In April 2016, WWF and the Global Tiger Forum counted just 3,890 tigers roaming in the wild. This was a slight increase from 2010, when only 3,200 were documented. But in 1990 there were thought to be 100,000. And illegal tiger trade continues to threaten the existence of tigers.

Goodoil Films director, Justin McMillan, and Heckler editor, Andrew Holmes, have teamed up to create a series of documentary films for Tiger Beer and campaign partner, WWF, to help protect the species – which is the brand’s mascot.

In the campaign, 3890 Project, features six street artists from six countries, in films that unveil the plight of tigers, using art to fight the illegal tiger trade by bringing the creature’s cause to city streets around the world.

To create the films, McMillan and a documentary crew embarked on a three-week crusade to interview street artists Nick Gentry (London), Tran Nguyen (Los Angeles) Momo (Marseille), Nootk (Moscow), Kenji Chai (Kuala Lumpur) and Hua Tunan (in Foshan, China). In the documentaries, narrated by LA rap artist, Dumbfoundead, each of the artists expresses what the extinction of wild tigers means to them.

McMillan commented, “The biggest challenge we faced on this project was how do we make six street artist from major cities around the globe (some of which hardly speak English) become informed and engaged when talking about Tigers becoming extinct in the wild?

“These days social media has become incredibly noisy when it comes to getting behind a good cause so for the 3890 campaign to hold its own I wanted to cast a front man who was a little unexpected.

“I’ve always had a solid appreciation for the way battle rappers can think on their feet,” he added, “so I trawled the internet for the right man. I’m stoked Dumbfoundead agreed to come on this journey with us.”

While McMillan was still on the road shooting with a skeleton film crew and four cameras – an Alexa Mini, Sony A7S, Drone and Gopro Stop Motion – his rushes were sent to Holmes, who created a trailer and six films as an artist-driven weapon to expose the injustices of the illegal tiger trade. In some instances, McMillan spent only 36 hours on the ground in one country.

McMillan added, “A large part of documentary story telling is developed in an edit suite, so you need a solid storyteller on the keys. Andrew was definitely the right man for the job. He brings a contemporary editorial approach to traditional filmmaking and his energy level is infectious.”

Holmes noted, “The thing about good documentary filmmaking is there are no short cuts. The only way any good doco comes together is through solid collaboration in the edit suite. It’s always nice to work with a director that is as passionate about story telling as I am. Hopefully these films can start a conversation and help to create more awareness around the issue.”

Credits:

Client: Tiger Beer
Creative Agency: Marcel Sydney

Production Company: Goodoil Films

Director: Justin McMillan
Producer: Andrew McLean
Executive Producer: Sam Long

Post Production: Heckler

Editor: Andrew Holmes
Executive Producer: Will Alexander
Head of Production: Aborah Buick
Producer: Amy Jarman
Online / VFX Supervisor: Jamie Watson
Colourist: Greg Constantaras
Compositors: Chuong Vu, Younguck Ha & Shane Miranda
Designer: Andrew Holmes & Shaun Leong-Williams