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Codes and Conventions of Documentary used to call society to action 

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Codes and Conventions of Documentary used to call society to action 

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The final chord of " Blackfish Effect" landed with a thud - a seismic, unprecedented corporate policy announcement from SeaWorld.

In January 2013, the documentary Blackfish premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, telling the story "about Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity," according to the official film synopsis. A little more than three years later - a period marked by sustained activism, multi-platform distribution, and media coverage - SeaWorld officially announced on March 17, 2016, that it will officially end its orca breeding program and end orca shows at all of its theme parks.

The decision didn't happen overnight, and neither did the full extent of the film's social impact. The path to change was paved over three years of ongoing pressure sparked by an emotional story told in an intimate, authentic way unique to documentary storytelling. And the signs appeared quickly. In December 2014, about a year and a half after the film's July 2013 theatrical premiere, the stock price of SeaWorld had already declined by 60 percent. A California state lawmaker proposed legislation in April 2014 that called to ban California aquatic parks from featuring orcas in performances; although the proposed law was unsuccessful, it garnered national media coverage.

How and why did Blackfish inspire this kind of impact over a three-year period of time? From a vantage point at the intersection of documentary storytelling, grassroots activism, multi-platform distribution and media strategy, six key elements can help explain:
#1. Amplified Community & Sustained Grassroots Activism
The issue of animal rights is supported by a vocal community of advocates, and the opportunity was ripe for cultivating new activism by the time Blackfish came along. The Oceanic Preservation Society, the organization elevated by the 2009 Academy-Award-winning documentary , publicly and immediately supported Blackfish through its own communication channels, including posting and distributing an online open letter to support the film, and joining with the filmmakers in a public statement. The major contribution of grassroots infrastructure to the Blackfish movement came from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and in fact, the intersection between the film and the organization's activism may have amplified the ongoing impact dramatically. In an expansion of its own efforts targeting SeaWorld as far back as 1998, PETA launched an aggressive renewed campaign that combined physical protest and digital social action. After the film's premieres, donations to PETA spiked, enabling the group to finance continued grassroots and media stunts well after the film's premiere. (In 2015, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, PETA reported a budget of $4.5 million after a deficit of more than $250,000 just two years earlier, as well as $43 million in contributions in 2015, a 30 percent increase.)

With the new public spotlight well beyond the animal-welfare community, PETA continued to leverage the momentum of the film at every possible moment in the distribution and media cycle. Among its public actions during the past three " Blackfish Effect" years, PETA organized anti-SeaWorld actions at the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade - covered by major media outlets, including CNN, Blackfish's broadcaster, Huffington Post and others - and financed an ad campaign about orca breeding (an angle covered in the film). PETA's website, SeaWorldofHurt.com, continued the pressure and momentum, and the public followed - from about 30 visitors per day before the Blackfish broadcast premiere to more than 1 million in 2015, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In short, the film wasn't released into an issue or activism vacuum. It fell into a prime spot with a social-change infrastructure ready to leverage a strategic distribution strategy and well-produced story. In its seminal 2008 report, "Assessing Creative Media's Social Impact," The Fledgling Fund notably wrote about this crucial element - that is, deeply understanding the state of a social issue and a movement in order to understand where and how a story might be positioned to fuel change. The intersection between SeaWorld, Blackfish and PETA is a textbook example.

Adding to the well-orchestrated and vocal NGO activism, celebrities' tweets and support for the film engaged their own fans and followers, which raised and deepened the level of public awareness about the story. Beyond the vocal work of a core group of supporters, combining the multiplying factor of celebrity endorsements and public attention - greatly enabled by a smart distribution strategy - allowed the story to reach outside the animal-welfare community to new audiences. It stretched beyond the choir. The cacophany became louder and louder, impossible to ignore or dismiss as insular, niche activism.
#2. Strategic Distribution.
Following the Sundance Film Festival premiere, the filmmakers licensed the U.S. rights for Blackfish to Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films, not only for a theatrical run, but for TV distribution, a move that has become increasingly strategic for documentary filmmakers in the contemporary marketplace. In at least one study about contemporary documentary viewers, watching at home on TV is the top way to access documentaries, and streaming is increasingly crucial (although avid documentary enthusiasts are willing to find documentaries in theaters, as well). For Blackfish, in terms of a broad-appeal TV outlet with an even-handed ideological audience composition, a premiere on CNN was not only a mass-viewer distribution strategy, but one that fired up a synergistic publicity and news media machine. Not only did the network use its news platform to air stories about orcas in captivity, the network published an interview with a SeaWorld spokesperson the week of the premiere, assuredly contributing to viewer and media anticipation. CNN was rewarded for its publicity strategy with a ratings sweep on the October 23, 2013, premiere date; according to The New York Times, "The channel swept the ratings among every group under 55 years old. That meant not only the group that is most often sold to news advertisers, viewers ages 25 to 54, but also the younger age groups used for sales in entertainment programming." The network continued to keep the story on the agenda by illustrating multiple sides of the issue, including at least one notable opinion piece criticizing the film's lack of focus on marine conservation in aquatic parks. Following the CNN broadcast, in a near-perfect multifaceted distribution strategy primed for visibility, Blackfish was released on Netflix in December 2013, which enabled the film to leverage the considerable publicity and buzz already generated by the steady media coverage throughout every distribution phase.

#3. Media Coverage.

