Back in April of this year, the Phana Macaque Project advertised in Wildlife Film News (http://www.wildlife-film.com/) for a volunteer videographer to shoot and edit a film for us here in the Thai Monkey Forest at Don Chao Poo Forest, Phana District, Amnat Charoen Province, in north-east Thailand. We were surprised by how many well-qualified young professionals applied, but very quickly invited Erin Ranney and James Jeffries to take up the challenge. They were both close to completing their MA in Wildlife Documentary film Production at Salford University in the UK. They had backgrounds that we found very interesting (Erin mentioned tracking wolves and bears in her native Alaska) and it seemed that perhaps we could give their post-grad careers a kick start.

They have been here in Phana for 3 weeks now and have another 3 weeks to go. Already they have shot a lot of footage but they are keeping the shape of the final film pretty much to themselves. But they already have something to share with us — and you– and you will find the links below. But first, a few words of introduction from Erin:

“James and I just turned in our final films for our MA in Wildlife Documentary Production before heading here to Phana to film the macaques of Don Chao Poo Forest. We finished up our editing for the final films in September in the U.K. We both have background in biological sciences and are hoping to produce a film about the human and monkey interactions occurring in Phana — both  the pros and the cons.

Throughout the filming process, James has been documenting not only our “behind the scenes” for our forest films but also filming our every day activities and adventures in Thailand, just as he had for his final film in Orkney. These films will give you a brief idea of what it is like to stay in Phana, go to the temples, visit the monkeys and so much more. Our host Lawrence and his wife Pensri have given us an inside look at the culture and life in Phana that James hopes he can share.

Each week he works to produce a 5-7 minute film and so far- three have been completed.

Enjoy and keep an eye out for THAI//4”

Links: