AlterEgo partnered with the teams at Disney, Nat Geo CreativeWorks, National Geographic Society, and PepsiCo along with their local partners Practical Farmers of Iowa in the United States, GIZ in Thailand, and Milhão in Brazil to develop a 3-part global docuseries exploring the power of regenerative agriculture.

PepsiCo & National Geographic: Food for Tomorrow - Thailand

Our Nat Geo Photographer and host, Rena Effendi, had a mantra that resonated. “I am a photographer first and a woman second.” An award-winning filmmaker, writer and social documentarian, Rena provided a bespoke lens in which we captured the stories of three wildly different farmers fighting to evolve their farms in the face of escalating climate change. All three farmers just so happened to be farmers first …and women as well.

For the first film we traveled half way across the globe to Northern Thailand where small holder farmer Miss Wisa stole our hearts. She wrapped us up in her hospitality and showed us the true meaning of resilience. One of three daughters raised on a farm by her mother and grandmother after her parent’s separation, she never passed up an opportunity to learn new skills. Now a trailblazer in her community, Atthawit from GIZ summed it up best when he shared with us a story from their first meeting -even when her farm was struggling with the effects of climate change - she generously shared with him her decades deep knowledge and quickly became a willing mentor. &nbsp;We left Thailand with a richer understanding of the impact investments in small holder farmer training makes on both the local farmers and the planet.

As a Director who grew up in a very small town, I saw each of these brand films as intimate vintage pieces … like a time capsule celebrating all that is good about rural life. And so we lensed our cameras to match the vibe with a set of 1977 Leica R Summicrons. Leaning into our cinematic style documentary roots we wanted to show early mornings in the kitchen, hard labor throughout the day, the joy of new life, the endless planning and pivoting, and sometimes, a successful harvest to celebrate. That made the choice to tag in our nimble RED Komodo mounted to a sleek low-impact RS4 handheld gimbal an easy one. Filming at the edges of light made for long days but those hazy dew dropped mornings and blazing summer sunsets are where the magic happens.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for us to seek out and support these types of farmers and the companies who support their strength. The future of food, the future of agriculture, the future of these families depend on it.&nbsp;

khàawp khun khâ to our amazing on cam talent, clients, and crew

PepsiCo & National Geographic

Food for Tomorrow - Thailand

PepsiCo & National Geographic: Food for Tomorrow - Brazil

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Our third and final film took us to São Paulo followed by a 2-day, 14-hour drive into the large-scale agricultural region of Brazil. For hours we tracked alongside massive trucks cutting through the deepest red soil flanked by endless rows of vibrant green sugar and corn plants. What awaited us was well worth the journey. Mata do Lobo was epic - both a conventional producer of non-GMO corn and a highly functioning Agroforest system growing deliciously robust coffee. Maria Vitória and her husband Daniel shared their commitment to embracing the concept of syntropy to protect her family’s legacy.

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AlterEgo AlterEgoShoots Alter Ego Creates Heather Roymans Justin Kanner

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Time is everything when telling intimate stories with real people and we are grateful for every additional second we were given. In Thailand we watched Wisa’s son, a young budding photographer, follow Justin around with genuine enthusiasm during his final week of high school. Here in Brazil we were winning over the trust of Maria Vitória’s young daughter as she read to me while her mom cooked us a delicious homemade breakfast. Side note: we were waiting for Daniel’s return so we could fill up on gas before we headed from their VERY remote farm on a dangerously low tank to drive 6 hours to hang with her brother who was DJ’ing for a party that evening (true story). And in Iowa, there were the cartons of eggs we road tripped back compliments of Wendy and Johnny and a promise that we would be back someday.&nbsp;