The film's profile increased as SeaWorld and the filmmakers engaged in a prolonged public relations battle, in addition to the media coverage already garnered by activist stunts from PETA. In the days leading up to the film's theatrical distribution in July 2013, SeaWorld's PR firm released a statement that spotlighted claims of misrepresentations in the film. Film critics and other media outlets picked up the SeaWorld statement and the filmmakers' response, which amplified the coverage and raised public awareness of the film. In a New York Times article prompted by the exchange, writer Michael Cieply mused, "The exchange is now promising to test just how far a business can, or should, go in trying to disrupt the powerful negative imagery that comes with the rollout of documentary exposés." Well after the theatrical premiere, the campaigns continued, with the filmmakers responding publicly on the movie's website in January 2014. The PR war magnified the media coverage and the public's interest in the story - and crucially, not only during the theatrical distribution period in July 2013, but also during its TV premiere in October and streaming release at the end of the year. (Read SeaWorld's statement, "Blackfish: The Truth About the Movie.")
#4. Social Action Embedded in the Story.
Social action campaigns around documentary films can vary from the filmmaking teams' intentional strategies to organic responses from viewers to a story. In an ideal strategic scenario, the organic viewer response to the story is matched by an intentional campaign, if it exists. But in either case, the call-to-action efforts tend to succeed when the action is clear, and when it is conveyed or implied by the film's story itself (not only the marketing materials around it). In stories with institutional or complex solutions, articulating a call to action can be challenging, but offering concrete individual actions works. In the case of Blackfish, although the social action directives were not directly articulated or advanced by the filmmakers, the identification of Tilikum's captive home was clearly embedded in the story itself. The audience understood SeaWorld's role, and the film's story about orcas in captivity issued a clarion call. (It's important to note that in an early interview, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite did not advocate shutting down SeaWorld but instead discussed other ways to help captive orcas.)
#5. Emotion.
The story evoked empathy, an emotional response that is an evidence-based powerful driver of attitude shift and intended action in response to storytelling. Blackfish focused on a specific named orca living in captivity, Tilikum, as the key character, a deliberate narrative choice made by the filmmaker, rather than leading with or heavily relying on statistics. Although research in the area of narrative persuasion and entertainment-education deals with human victims of suffering, according to psychologist Paul Slovic, "When it comes to eliciting compassion, the identified individual victim, with a face and a name, has no peer...But the face need not even be human to motivate powerful intervention." This core notion of empathy and an individual story can help to explain why the story evoked such resonance from a narrative perspective, beyond the strategic elements like an active community, celebrity endorsements, ongoing media coverage and the rest.
#6. Measurable Impact.
Capturing the measurable social impact of a documentary is challenging and highly individualized, with varying research methods and approaches that work. The best method depends on either the goal of the project or simply a hypothesis and a deep understand about what kind of impact the film may have on the issue, based on an understanding of where the issue resides in media or public discourse - from changing personal behavior to instituting policy change and beyond. In the case of Blackfish, the intersection of both organic and organized social action, constant media coverage, and accessible financial data from a publicly-traded company provided some metrics of correlational impact. The readily-available metrics emerged steadily, from mid-2014 media reports about SeaWorld's financial trouble to a Washington Post analysis from December 2014, which detailed a steady stock-price decline throughout the film's life cycle from theatrical to streaming distribution in 2013.

Can the film claim a final causal connection to the reported financial misfortune, sustained public outcry and the final SeaWorld announcement? In the same way that much social change can't be unequivocally attributed to one particular and exacting turn of events, not precisely. But causal connection is an artificially high bar. It's hard to deny the role of the " Blackfish Effect" in the steady negative impact that culminated in a dramatic corporate policy change. Considering documentary film and TV's increased role as advocacy-infused, emotional investigative storytelling, as well as the increased access to documentaries on places like Netflix, CNN Films, HBO, PBS and other outlets, individuals and organizations working at the intersection of media and social justice are right to learn from this example.

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The final chord of " Blackfish Effect" landed with a thud - a seismic, unprecedented corporate policy announcement from SeaWorld. In January 2013, the documentary Blackfish premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, telling the story "about Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity," according to the official film synopsis.

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Call to Action - A complex Narrative - A story with characters, villains, victims...

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Call to Action - A complex Narrative - A story with characters, villains, victims...

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What was your process in choosing to focus on Tilikum’s story as the primary story for Blackfish on the issue of orcas cruel treatment in captivity?

Gabriela Cowperthwaite: He was as complex a character as I’ve ever encountered. I couldn’t understand why he did what he did – attack a top trainer who presumably had a relationship with him. I felt he must have a complex narrative and that this was the key to understanding what happened on that day.

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Shut down Seaworld.
"We will look back in 50 years and say what a barbaric time."

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“When it comes to eliciting compassion, the identified individual victim, with a face and a name, has no peer...But the face need not even be human to motivate powerful intervention.”

This core notion of empathy and an individual story can help to explain why the story evoked such resonance from a narrative perspective, beyond the strategic elements like an active community, celebrity endorsements, ongoing media coverage and the rest.

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Is this about saving whales or shutting down Sea World? 

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Is this about saving whales or shutting down Sea World? 

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One of the biggest ways this film calls to action is by creating a Villain to blame!
(It’s important to note that in an early interview, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite did not advocate shutting down SeaWorld but instead discussed other ways to help captive orcas.)

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The film’s profile increased as SeaWorld and the filmmakers engaged in a prolonged public relations battle, in addition to the media coverage already garnered by activist stunts from PETA.

In the days leading up to the film’s theatrical distribution in July 2013, SeaWorld’s PR firm released a statement that spotlighted claims of misrepresentations in the film. Film critics and other media outlets picked up the SeaWorld statement and the filmmakers’ response, which amplified the coverage and raised public awareness of the film.

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a premiere on CNN was not only a mass-viewer distribution strategy, but one that fired up a synergistic publicity and news media machine. Not only did the network use its news platform to air stories about orcas in captivity, the network published an interview with a SeaWorld spokesperson the week of the premiere.

The network continued to keep the story on the agenda by illustrating multiple sides of the issue, including at least one notable opinion piece criticizing the film’s lack of focus on marine conservation in aquatic parks.

Blackfish was released on Netflix in December 2013, which enabled the film to leverage the considerable publicity and buzz already generated by the steady media coverage throughout every distribution phase.

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Adding to the well-orchestrated and vocal NGO activism, celebrities’ tweets and support for the film engaged their own fans and followers, which raised and deepened the level of public awareness about the story.

Beyond the vocal work of a core group of supporters, combining the multiplying factor of celebrity endorsements and public attention - greatly enabled by a smart distribution strategy - allowed the story to reach outside the animal-welfare community to new audiences. It stretched beyond the choir. The cacophany became louder and louder, impossible to ignore or dismiss as insular, niche activism.

