In 2008 climate change had well and truly hit the media and my worry levels were going into the red. What’s more, whilst walking through Sydney I spotted a huge Jeep ad with a big Jeep SUV on top of a mountain with the tag line writ in bold underneath, ‘Have fun out there!’ The environmental message obviously wasn’t hitting home.

 

Around the same time I met Tim Rayner, a philosopher and writer living in Sydney. Tim was teaching his course, ‘Philosophy for change which had a strong environmental thread running through it’. We met, started writing and immediately sparked a relationship.

 

Fast forward to April 2009. Armed with a few motion tests and a heap of swarm theory, Tim & I trod the boards at the first F5 design conference in NYC and in front of 1000 fellow designers, we pitched our concept for a collaborative animated film to suggest new solutions to climate change. After the talk we were mobbed. 

 

The next 12 months was a chaotic period of conceiving, creating and collaborating. Soon enough a network of 24 artists from around the world came on board to help create the film. Together the collaborators turned Tim’s words into a rich visual tapestry using varied and eclectic film making techniques. The film took on its own life becoming something much greater and more varied than I had ever imagined.

 

Coalition of The Willing offers a response to the major problem of our time: how to galvanize and enlist the global publics in the fight against global warming. The film is optimistic and principled, it explores how we could use new Internet technologies to leverage the powers of activists, experts, and ordinary citizens in collaborative ventures to combat climate change. Through analyses of swarm activity and social revolution, 'Coalition of the Willing' makes a compelling case for the new online activism and explains how to hand the fight against global warming to the people.

 

Still the most ambitious personal project I’ve ever taken on, the concept of the coalition is still very dear to me and one I seek to revisit some time soon.

​

​

CREDITS

​

The credit list for this film as you can imagine is huge. Please watch through to the end of the full film to see a list of those who so kindly gave of their time and their energy to help create this film.