About

The Film

Filmed across the West and narrated by Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actor David Oyelowo, Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire (84 min) takes viewers on a journey with the top experts in the nation to better understand fire. The film follows the harrowing escape from Paradise, California as the town ignited from wind-driven embers and burned within a few hours of the fire's start. It then continues to the even more recent fires of the last two years, when Oregon, California and Colorado suffered their worst wildfires in recorded history. 

Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire includes the voices of climate experts, Indigenous people and fire survivors, and asks us to reimagine our relationship with wildfire as we prepare for an increasingly hotter future. Former United States Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck says of the documentary:

”Elemental is an outstanding film that deserves the widest possible viewing. In a visually stunning manner, it distills what we’ve learned about wildland fire over the decades and provides a road-map for badly needed changes that will benefit thousands of people, particularly in fire prone communities.” 

In the wake destructive fires across the nation, ELEMENTAL is an important look at discovering how we can all reimagine our relationship with wildfire, and keep our homes and communities safe.  The solutions are now more timely and urgent than ever. 

Trip Jennings founded Balance Media and has worked with National Geographic for over a decade. His films have won dozens of awards around the world and have aired on major networks on every continent. For nearly two decades, Ralph Bloemers has worked on wildfire and community safety, restored burned trails, and assisted the scientific community with bringing their knowledge and research to the public.

Director’s Statement

by Trip Jennings

“I am deeply committed to changing the national conversation around wildfire.”

My first exposure to wildland fire was when I was a sophomore in college working on a student film nearly 20 years ago. The Biscuit fire burned across half a million acres in Southern Oregon, and we covered the controversy, science and politics at play during and after the fire. The Bush administration proposed the largest timber sale in modern history, and a big fight ensued. A groups of scientist led by Daniel Donato published a paper in Science magazine and they were attacked by other professors at their school. Our team grappled with the complex debate around fire and worked with scientists, advocates and local citizens to capture the story.

Burned Sugarpine marked to cut, Biscuit Fire, Siskiyou National Forest

More than a decade later, the Eagle Creek fire ignited the Columbia River Gorge, a scenic area just a half hour from my home. As the fire burned, legislation was proposed that would allow clearcut logging in the forests after the fire. The community was shocked and angry. People were searching for answers, and I noticed that people were sharing my nearly two-decade-old student film - I was taken aback. Was it possible that little to nothing else was available to communicate this message?

As the rains came and put the fire out, I took to the air with an expert scientist to assess the burn. I created a short film about the fire that has been views by hundreds of thousands of people and has influenced the reporting and response.

For the last four years I have dedicated myself to visiting burned landscapes and communities destroyed by fire. I am deeply committed to changing the national conversation around wildfire. I have visited with scientists, investigators and firefighters and they have told me again and again that we can have healthy forests and safe communities, and that we can prepare for and adapt to fire.

Flyover of the Eagle Creek Fire, Columbia River Gorge

Meet the Team

  • Trip Jennings

    DIRECTOR

    Trip founded Balance Media and has worked with National Geographic for over a decade. He was named Adventurer of the Year by Nat Geo after his first project with the organization, an expedition in Papua New Guinea. Since then his films have won dozens of awards around the world and aired on major networks on every continent. Trip focuses on issues that are at a tipping point. He works to educate the public, front line communities and decision makers so they can make informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. His passion for making the world more just and sustainable is fueled by outdoor experiences, running rivers and surfing waves in Oregon and far beyond.

  • Dr. Lisa Ellsworth

    SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR

    Lisa found her passion for fire while working as a wildland firefighter. She went on to focus her PhD and years of research on disturbance ecology, fire behavior and natural resource management.

    Lisa's research program is focused on the interactions among people, plants, animals, and disturbance in Western rangelands and forests. She uses both field and modeling techniques to investigate how management modifies risk and resilience to wildfire and alters post-fire recovery. Lisa believes that strengthening the ties between people and place through education and outreach is one of our most important tools to conserve landscapes.

  • Margo Robbins

    CULTURAL ADVISOR

    Margo merges thousands of years of indigenous knowledge with the current need to restore fire back to the land. As a Yurok tribal member and the Director of the Cultural Fire Management Council and advisor to the Indigenous People’s Burn Network, she brings ancient wisdom to bear as a modern actor in a complex world.

    Margo returns fire to the land, gathers and prepares traditional food and medicine, and is a basket weaver and regalia maker. She has a love for fire and the many benefits it has for maintaining healthy forests and ensuring the safety of nearby communities.

  • Ralph Bloemers

    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

    For nearly two decades, Ralph has advised community-based conservation groups, recreation clubs and citizens throughout the Pacific Northwest on the conservation of our forests, including burned landscapes. Over the past five years he has investigated the causes of fires, documented wildlife in burned landscapes, volunteered his time to rebuild trails in fire burned areas and spent time in these forests with firefighters, expert scientists and ecologists. Ralph has helped the public, decision makers and students confront the dominant cultural beliefs about fire, and understand the paradoxes that mark our relationship with it.

  • Sara Quinn

    CO-PRODUCER

    With a background in cultural anthropology, Sara brings the slow, intentional approach of ethnography into her storytelling. Sara has been making award-winning films and shorts with Balance Media for five years, telling the stories of frontline communities facing fossil fuel infrastructure projects, wildland fire threats and attacks on public land. From documenting community-based fisheries along the Mesoamerican Reef to restoration of native food sovereignty in Maine, Sara has a particular interest in exploring rural environmentalism and the deep connections to place that come from living from the land.

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