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The final chord of " Blackfish Effect" landed with a thud - a seismic, unprecedented corporate policy announcement from SeaWorld.

In January 2013, the documentary Blackfish premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, telling the story "about Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity," according to the official film synopsis. A little more than three years later - a period marked by sustained activism, multi-platform distribution, and media coverage - SeaWorld officially announced on March 17, 2016, that it will officially end its orca breeding program and end orca shows at all of its theme parks.

The decision didn't happen overnight, and neither did the full extent of the film's social impact. The path to change was paved over three years of ongoing pressure sparked by an emotional story told in an intimate, authentic way unique to documentary storytelling. And the signs appeared quickly. In December 2014, about a year and a half after the film's July 2013 theatrical premiere, the stock price of SeaWorld had already declined by 60 percent. A California state lawmaker proposed legislation in April 2014 that called to ban California aquatic parks from featuring orcas in performances; although the proposed law was unsuccessful, it garnered national media coverage.

How and why did Blackfish inspire this kind of impact over a three-year period of time? From a vantage point at the intersection of documentary storytelling, grassroots activism, multi-platform distribution and media strategy, six key elements can help explain:
#1. Amplified Community & Sustained Grassroots Activism
The issue of animal rights is supported by a vocal community of advocates, and the opportunity was ripe for cultivating new activism by the time Blackfish came along. The Oceanic Preservation Society, the organization elevated by the 2009 Academy-Award-winning documentary , publicly and immediately supported Blackfish through its own communication channels, including posting and distributing an online open letter to support the film, and joining with the filmmakers in a public statement. The major contribution of grassroots infrastructure to the Blackfish movement came from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), and in fact, the intersection between the film and the organization's activism may have amplified the ongoing impact dramatically. In an expansion of its own efforts targeting SeaWorld as far back as 1998, PETA launched an aggressive renewed campaign that combined physical protest and digital social action. After the film's premieres, donations to PETA spiked, enabling the group to finance continued grassroots and media stunts well after the film's premiere. (In 2015, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, PETA reported a budget of $4.5 million after a deficit of more than $250,000 just two years earlier, as well as $43 million in contributions in 2015, a 30 percent increase.)

With the new public spotlight well beyond the animal-welfare community, PETA continued to leverage the momentum of the film at every possible moment in the distribution and media cycle. Among its public actions during the past three " Blackfish Effect" years, PETA organized anti-SeaWorld actions at the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade - covered by major media outlets, including CNN, Blackfish's broadcaster, Huffington Post and others - and financed an ad campaign about orca breeding (an angle covered in the film). PETA's website, SeaWorldofHurt.com, continued the pressure and momentum, and the public followed - from about 30 visitors per day before the Blackfish broadcast premiere to more than 1 million in 2015, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In short, the film wasn't released into an issue or activism vacuum. It fell into a prime spot with a social-change infrastructure ready to leverage a strategic distribution strategy and well-produced story. In its seminal 2008 report, "Assessing Creative Media's Social Impact," The Fledgling Fund notably wrote about this crucial element - that is, deeply understanding the state of a social issue and a movement in order to understand where and how a story might be positioned to fuel change. The intersection between SeaWorld, Blackfish and PETA is a textbook example.

Adding to the well-orchestrated and vocal NGO activism, celebrities' tweets and support for the film engaged their own fans and followers, which raised and deepened the level of public awareness about the story. Beyond the vocal work of a core group of supporters, combining the multiplying factor of celebrity endorsements and public attention - greatly enabled by a smart distribution strategy - allowed the story to reach outside the animal-welfare community to new audiences. It stretched beyond the choir. The cacophany became louder and louder, impossible to ignore or dismiss as insular, niche activism.
#2. Strategic Distribution.
Following the Sundance Film Festival premiere, the filmmakers licensed the U.S. rights for Blackfish to Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films, not only for a theatrical run, but for TV distribution, a move that has become increasingly strategic for documentary filmmakers in the contemporary marketplace. In at least one study about contemporary documentary viewers, watching at home on TV is the top way to access documentaries, and streaming is increasingly crucial (although avid documentary enthusiasts are willing to find documentaries in theaters, as well). For Blackfish, in terms of a broad-appeal TV outlet with an even-handed ideological audience composition, a premiere on CNN was not only a mass-viewer distribution strategy, but one that fired up a synergistic publicity and news media machine. Not only did the network use its news platform to air stories about orcas in captivity, the network published an interview with a SeaWorld spokesperson the week of the premiere, assuredly contributing to viewer and media anticipation. CNN was rewarded for its publicity strategy with a ratings sweep on the October 23, 2013, premiere date; according to The New York Times, "The channel swept the ratings among every group under 55 years old. That meant not only the group that is most often sold to news advertisers, viewers ages 25 to 54, but also the younger age groups used for sales in entertainment programming." The network continued to keep the story on the agenda by illustrating multiple sides of the issue, including at least one notable opinion piece criticizing the film's lack of focus on marine conservation in aquatic parks. Following the CNN broadcast, in a near-perfect multifaceted distribution strategy primed for visibility, Blackfish was released on Netflix in December 2013, which enabled the film to leverage the considerable publicity and buzz already generated by the steady media coverage throughout every distribution phase.

#3. Media Coverage.

