Last week, Hawai’i was hit by Hurricane Lowell. The peak of the storm reached Kaua’i late Monday night (September 7) and lasted through the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning (September 8). During that window, the core of the storm made its closest approach just west of Niʻihau and Kauaʻi as a Category 2 hurricane, tracking northward.
When Graham and I first ventured deep into the rain-drenched wilderness of the Alakaʻi Plateau to film When Silence Becomes the Song, the silence settling over the canopy felt overwhelming. Yet beneath that quiet lay a story of fierce, breathtaking persistence. Recently, the island of Kauaʻi came together to honor that exact spirit: Pakele, the last known wild ʻakikiki. Marking one year since she was last seen on August 29, 2025, Mayor Derek Kawakami issued an official proclamation and the Kauaʻi County Council presented a certificate celebrating Pakele’s extraordinary life and recognizing the tireless biologists at the Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP) who fought along her side.
Yesterday, I received an email from PBS Hawai’i, letting me know that they have scheduled “When Silence Becomes the Song” for broadcast on Thursday, October 8th at 8:30 pm (HST), with a repeat on Sunday, October 11th at 1:00 pm (HST).
On August 21, 2026, Ella and Derek went to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens to do b-roll video of the Zoo’s action-packed free-flight demonstration called “Ameritas Wings of Wonder”. Footage from that day will be used in an upcoming full length documentary, written and directed by Ella.
Last day at Prix Jeunesse International 2026! Day 6 included screening and discussing the fiction shows for Up to 6-year-olds. There were two shows in this category that had a focus on nature and the outdoors: 1) Wow Lisa from Chile, and 2) Microterrestrials: The Fantastic Explorers from Chile. Wow Lisa uses stop-motion animation and shows eco-friendly living with a neighborhood of anthropomorphic animals. Microterrestrials followed the adventures of two bugs as they met different animals in the Valdivian rainforest.
Time for preschool shows and shorts at Prix Jeunesse International 2026! Day 5 included screening and discussing the non-fiction shows and shorts for Up to 6-year-olds. We also screened about half of the ‘Up to 6 Fiction’ shows.
Another busy day at Prix Jeunesse International 2026! Day 4 included screening and discussing the fiction shows and shorts for 7-10-year-olds.
What a day and night at Prix Jeunesse International 2026! Day 3 was filled with screening and discussing the non-fiction shows and shorts for 7-10-year-olds.
There were four shows that featured connections with nature in this category: 1) My Class in Greenland from Denmark, 2) Call Me Wild Child from Taiwan, 3) Animal City from Colombia, and 4) Mho Khao Mho Gang from Thailand.
Day 2 at Prix Jeunesse International 2026 was filled with screening and discussing the fiction shows and shorts for 11-15-year-olds. This is the first year that Shorts have their own categories by age group.
There were 3 environmental-themes shorts for the 11-15-year-olds: 1) “Earth is Home” from the U.S., 2) “Whoever Whatever” from Ukraine about recycling, and 3) “Biodiversity; Little Blue Dragon” from Mexico.
Ella and I are thrilled to be attending Prix Jeunesse International 2026 in Munich, Germany.
Yesterday, Ella sharpened her writing skills at the ‘Funnybones: Writing and directing humor for Kids’, a 5-hour workshop on how humor can become a constructive part of children’s and youth programs.
