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Surviving the Pacific Northwest: A Bumblebee Tale

A short film focusing on native Bumblebees found in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

  • Wyndee King
    Director
  • Wyndee King
    Writer
  • Wyndee King
    Producer
  • Robert L Newhart II
    Key Cast
    "Meriweather Lewis"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 23, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Hand-held
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16.9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Wyndee King

Director Wyndee King grew up in California and Oregon then moved to New York City to pursue modeling and acting. She worked on a variety of projects in modeling, fashion, acting, photography, and radio before returning to the West Coast. Wyndee continues to expand her creative endeavors to include Community Theater, voice acting, film screener, and now building her body of work as a photographer and film director.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I was simply sitting outside on a warm spring day eating my lunch and listening to the birds when I heard an unusual sound and then a bright yellow color caught my eye. I was curious about this noisy creature since having experienced recent unexpected encounters with never-before-seen desert creatures- a scorpion in my upstairs bedroom and a Jerusalem cricket near my pantry. Both encounters freaked me out a bit, sending shivers up and down my spine.
I have lived in Oregon for many years and have never heard mention of, or seen these creatures, and being a person who is curious and likes to solve a good mystery, I needed to investigate. I happened to have my camera close at hand and snapped a few photos of this oversized yellow haired bee. I used the photo to find similar bees on-line and started researching the 5 w’s (who, what, when, where, and why). I became fascinated by the facts. Bumblebees are essential to pollinate some food crops due to special physical characteristics that honeybees lack. More research led to more questions. There was a social media post with a photo of a bumblebee on a daisy asking if anyone knew what this creature was. I obviously was not the only one who didn’t know about these bees. People that have lived in Oregon their whole lives, 40-80 years, did not know these bees were around. I kept filming, photographing, and researching the bumblebees in my area for 2 years.
Part of the art of an educator is assisting in the art of discovery through storytelling and that is how 'Surviving the Pacific Northwest: A Bumblebee tale' came to be.