Born Wild Project
The Born Wild Project was a response to national demand for a hub for adventurous parents, with branding and digital integration appropriate for millennials. Co-founder Aly Nicklas and I launched the project on Kickstarter, with the support of over 1,000 backers. We went on to create a website, a social media network, and two films.
Contributions
Co-founder
Creative Director
UX
Copywriter
PR
Story producer (films)
Cinematography (films)
Collaborators
Co-founder + Producer, Director & DP (films) Aly Nicklas
Raising a Wild Child
In Raising a Wild Child millennial parents turned social-media influencers use the very technologies that threaten to separate them from nature to connect with it—and each other—instead. This family-centric outdoor adventure film shares the stories of parents who are raising their kids on outdoor adventure, and using social media to build a community doing the same.
The film’s stars, Brooke Froelich, Morgan Brechler, and Shannon Robertson, have gained unprecedented press for their kid-in-tow adventures in backpacking, night kayaking, rock climbing, and backcountry skiing, from People magazine, to Grind TV, to ABC New
Scott D. Sampson, Ph.D., Host of PBS KIDS Dinosaur Train and author of How to Raise a Wild Child
“The disconnect between children and nature is one of the greatest and most overlooked crises of our time, threatening the health of both human and natural communities. Raising a Wild Child depicts a wonderful antidote, one that highlights shows real families tackling this challenge head-on, connecting their children deeply with the natural world. Here, then, is a vibrant pathway to wildness. Enjoy!”
Wild Inheritance
The award-winning second episode of the Born Wild series follows a recently widowed grandma leading three generations of family into Wyoming’s Wind River Mountain backcountry. The Vermilye-Phillips clan has been coming here for nearly half a century to fly fish, backcountry ski, rock climb, remember old stories, and create new ones. This trip, equal parts reunion and memorial for the family patriarch that first brought them to these mountains, carries the added weight of ashes. Through the imperceptible tutelage of time and wilderness, with his grandfather as invisible guide, our 12-year old narrator, Walid, discovers the true reason his family will always return to this granite temple
