Inspiring a wave of action.
Voice of the Oceans reaches millions with videos created with Adobe to fight plastic pollution.
35%
Faster reviews with global partners by creating one location for collaboration
Objectives
Fight plastic pollution by sharing stories of the ocean with wide audiences
Incorporate many different types of video content, including from drones, GoPro, mobile phones, and 4K cameras
Collaborate with global team members and partners, including those at sea
Reach growing audiences by delivering more content while maintaining high-quality storytelling
Results
Reaches tens of millions with 3,000+ videos ranging from TV broadcast to social media
Accelerates timelines by eliminating conversion and editing all footage natively
35% faster reviews with one location for notes and collaboration
25% faster content creation for 20% increase in delivered content and more time spent improving storytelling
David Schurmann was just past his tenth birthday when he and his family set off on an adventure that would put his family on the map. His parents, Vilfredo and Heloisa Schurmann, had long dreamed of following in the footsteps of adventurers before them by traveling the world by sea. The family of five left their home in southern Brazil to pursue this dream, returning 10 years later as the first Brazilians to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat.
The family has since repeated this feat two more times: one that retraced the route sailed by Magellan nearly 500 years ago, and another that aimed to follow even earlier routes from medieval Chinese sailors. Documentaries following these adventures have been eagerly viewed by millions around the world.
During the decades the Schurmanns spent at sea, the oceans became a second home. They got to know even the most remote areas of the ocean — and they saw how pollution, particularly in the form of plastic litter, is slowly choking every inch of it.
“We felt a responsibility to share what we saw and give a voice to the oceans. That’s why we launched the Voice of the Oceans project,” says David, now an accomplished filmmaker and director, as well as the CEO of Voice of the Oceans. “Voice of the Oceans officially launched in 2021, but it’s just the latest evolution of work that we’ve done for decades to share stories about the ocean with the world.”
David has long used his passion for storytelling as part of his family’s journey. He picked up a camera to start documenting their trip as a young teenager, and later built a resume working in film and television. Today, David uses his storytelling experience to create content for Voice of the Oceans that educates, inspires, and entertains.
Segments and programs running on major televisions networks such as Globo TV and Canal Off reach tens of millions of Brazilians. Sponsored content for brands such as Corona and Faber-Castell reach broad audiences through YouTube and social media. The five Voice of the Oceans social media channels garner 10 million impressions per year.
David and the Voice of the Oceans team produce all visual content using Adobe Creative Cloud, including Premiere Pro for all video. With the addition of Frame.io to the video workflow, Voice of the Oceans can better collaborate with global team members and partners for faster results while maintaining high-quality storytelling.
“We produced around 3,000 videos last year, ranging from 35-minute TV episodes to short social media clips,” says David. “That’s a 40% increase in number of videos over the last three years. We would not be able to deliver the volume and variety of content without the support and speed of Creative Cloud.”
“Adobe Premiere Pro is the only software that we need for our videos. We can edit all footage natively, which is huge when we’re working with everything from drones to GoPro to mobile phones to 4K cameras.”
David Schurmann
Filmmaker and CEO, Voice of the Oceans
Gaining the speed to create and inspire
While plastic waste is a serious problem for the oceans, David believes in the importance of focusing on positive, inspirational stories that offer solutions and courses of action. The content also highlights the activities of others, from showing the impact that plastic waste has on coastal and remote communities, to sharing the great work being done on a local level by non-profits and NGOs around the world.
Voice of the Oceans creates a significant amount of content every year, and Adobe Creative Cloud apps are used for all levels of production. When it comes to video, everything from social media clips to broadcast shows are edited using Adobe Premiere Pro, with additional post-production work done using Adobe After Effects.
“Adobe Premiere Pro is the only software that we need for our videos,” says David. “We can edit all footage natively, which is huge when we’re working with everything from drones to GoPro to mobile phones to 4K cameras. We can just start dropping footage into the timeline without needing to convert anything.”
Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are essential for creating graphics, presentations, and social media content. Lightroom helps the organization’s breathtaking photographs stand out. Apps such as Acrobat, Dreamweaver, and InDesign are also used regularly to create and share content.
“We’re always doing so much content at once, but Creative Cloud gives us the speed and freedom that we need to be creative,” says David. “The apps all work with each other, so we don’t need to spend time exporting and converting things. We can spend time polishing work to better engage audiences, developing and researching more compelling stories, and giving our crew a more enjoyable work-life balance.”
“Frame.io is a lifesaver in everything that we do. We can collaborate across time zones with all of our partners, without needing to worry about big downloads. It makes reviews at least 35% faster.”
David Schurmann
Filmmaker and CEO, Voice of the Oceans
Video collaboration anywhere at land or sea
With footage shot around the world, including by crews based in the Schurmanns’ sailboats, remote editing and reviews have long been a major part of the production workflow for David. Frame.io makes collaboration and reviews from anywhere incredibly fast and simple — but it wasn’t always that easy.
When David first started filming the family adventures, he would mail Super 16 film to be developed and edited on land. As digital communications advanced, David would communicate more with agencies, first by reviewing single frames, then short clips, then downloading full video files. But reviews were still very time-consuming, as parties might need to spend hours downloading and uploading files, all while sending hundreds of emails to talk through their ideas.
“Frame.io is a lifesaver in everything that we do,” says David. “We can collaborate across time zones with all of our partners, without needing to worry about big downloads. It makes reviews at least 35% faster.”
Rather than sending emails, people can leave their comments directly in Frame.io, adding the notes to specific frames or even drawing on the image to better convey their intent. There’s one location for comment and less room for misinterpretation, both of which lead to more precise conversations and faster edits.
Frame.io also allows people to review content from anywhere, even on a mobile phone. For a recent project, David oversaw video edits while working on a movie in Spain. This flexibility allows David to continue working on a variety of creative endeavors and bring that inspiration back to the Voice of the Oceans mission.
“We’re delivering content 25% faster with Premiere Pro and Frame.io,” says David. “This has allowed us to deliver up to 20% more content, but the speed also means that we can spend more time with each piece to improve storytelling and make sure that we are delivering the most compelling content possible.”
Speading the voice globally
David hopes to grow Voice of the Oceans into a global initiative by expanding partnerships and delivering more content to global audiences. He’s also looking for ways to introduce more programs on land, such as beach cleanups, to get people invested in the health of the oceans.
“Projects like beach cleanups only address the tiniest fraction of litter affecting the oceans, but it plays a big role in creating a ripple effect in the public consciousness that we hope will turn into a wave of awareness and activism,” says David. “We’re grateful to Creative Cloud for giving us the tools that help us do our part to change the world for the better.”
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