The film's profile increased as SeaWorld and the filmmakers engaged in a prolonged public relations battle, in addition to the media coverage already garnered by activist stunts from PETA. In the days leading up to the film's theatrical distribution in July 2013, SeaWorld's PR firm released a statement that spotlighted claims of misrepresentations in the film. Film critics and other media outlets picked up the SeaWorld statement and the filmmakers' response, which amplified the coverage and raised public awareness of the film. In a New York Times article prompted by the exchange, writer Michael Cieply mused, "The exchange is now promising to test just how far a business can, or should, go in trying to disrupt the powerful negative imagery that comes with the rollout of documentary exposés." Well after the theatrical premiere, the campaigns continued, with the filmmakers responding publicly on the movie's website in January 2014. The PR war magnified the media coverage and the public's interest in the story - and crucially, not only during the theatrical distribution period in July 2013, but also during its TV premiere in October and streaming release at the end of the year. (Read SeaWorld's statement, "Blackfish: The Truth About the Movie.")
#4. Social Action Embedded in the Story.
Social action campaigns around documentary films can vary from the filmmaking teams' intentional strategies to organic responses from viewers to a story. In an ideal strategic scenario, the organic viewer response to the story is matched by an intentional campaign, if it exists. But in either case, the call-to-action efforts tend to succeed when the action is clear, and when it is conveyed or implied by the film's story itself (not only the marketing materials around it). In stories with institutional or complex solutions, articulating a call to action can be challenging, but offering concrete individual actions works. In the case of Blackfish, although the social action directives were not directly articulated or advanced by the filmmakers, the identification of Tilikum's captive home was clearly embedded in the story itself. The audience understood SeaWorld's role, and the film's story about orcas in captivity issued a clarion call. (It's important to note that in an early interview, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite did not advocate shutting down SeaWorld but instead discussed other ways to help captive orcas.)
#5. Emotion.
The story evoked empathy, an emotional response that is an evidence-based powerful driver of attitude shift and intended action in response to storytelling. Blackfish focused on a specific named orca living in captivity, Tilikum, as the key character, a deliberate narrative choice made by the filmmaker, rather than leading with or heavily relying on statistics. Although research in the area of narrative persuasion and entertainment-education deals with human victims of suffering, according to psychologist Paul Slovic, "When it comes to eliciting compassion, the identified individual victim, with a face and a name, has no peer...But the face need not even be human to motivate powerful intervention." This core notion of empathy and an individual story can help to explain why the story evoked such resonance from a narrative perspective, beyond the strategic elements like an active community, celebrity endorsements, ongoing media coverage and the rest.
#6. Measurable Impact.
Capturing the measurable social impact of a documentary is challenging and highly individualized, with varying research methods and approaches that work. The best method depends on either the goal of the project or simply a hypothesis and a deep understand about what kind of impact the film may have on the issue, based on an understanding of where the issue resides in media or public discourse - from changing personal behavior to instituting policy change and beyond. In the case of Blackfish, the intersection of both organic and organized social action, constant media coverage, and accessible financial data from a publicly-traded company provided some metrics of correlational impact. The readily-available metrics emerged steadily, from mid-2014 media reports about SeaWorld's financial trouble to a Washington Post analysis from December 2014, which detailed a steady stock-price decline throughout the film's life cycle from theatrical to streaming distribution in 2013.

Can the film claim a final causal connection to the reported financial misfortune, sustained public outcry and the final SeaWorld announcement? In the same way that much social change can't be unequivocally attributed to one particular and exacting turn of events, not precisely. But causal connection is an artificially high bar. It's hard to deny the role of the " Blackfish Effect" in the steady negative impact that culminated in a dramatic corporate policy change. Considering documentary film and TV's increased role as advocacy-infused, emotional investigative storytelling, as well as the increased access to documentaries on places like Netflix, CNN Films, HBO, PBS and other outlets, individuals and organizations working at the intersection of media and social justice are right to learn from this example.

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The final chord of " Blackfish Effect" landed with a thud - a seismic, unprecedented corporate policy announcement from SeaWorld. In January 2013, the documentary Blackfish premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, telling the story "about Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity," according to the official film synopsis.

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Sea World is still facing consequences of this documentary. 

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Sea World is still facing consequences of this documentary. 

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SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., troubled by a backlash over its use of its signature orcas, swung to a loss in its latest quarter as the company once again grappled with negative public perception cutting into attendance.

Company officials said that overall attendance has plunged some 353,000 guests over the first half of the year, compared with the same period a year ago. The decline was mostly due to shrinking domestic and international attendance to the parks in Orlando, Fla., and San Diego.

The theme-park operator said that its Orlando park was impacted by reduced national advertising and competitive pressures, while the park in San Diego was hurt by "public perception issues" which have "resurfaced" since the company reduced spending on marketing.

Shares in the company, down 28% over the past six months, plunged 13% to $11.90 in premarket trading.

In a bid to reverse its fortunes, SeaWorld plans to increase spending on national advertising and "reinvesting in our reputation messaging to target perceptions in key markets, particularly California," said Chief Executive Joel Manby in prepared remarks.

SeaWorld has faced criticism from lawmakers and animal-rights activists over its treatment of captive orcas, also known as killer whales. Public outcry was fanned by the 2013 documentary "Blackfish," an exposé of SeaWorld's practices that inspired debate throughout national media.

And while SeaWorld has ended its breeding program and theatrical shows featuring killer whales, it still will have orcas for decades to come. It has nearly 30 killer whales across its locations and said they typically live up to 50 years. Some animal-rights organizations have called for SeaWorld to release its remaining stock.

SeaWorld has said it wants to highlight its animal-rescue efforts and add more educational and advocacy work to its parks.

But the debate has impacted the company's results.

For the latest quarter, the company swung to a loss of $175.9 million, or $2.05 a share, down from a year-earlier profit of $17.8 million, or 21 cents. The loss for the period includes a $269.3 million noncash goodwill impairment charge linked to its Orlando park.

Revenue was nearly flat, edging up 0.4% to $225 million. Amid the latest results, the company cut its annual guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to a range between $280 million and $310 million, from prior guidance of $330 million to $360 million.

Aside from the scrutiny stirred by its use of killer whales, the company also faced pressure amid its December 2014 ouster of its chief executive and the launch of a restructuring plan. Last year, the company announced plans to lay off 320 employees.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

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SeaWorld still facing 'Blackfish' backlash

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SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., troubled by a backlash over its use of its signature orcas, swung to a loss in its latest quarter as the company once again grappled with negative public perception cutting into attendance. Company officials said that overall attendance has plunged some 353,000 guests over the first half of the year, compared with the same period a year ago.

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Why "Blackfish" is Propaganda, not a Documentary

We object to Blackfish because its two central premises are wrong: (1) that life at SeaWorld is harmful for killer whales and for trainers working with these animals, and (2) that SeaWorld has attempted to cover up the facts surrounding the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, as well the history of Tilikum, the killer whale involved in that accident. Nothing could be further from the truth.

