Sailing to Conserve
With the Winds
Background
The Team
Henry Bell and Grant Bemis grew up in Minnesota and became friends in middle school. They came up with the idea for With the Winds during their junior year of college and began work on the research and documentary project after completing their undergraduate studies in 2014.
Henry Bell is an avid sailor, outdoorsman, and amateur filmmaker. He grew up in rural Minnesota, recording and editing videos of everything from backcountry ski trips to overnight sailing races. He has worked at a variety of environmental organizations and spent several summers teaching marine policy for the sailing program SEA Semester
With the Winds began as a somewhat far-fetched scheme and evolved into a community-supported, three-year-long expedition, research project, and film that brought together all of Henry's biggest passions. It is his first foray into documentary filmmaking. Henry came to the endeavor with an optimistic but intensive attention to planning and detail and a background in video editing.
on their research vessel in the Pacific. He is pursuing a master's in Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington.
Grant Bemis is an accomplished photo-grapher, adventurer, and conservation advocate. In 2014 he skipped college graduation ceremonies to join a team of scientists, climbers, and documentary filmmakers in Malawi and Mozambique to assist with the Legado Initiative. The successful expedition integrated conserv-
ation planning with cliff-side research in remote and threatened habitats and resulted in the acclaimed film, Namuli.
Grant's work continues to take him to remote and far-away places, from Honduras' Cusuco National Park to the rainforests of Uganda. He completed a master's degree in Exploration Science at the University of Miami and makes his home on his Gozzard sailboat, Mahi. Grant brings abundant field experience, creativity, and cinematography expertise to With the Winds.