Poulsbo — Most people start up a business to make a living.
For Nancy Sefton and Wesley Nicholson, the aim was really to save the world.
With more than 30 years of video production and environmental volunteer work between them, the two founded Poulsbo’s Earthwise Media in February. The production company authors environmental videos and DVDs for non-profits with an eye toward educating the public about stewardship of the world around them.
“We want to help breed appreciation of the natural environment because it’s under attack in so many ways,” Nicholson said.
Before beginning their business, Sefton and Nicholson were already well acquainted. They’d worked together as members of the board of directors for the Marine Science Society of the Pacific Northwest and on several promotional videos for local non-profits like Poulsbo’s Marine Science Center and Kingston’s Stillwaters Environmental Center.
“We just seemed to be working together more and more,” Nicholson recalled.
Sefton, the creative coordinator and an 11-year Poulsbo resident, is an accomplished environmental writer, photographer, videographer and illustrator. Nicholson, the technical coordinator and a six-year North Kitsap resident, is a videographer and writer with a background in forest economics, land use planning, research, computers and business. The two realized that they had the same passion for educating people and willingness to donate their work and decided to make it official.
Since February, they have produced videos like “Docks & Pilings: Man-made Reefs,” “It’s a Jungle Down There: The Story of Eelgrass Beds” and “Life on the Edge: A Guide to Pacific Coastal Habitats,” which was produced in conjunction with the Seattle Aquarium. Their next project “Rainbows in the Sea,” a partnership with the Coral Reef Alliance, is due out in July.
The decision to take on a project relies not on their client’s ability to pay, but on the message that can be disseminated through the result.
“Part of our focus and vision for the company is to allow non-profits to afford these kinds of productions,” Nicholson explained.
“Our goal is to create another learning tool and to be stewards of the natural environment,” Sefton added.
The company has a large library of video footage, still frames, music, illustrations and diagrams it will use whenever possible to help keep the costs low. Customers can also minimize their cost by having themselves or one of their members serve as narrator, instead of hiring someone.
And if a non-profit is unable to pay, there are even ways around that, Sefton and Nicholson said. The partners will often donate their time and energy, and are able to make the money up later by selling the resulting videos and DVDs on their Web site and through outlets like the MSC and the Seattle Aquarium.
“It’s a win,-win situation,” Sefton said. “They get their name on a nice product and we in turn ask them to plug us into their networks.”
Another way Earthwise Media keeps production costs low is by using all of its own equipment. Sefton and Nicholson have two video cameras and one that has a special casing for underwater filming. Nicholson, who teaches divers how to conduct fish inventories through the REEF program, takes the majority of diving footage, although Sefton has taken a good deal of underwater photos and jokes that she will dive if the temperatures suit her.
Besides renting space at a local sound studio, the rest of the work is done by the pair. Editing is conducted on computers mostly with Adobe software.
“We’re kind of self-contained,” Sefton commented.
So far, business has been going swimmingly for the two. Both say they enjoy their work so much that it’s sometimes hard to tear themselves away from it. But with these two, success of their business is not measured by profits or stock options but by each new exposure for the conservation message.
“The subject matter is interesting but it’s the purpose I really believe in,” Nicholson explained.