To make these ultimately false and misleading points, the film conveys falsehoods, manipulates viewers emotionally and relies on questionable filmmaking techniques to create "facts" that support its point of view.

Here's the truth:

1. Blackfish employs false and emotionally manipulative sequences concerning the collection and separation of killer whales.

2. The film relies on former SeaWorld employees, most of whom have little experience with killer whales, and others who haven't worked at SeaWorld in nearly 20 years.

3. The film also relies on animal rights activists masquerading as scientists.

4. The film spins an entirely fictitious account of Dawn Brancheau's death in order to advance its anti-captivity narrative.

5. To advance both its anti-captivity narrative and its false theories surrounding Ms. Brancheau's death, the film falsely suggests that Tilikum had become psychotic and aggressive.

6. The film falsely suggests that important facts about Tilikum were concealed from his trainers and that SeaWorld is indifferent to trainer safety.

Click Here for 69 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Believe Blackfish

Here are some significant examples with links to supporting documents:

1. Blackfish employs false and emotionally manipulative sequences concerning the collection and separation of killer whales: Through stock footage and video mismatched to the narrative, the film implies that SeaWorld collects killer whales from the wild and separates mothers and calves. NEITHER IS TRUE.

Collection: The film depicts a killer whale collection in Washington State that occurred 40 years ago. It leaves viewers with three false impressions: (1) that SeaWorld continues to collect whales from the wild to this day; (2) that Tilikum himself was collected by SeaWorld; and (3) that the collections done four decades ago were illegal. None of this is true. SeaWorld does not collect killer whales in the wild, and has not done so in over 35 years. Tilikum was not collected by us. And the collections four decades ago were conducted in compliance with federal laws, pursuant to federally-issued permits at that time.

Separation: The film highlights two separations. In one instance, involving a whale named Takara, the film leaves you with the impression she was a calf when separated. In fact, Takara was 12 years old when she was moved. In the second, involving a whale named Kalina, the film misleadingly shows footage of a calf that is only days old. Kalina was moved when she was 4 ½ years old because she was disruptive to her mother and other whales. We do not separate killer whale moms and calves, and in the rare occurrences that we do move whales among our parks, we do so only in order to maintain a healthy social structure.

2. The film relies on former SeaWorld employees, most of whom have little experience with killer whales, and others who haven't worked at SeaWorld in nearly 20 years: These individuals, who speak with apparent authority, have little or no firsthand knowledge of the incidents they describe. Most of them had no experience with Tilikum, and several never even performed with killer whales in the water. The film's "cast" is completely unfamiliar with current conditions and techniques at SeaWorld, and are certainly in no position to critique a trainer of Dawn Brancheau's caliber or her last interaction with Tilikum.

The film includes a SeaWorld video of a female trainer riding a killer whale, while one of the cast members, Samantha Berg, talks about her "experience" at Shamu Stadium. This segment misleadingly implies that Ms. Berg had relevant experience when, in fact, the video used in the film was shot 10 years after Ms. Berg had left SeaWorld. The trainer depicted in the video is not Ms. Berg but rather is a current SeaWorld employee. Of just the 3 years Ms. Berg spent working at SeaWorld, she spent only one year working with killer whales and she never conducted direct training with Tilikum.

3. The film also relies on animal rights activists masquerading as scientists: The film relies heavily on the dubious reflections of scientists who have aggressively campaigned against marine mammal display for decades, and have no expertise with killer whale behavior in captivity. These scientists include Howard Garrett, Lori Marino and Ken Balcomb. Mr. Garrett, along with cast members Samantha Berg and Carol Ray, joined with PETA in a previously filed lawsuit against SeaWorld. In this lawsuit, they equated SeaWorld's work with killer whales as slavery under the 13th Amendment. Although their case was promptly dismissed by the Court, their anti-captivity bias is obvious. Likewise, the film relies on the statements of David Duffus, a professor of geography and purported expert in the area of killer whale behavior, whom Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Judge Kenneth Welsch found " has no expertise in the training of captive killer whales."

4. The film spins an entirely fictitious account of Dawn Brancheau's death in order to advance its anti-captivity narrative. To support this bias slant, and specifically the idea that Tilikum was a psychotic and violent animal because of captivity, the film engages in a series of false and misleading statements about the circumstances of Ms. Brancheau's death:

In its opening sequence, the film misleadingly cobbles together separate pieces of innocuous training and performance footage, synched with the actual 911 calls, to mislead the audience into believing it is viewing the actual footage of Ms. Brancheau swimming with Tilikum prior to the fatal incident. In fact, the opening sequence does not depict either Ms. Brancheau or Tilikum, or an attack of any kind. From the date Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld, no one was allowed to swim in the water with Tilikum, and Ms. Brancheau never did so.

Purely for shock value, the film includes a recording of an EMT technician, subsequently proved to be mistaken, suggesting that Tilikum swallowed Ms. Brancheau's arm during the incident. This is false. This fact was readily available to the filmmaker in the documentation she obtained from the Secretary of Labor, yet was not included.

The film falsely suggests that SeaWorld "blamed" Ms. Brancheau for her death. We have never done that. She was our colleague and we mourn her loss to this day. The film, however, does blame Ms. Brancheau, and it accomplishes this through former trainers with little or no relevant experience. These trainers were not present on the day she died, and callously presume to critique her interaction with Tilikum.

5. To advance both its anti-captivity narrative and its false theories surrounding Ms. Brancheau's death, the film falsely suggests that Tilikum had become psychotic and aggressive:

The film blatantly mischaracterizes the events that led to the death of trainer Keltie Byrne at SeaLand of the Pacific, a park that was never owned or operated by SeaWorld. Tilikum was one of three whales in the sea pen at the time Ms. Byrne drowned, and the jury in the Coroner's Inquest (the Canadian investigation of the incident), which considered the testimony of 19 witnesses, did not identify any one of the three whales as the leader in the incident. Nevertheless, the film claims that Tilikum was the instigator, relying upon an interview given by two local residents. Another key fact never disclosed in the film: David Duffus, who is featured in the film numerous times as an "expert", was the foreman of this very same Coroner's Jury that investigated the SeaLand incident. Mr. Duffus testified that it was inconclusive that Tilikum was primarily responsible for the death of Ms. Byrne.

