Everybody loves SeaWorld, but what if that's just because we're being fed a bunch of lies? In this episode, Monica sits down with Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of the new documentary Blackfish, which uses an attack by a killer whale in captivity to explore just what exactly goes on behind the curtain. Is there anything about the SeaWorld experience that's authentic? What was the most painful thing to learn? And how did her perceptions change as she got further into her investigation? Tune in to find out.

NOTE: This episode arguably contains mild spoilers for Blackfish.

SHOW NOTES:

About Our Guest:

Gabriela Cowperthwaite is a documentary filmmaker who has directed, produced and written a variety of real life stories, including City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story and Blackfish, the latter of which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. She has also produced content for ESPN, National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery, and History Channel.

The Episode:

0:26 - Introduction

2:04 - What inspired you to investigate this?

4:38 - Was it hard to find the trainers?

6:16 - How did you approach crafting the narrative?

9:10 - Did you ever feel nostalgic? The trainers' love for the animals is authentic.

14:10 - Had you ever considered fact-checking SeaWorld's claims before making the film?

15:45 - What was the most difficult thing to learn? Was anything cut?

19:08 - What has been the response from SeaWorld and from audiences?

14:06 - Show close

DON'T FORGET: You can contact us by emailing [email protected]. Thanks for listening!