Penguin Love Island - a live action penguin rom-com

We spoke to Wild Lens Collective member Annie Roth about her recent documentary, Penguin Love Island, and the grant she won which allowed the production to go ahead. The film was created with fellow Wild Lens Collective members Justin Grubb and Alex Goetz, co-Founders of production company Running Wild Media.

How did it feel to win the Curiosity Inc grant?

It was a total surprise! I never thought a rom-com-esque doc about a nocturnal penguin species would be selected but to my delight it was. The look on my face when they announced the winner was priceless. 

What was your pitch?

Alex Goetz and I put together a short and sweet pitch that promised a cute, romantic but conservation-focused doc about the love lives of little blue penguins.

What were the first steps to getting started on the film?

We contacted everyone in Tasmania who works with little penguins and asked them for advice. 

Was the story you told the exact one that you had set out to tell?

The story we envisioned and the one we set out to tell were pretty much the same. However, I was hoping the film would feature a gay penguin (homosexuality is fairly common within this species) couple but sadly that didn't happen. 

Were there any hurdles in the production process and how did you overcome them?

When I pitched this story I didn't realize how nocturnal these penguins actually are. We had to figure out how to shoot them in little to no light because we didn't want to disturb them by creating our own light. It was a challenge.

What's next for you?

The Running Wild team and I plan on pitching another conservation-focused doc very soon.

Here’s a taster of the film via the trailer, but you can watch this full love story on Curiosity Stream now.