The film similarly trades in fictional theories about the circumstances surrounding the death of Daniel Dukes, an intruder who broke into the back area of Shamu Stadium after hours and jumped into Tilikum's pool. The film claims there was a "public relations version" of the death and that Mr. Dukes' death was somehow caused by an act of aggression by Tilikum. A review of the official Sheriff's report reveals that virtually nothing said in the film about our conduct that day is true. In fact, Naomi Rose, Ph.D., an outspoken critic of SeaWorld who actually appears in the credits to Blackfish, was quoted after the incident as saying "since the body was found on Tilikum's back, it's unlikely the whale was behaving aggressively.......The whale was probably playing with the man and continued to play with the body after the man died."

What clearly is supported by the facts is that prior to Ms. Brancheau's accident in 2010, Tilikum had engaged in numerous interactions with trainers and veterinarians safely and without incident over a period of 18 years. Tilikum remains at SeaWorld, where he cooperates with trainers, socializes with other killer whales and our guests.

6. The film falsely suggests that important facts about Tilikum were concealed from his trainers and that SeaWorld is indifferent to trainer safety:

SeaWorld was aware of Keltie Byrne's death when it acquired Tilikum. We adopted special precautionary protocols regarding work with Tilikum, including prohibition of performance in-water work. These protocols were impressed upon all trainers who worked with Tilikum, yet the film falsely implies that important safety information about Tilikum and his background were withheld. This is untrue. Nothing was ever concealed from Tilikum's trainers. During the OSHA trial surrounding Ms. Brancheau's accident, SeaWorld provided more than 35 hours of testimony concerning our killer whale program and topics such as our detailed safety protocols and how they are communicated to our trainers. All of this testimony was in the possession of the filmmakers, but ignored by the film.

The film misrepresents, through the use of footage four decades old, that SeaWorld takes a cavalier approach to safety and qualifications of its trainers. This is completely untrue. The path to becoming a killer whale trainer is rigorous and lengthy: It takes years to be qualified to work with killer whales. The film ignores all the steps and protocols trainers must take in order to be promoted through the ranks.

In addition to our written safety protocols and extensive training processes, we have invested tens of millions of dollars in state-of-the art improvements, including lifting floors, underwater cameras, and other both passive and active devices, all of which are tied together in our Emergency Response Program.

BACK TO TOP

Conclusion

All of the falsehoods and misleading techniques in Blackfish are employed in the service of the film's obvious bias, one that is best revealed near the end of Blackfish by a neuroscientist with no known expertise in killer whales. She claims that all killer whales in captivity are "emotionally destroyed," and "ticking time bombs." These are not the words of science, and indeed, there is not a shred of scientific support for them. Rather, they are the words of animal rights activists whose agenda the film's many falsehoods were designed to advance. They reveal "Blackfish" not as an objective documentary, but as propaganda.

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We object to Blackfish because its two central premises are wrong: (1) that life at SeaWorld is harmful for killer whales and for trainers working with these animals, and (2) that SeaWorld has attempted to cover up the facts surrounding the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, as well the history of Tilikum, the killer whale involved in that accident.

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SeaWorld Unleashes 8 Assertions About 'Blackfish' and Filmmakers Respond

é It's rare that corporations targeted in documentaries hire a film publicist to make sure that critics and journalists are informed of the company's response to a film. McDonald's didn't work to do damage control with film writers when "Super Size Me" opened, though there were rumors it would. It's common for industries and corporations to erect damage control mechanisms for the public. In the famous case chronicled in the New Yorker, David Koch seems to have pulled his support of WNET because they aired Alex Gibney's "Park Avenue." "Gasland" director Josh Fox's follow-up to his fracking expos makes clear the natural gas industry's attack on his film.

This weekend, indie film publicists had competing clients, when SeaWorld lashed out at Gabriela Cowperthwaite's film " Blackfish," the Sundance documentary that was picked up by Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films. Starting with the death of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau, "Blackfish" tells the history of SeaWorld and other like theme parks and notes the ways in which the conditions at these parks are harming the whales that are kept in them and are putting humans in danger.
READ MORE: Interview: 'Blackfish' Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite Discusses Suffering Orcas, Trainer Death, and Why SeaWorld Hasn't Seen the Movie
After keeping mum for some time, this past Saturday, SeaWorld released a list of eight problems they had with the film through film publicity outfit 42West. The list of issues with the film came addressed to "film credits" with the subject line "A dishonest movie." SeaWorld's assertions were introduced by saying, "Although 'Blackfish' is by most accounts a powerful, emotionally-moving piece of advocacy, it is also shamefully dishonest, deliberately misleading, and scientifically inaccurate. As the late scholar and U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously noted: 'You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.'"

After enumerating their complaints with the film, the letter ended, "These are only the most egregious of the film's many misrepresentations. 'Blackfish' is similarly misleading and inaccurate in its account of the other fatal incidents in which Tilikum was supposedly involved, what happened at Loro Parque, the training and qualifications ofSeaWorldtrainers, and the care and living conditions enjoyed bySeaWorld's orcas. And the list goes on...and on."

"Blackfish" opens in Los Angeles and New York this week, and it expands to other markets in subsequent weeks. It will air on CNN this fall.

Below are SeaWorld's eight assertions (which, as noted above, could have been more), and the filmmakers' response to them. Though the situation is clearly complicated, the filmmakers rightly point out that the film often does portray some of the perspectives addressed in SeaWorld's assertions. Potential viewers beware, SeaWorld's assertions involve spoilers.
SeaWorld Assertion 1 Film Response:
The insinuation that SeaWorld stocks its parks with killer whales captured from the wild. In fact, SeaWorld hasn't collected a killer whale from the wild in more than 35 years; more than 80% of the killer whales at SeaWorld were born there or in other zoological facilities.

