (in-focus screen-time)	Webcast Opportunities
Use of SOT Marks & Logos	Vehicle Signage Space
Official Product / Service Status	Collateral Material/Media Exposure
Photography / Footage Rights	Project Web Site Advertising
Personality Appearances	Radio Broadcast Potential
Access to University Audiences	National/Local TV Broadcast Potential
Editorial Media Coverage	Philanthropic/Educational Alignment
Film Festival Circuit	Web-streamed Promo Spots

Profiles will be edited into several versions depending on sponsor need and distribution channels. Anticipated channels include:

SOT Project Website	Company Direct Mailings
Sponsor Websites	Film Festival Screenings
Scientist Websites	Conventions
Educational Websites	Local News Broadcast
University Websites	Trade Show Displays
SOT National Series	In-Store Displays

In addition to sponsor marketing materials, foundation grants will be sought to support educational, philanthropic, and environmental causes. Towards that end, footage from these expeditions will be used by the scientists and their universities (for academic, educational and research dissemination), supporting field stations (for fiscal development and program promotion), and other outreach, and educational purposes.

All Cause-Related and Strategic Philanthropy donations are Tax-Deductible through DER as a 501(c)3 non-profit. Possible cause-related overlays include science education, the environment, wildlife and habitat preservation, and minority involvement. Given the geographic diversity of our profiles, Local Community related causes are also possible.

The Players:

Rich Blundell is a freelance science correspondent and expedition specialist with an extensive background in designing and delivering science-based educational adventure tours. He brings to the SOT Profiles a dedication to cause related endeavors and an organic sense of brand loyalty - developed from years of depending on product performance in challenging environments and remote places. His work, inspiring and teaching about science from around the globe, has helped him develop an attractive on-camera character and innovative approach to delivering outdoor science content that is both provocative to scientists and appealing to an 18-35 year-old audience.

Omniscopic Productions was originally founded by Rich Blundell to provide specialized field-production services to scientists engaged in field research. He discovered those same techniques also served well to capture the subtleties and intricacies of human behavior. Omniscopic now specializes in telling adventurous human stories with mission and risk, playing out in dramatic wilderness landscapes.

Documentary Educational Resources was founded in 1968 and incorporated as a non-profit in 1971. DER produces, distributes, and promotes documentary media for educational use. DER supports filmmakers and new media journalists who have long-term commitments to the subjects that they film and produce media with credibility, integrity and innovation.

DER programs reach millions of individuals throughout the world, each year, through broadcast, film festivals, the Internet, and classrooms. They administrate a touring film program with the American Museum of Natural History and provide programming for many local community cable access stations across America, as well as libraries, colleges and other educational institutions worldwide. They collaborate on public programs with organizations like Cultural Survival and Earthwatch. They are members of the Association of Independent Video and Film, the Independent Feature Project, the National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture, the American Anthropological Association, Women in Film and Video New England, and the European Documentary Network.

DER also distributes worldwide to hundreds of universities, libraries, museums and schools annually. DER's films have been broadcast internationally on PBS, HBO, The Discovery Channel, and in Switzerland, England, France, Germany, Japan, Finland, The Netherlands, South Africa and Australia.

They have received grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities and Public Policy, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Rock Foundation, National Video Resources, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and from the National Film Preservation.

Project At-A-Glance

*Categories outlined here are meant to serve as base assumptions. Individual arreangments may vary contact project principles above to discuss the range of posibilites.