It is not transparent to us whether SeaWorld has watched the film carefully. We were very clear in the film that the majority of whales at SeaWorld parks these days are captive-born. In fact, we have a graphic showing that many of those captive-born calves are Tilikum's offspring, the whale who has a proven track record of killing 3 people.
SeaWorld Assertion 2
That said, there is a whale called Morgan at a marine park in Spain which houses SeaWorld-owned whales. Morgan was caught in the wild and was placed in Loro Parque where she will be bred and perform alongside the other SeaWorld whales.

The assertion that killer whales in the wild live more than twice as long as those living at SeaWorld. While research suggests that some wild killer whales can live as long as 60 or 70 years, their average lifespan is nowhere near that. Nor is it true that killer whales in captivity live only 25 to 35 years. Because we've been studying killer whales at places like SeaWorld for only 40 years or so, we don't know what their lifespans might be-though we do know that SeaWorld currently has one killer whale in her late 40s and a number of others in their late 30s.

Film Response

In the wild, average lifespan is 30 for males, 50 for females. Their estimated maximum life span is 60-70 years for males and 80-90 years for females. In captivity, most orcas die in their teens and 20s and only a handful have made it past 35.The annual mortality or death rate for orcas is 2.5 times higher in captivity than it is in the wild. These are not controversial data.
SeaWorld Assertion 3
In the film, we depict what seems to be a deliberate attempt by SeaWorld to misrepresent these well documented data to their visitors.

The implication that unlike killer whales in the wild, killer whales in zoos or parks-and specifically Tilikum, the whale involved in Dawn Brancheau's death-are routinely bullied by other whales. The word "bullying" is meaningless when applied to the behavior of an animal like a killer whale. Whales live in a social setting with a dominance hierarchy, both at SeaWorld and in the wild. They express dominance in a variety of ways, including using their teeth to "rake" other whales, in the open ocean as well as in parks. ·

Film Response

SeaWorld does not show an understanding of basic behavioral biology in this statement. It is true that social animals like orcas do have dominance hierarchies and they are maintained via behavioral interactions. The film asserts that in the wild, whales can also flee conflict. Whales at SeaWorld cannot escape from a negative social interaction and are therefore confronted with conflicts that have proven to be injurious and even fatal.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article identified the PBS affiliate David Koch stopped funding as WNYC, which was incorrect. WNYC is a New York public radio station. WNET (thirteen) is the television network in question

Furthermore in the wild, these hierarchies are among family groups and are maintained with minimal aggression. In the wild, no orca has ever been known to seriously injure or kill another orca, inside or outside of their social group, in any interaction. Certainly minor injuries occur, and scars may remain (including nicks in dorsal fins and scratches on saddles), but no serious injury inflicted on one wild orca by another orca has ever been recorded, when observing live animals or in examining dead ones.

SeaWorld Assertion 4

The accusation that SeaWorld callously breaks up killer whale families. SeaWorld does everything possible to support the social structures of all marine mammals, including killer whales. It moves killer whales only when doing so is in the interest of their long-term health and welfare. And despite the misleading footage in the film, the only time it separates unweaned killer whale calves from their mothers is when the mothers have rejected them.

Film Response
SeaWorld Assertion 5
The calf-mother separations that are mentioned in the film both involve two of the most responsible and bonded mothers in SeaWorld's collection, both of whom have had multiple calves taken from them. The separations are said to be driven primarily by introducing new breeding options to other SeaWorld parks and by fulfilling entertainment and other husbandry needs.
Film Response
We are surprised that SeaWorld has brought up calf rejection, an issue the film does not address and a phenomenon that is extremely rare in wild orcas. In the wild, females generally have their first calf around 13-16 years of age. Because SeaWorld has bred their females as early as 5-6 years of age, these females have not learned proper social behavior, they have not learned how to mother a calf, and may ultimately reject and injure their calves.

The accusation that SeaWorld mistreats its killer whales with punishment-based training that's designed to force them to learn unnatural behaviors. SeaWorld has never used punishment-based training on any of its animals, including Tilikum, only positive reinforcement. And the behaviors it reinforces are always within the killer whale's natural range of behaviors. ·
SeaWorld Assertion 6
Again, we are unsure whether SeaWorld has undertaken a careful review ofBlackfish. The film never depicts SeaWorld as using punishment. We are confident the trainers would not acquiesce to such overt tactics. Yetalthough these accounts are not depicted in the film, multiple trainers are aware of incidents where animals may be fed substandard amounts of fish before VIP shows to encourage their cooperation or where a male killer whale might be put in with a group of whales who have been previously aggressive with him in order to encourage complicit behavior.
Film Response
We find the claim that SeaWorld killer whales perform behaviors "within the killer whale's natural range of behaviors," to be false. Wild killer whales are never observed performing front flips or vertical jumps to touch objects, neither have they been observed to spin 360 degrees on land. A killer whale supporting a human who rides, "surfs", or leaps from the animal's rostrum does not fall within a wild killer whale's repertoire either. These are unnatural, trained behaviors only observed in marine parks and reinforced by food.
SeaWorld Assertion 7
The accusation that SeaWorld trainers were not adequately informed about Tilikum. From the time Tilikum first arrived at SeaWorld, all trainers were warned-both as part of their training and in writing-that they were not allowed in the water with him. In fact, as was widely reported and covered at length in the OSHA proceedings, Tilikum has always had his own set of training protocols and only the most experienced trainers have been allowed to work with him.
Film Response
The film asserts that trainers were not told the details of what happened to Keltie Byrne when Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld and not told the details of what happened to Daniel Dukes at the time of his death. The details behind the reason for Tilikum's training protocols were not adequately explained, and Tilikum was often characterized as having been "associated" with previous deaths, and was described, even in the OSHA trials as an animal who "was possessive of objects" that fell into the water. The OSHA legal counsel had to push SeaWorld to admit that these objects sometimes included humans.

The accusation that SeaWorld tried to "spin" the story of Dawn Brancheau's death, changing its story several times and blaming her for the tragedy. As the movie itself shows, it was local law enforcement-not SeaWorld-that issued the initial report that Dawn had accidentally fallen into the water. SeaWorld's account of what happened-that Tilikum had grabbed Dawn's ponytail and pulled her in-never varied. And the company has never blamed Dawn for what happened. (The person in the film who did was not a SeaWorld spokesperson.) ·
Seaworld Assertion 8
It is our understanding that the local law enforcement representative who claimed Dawn Brancheau slipped and fell, issued this public statement after he emerged from a private meeting with top SeaWorld officials. Video documentation exists depicting SeaWorld Animal Training staff standing directly behind him as he makes this apparent "misstatement". We are unclear as to whether SeaWorld is accusing the Orange County Sheriff's Office of fabricating this story.
Film Response
Several SeaWorld trainers to whom we spoke claim that SeaWorld management and senior management routinely and repeatedly blamed Dawn Brancheau for being too complacent.

The assertion that Tilikum attacked and killed Dawn Brancheau because he was driven crazy by his years in captivity. Tilikum did not attack Dawn. All evidence indicates that Tilikum became interested in the novelty of Dawn's ponytail in his environment and, as a result, he grabbed it and pulled her into the water.

Although eye witness accounts and a video of events just prior to the take-down seem to strongly contradict the notion that Dawn was pulled in by her ponytail, it is most important to note that according to SeaWorld's own Management during courtroom testimony, Tilikum was desensed to ponytails and therefore did not find them a novelty. The brutal nature of the prolonged, aggressive attack and the facts in the autopsy strongly suggest that Tilikum's behavior was anything but novel curiosity. These facts were internally corroborated by senior level training staff at SeaWorld.

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SeaWorld Unleashes 8 Assertions About 'Blackfish' and Filmmakers Respond

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SeaWorld Unleashes 8 Assertions About 'Blackfish' and Filmmakers Respond é It's rare that corporations targeted in documentaries hire a film publicist to make sure that critics and journalists are informed of the company's response to a film. McDonald's didn't work to do damage control with film writers when "Super Size Me" opened, though there were rumors it would.

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Personal Pronouns used to create us verse them to villainize Sea World  

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Personal Pronouns used to create us verse them to villainize Sea World  

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SeaWorld lying about the age and health of whales, to make themselves look good and to cover the truth

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Creating a sad and emotional connection to the audience.

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Seperating the mother whale from the baby whale

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Personal trainers experience within working at SeaWorld

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It's in a whales nature to eat seals and work together

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To show that whales stick together as a family and to make a emotional reaction from the audience.

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the trainers assumed that Seaworld knew what they were doing

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Interacting with the audience - talking heads

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Interacting with the audience - talking heads

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Talking heads of two ladies there who witnessed the accident of Tilkum pulling down the trainer

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Talking heads of two ladies there who witnessed the accident of Tilkum pulling down the trainer

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it makes is more convincing and realistic. It pulls at our heart strings as we believe what they say and that they telling the truth. Because they are talking to the camera it is more believable and feels like we are there and can feel the emotions they did. A voiceover would not get this same feeling across as it does not feel as personal and can get distracted.

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Talking head makes it more convincing because its from people who are there and emotion than other odes such as obervational

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Talking head makes it more convincing because its from people who are there and emotion than other odes such as obervational

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focusing on the news and the deaths and accidents that have occurred

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Rake scratches on his body. Emphasises he is a victim and it is not his fault that he is that way he is, it is the environment and Seaworld/ Sealand

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dramatic music upon the capture of tilkum

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dramatic music upon the capture of tilkum

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worst thing I've ever done was hunt that whale 

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worst thing I've ever done was hunt that whale 

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"I didn't think about it being illegal at that point" 

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"I didn't think about it being illegal at that point" 

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foreshadows the illegal actions taking place at seaworld. Reiterates that they are bad and evil

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 capturing  a baby whale is like kidnapping a little kid 

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 capturing  a baby whale is like kidnapping a little kid 

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"like taking a little kid from his mother" sympathy, play with our emotions, this calls us to action and makes the killer whale victimised

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"Its just like kidnapping a childf fromtheir mother"

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"Its just like kidnapping a childf fromtheir mother"

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Creates and evokes an emotional attachment to the audience

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Watching archival footage of the whales being captured

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Watching archival footage of the whales being captured

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makes us disagree from the beginning and feel sorry and sympathise for him

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Catching the whales and seperating the young orcas from their mothers

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Catching the whales and seperating the young orcas from their mothers

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This creates an emotional attachment with the audience

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even victimising the catchers of the whales bc he cries 

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even victimising the catchers of the whales bc he cries 

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this is done by talking head interviews of giving reasoning explanations of why he did what he did. "if you were in a bath tub for 25 years wouldn't you do that same? Want to attack someone"

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Victimise Tilikums and trainers and villianise SeaWorld

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Different views on Sea World and the controversial situation

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Different views on Sea World and the controversial situation

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this makes us see a celebrity talking about it and agree

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This creates a connection to the audience as they obliged to like her.

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she is the real victim

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watching footage on modern technology making it relatable 

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watching footage on modern technology making it relatable 

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killer whales have personality "you build a relationship with them"  

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killer whales have personality "you build a relationship with them"  

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When you look into their eyes, you know someone is home, build a relationship together

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When you look into their eyes, you know someone is home, build a relationship together

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majestic music when showing the start of careers when talking about how they love animals and their motivation for doing it

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majestic music when showing the start of careers when talking about how they love animals and their motivation for doing it

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Trainers talk about their personal experience

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Trainers talk about their personal experience

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rookie

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"I was proud of being a Seaworld trainer"

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"I was proud of being a Seaworld trainer"

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"I don't know how to train whales" "I thought you needed a masters or something"

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"I don't know how to train whales" "I thought you needed a masters or something"

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emphasising that they do not have they experience or knowledge especially being with killer whales

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emotional relationship between animal and trainer 

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emotional relationship between animal and trainer 

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using when they are kids, victims of love

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trainer interviews talking about them being little children- VICTIMISATION- setting them up they're victims of their love to whales. 

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trainer interviews talking about them being little children- VICTIMISATION- setting them up they're victims of their love to whales. 

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This makes us relate and feel sorry for them.

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underwater footage showing the sheer mass of the whale compared to the trainer

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underwater footage showing the sheer mass of the whale compared to the trainer

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old trainers videos