Ted Simpson

The Pine Hunters is now available to watch online! The short film, available now on YouTube, shares the story of the Wild Pine Project, following two ecologists as they search for the loneliest Scots pine in Britain. Today, to mark the International Day Of Forests, follow their journey to the last vestiges of our wild Caledonian forests, and hear about the incredible work being done to record and project them. Find the film on YouTube via the link in my bio. Directed by Ted Simpson Director of Photography - @tomkirkman A @scout_studio Film Supported by @blundstone_uk 🌳 The Wild Pine Project is a partnership between Trees For Life and Woodland Trust Scotland. #thepinehunters #internationalforestday #scotspine #environmentalfilm

My first documentary, The Cull - Scotland’s Deer Dilemma, about the debate surrounding land management and red deer in the Scottish Highlands, has made its way onto Disney Plus. When I started making The Cull, I had no idea that it would be my first attempt at a feature film. I had no idea it would resonate with very different audiences around the world. I had no idea it would be my first foray into the very steep learning curve of independent film distribution. And six years (!) after production, I really didn’t think it would be the first film of mine to make it onto a big streaming platform. I really have learnt a lot making and sharing this film and I’m very grateful that it continues to surprise me with moments and milestones like this. Anyway - go watch! It’s trippy to have to wait through a 30 second Avatar advert before your own film loads. #thecull #disneyplus

Still buzzing! Cannot believe we took home Best Environmental Film at Banff. And the show goes on!!! We are beyond excited about our UK PREMIERE at @kendalmountainfestival in TEN days time!! It’s going to be really special to share this film on the big screen with home audiences for the first time. Tickets are just about still available so book now to avoid missing out!! DETAILS: SUNDAY 19th NOVEMBER 9.30am Kendal Brewery Arts Centre #sunliteye

A few January camping shots from a roll of Ilford FP4+. Shooting in black and white is always a mixed bag for me - but it worked well to capture the pretty bleak Dartmoor winter vibe. #film #35mm #blackandwhite

‘From the boat, these cascading oaks bend the light, tinting the water green. A line sits above the water, parallel to the flat surface. The enigmatic directional chaos of the oaks have been tamed by the river. One of the only straight lines in nature. It’s oddly satisfying, appealing to that very human urge to categorise, compartmentalise. It’s a dividing line that exists only to our eye.’ Excerpt and photographs from ‘Time Between Tides’ - my article for Issue 03 of New Mountain Magazine, about an Autumnal recce trip sailing into Cornwall’s intertidal oak forests for @theforestandtheseafilm . #filmphotography #newmountainmag #naturewriting #documentary #filmmmaking

‘The Pine Hunters’ has just hit 10,000 views on YouTube 🌿 Humbled by the reception to this film - thank you for everyone who has watched, shared and enjoyed. I’m so glad the story of the Wild Pine Project and the incredible Scots pine has resonated with so many of you. It’s fuelled me up to keep telling stories about nature and our place in it. There’s much more to come… #ThePineHunters #documentaryfilm #environmentalfilm

Last month we had the very first THE FOREST AND THE SEA FILM event hosted by our three incredible partners @blundstone_uk , @snowpeak_uk & @finisterre 🌱 An amazing night of conversation and film with myself, @sambmanning @__louastbury and @larrystafford_ of the Finisterre Hell or High Water podcast. Held at the @snowpeak_london_stjames ⛺️ It was totally packed out - a super engaged, brilliant group of people. Thank you very much to everyone who came along. The support was immense. And we’ve been blown away by the messages and feedback. This is just the beginning - we’ve now started filming in Cornwall and will be heading to Japan in June, with more shoots to follow this Summer and into the Autumn. There will be events happening throughout to share the science, stories and film progress. Please join us at @theforestandtheseafilm to follow along 🌿🌊 Keep following to hear about the next community events and how you can get involved - all the info will be shared by our film partners - @blundstone_uk @snowpeak_uk and @finisterre Photography - @jasper.abel // @blundstone_uk Artwork - @alohajackito Drinks - Ocean//Forest @from.trees + @dream.sake #documentaryfilm #comingsoon #filmmaker #nature #forestandthesea

A little story time about The Pine Hunters - with some exciting news buried at the end for those who make it that far… #comingsoon #documentaryfilm #ThePineHunters #filmmaker #nature

Looking ahead to an exciting week - heading up to London for what will be a really cool evening at the @snowpeak_uk store on Thursday night. Food, music, immersive film, and conversation - talking about the hidden connections between forest and ocean. It marks the start of our journey into making the film about this story, and it feels very exciting to invite people to follow along for the ride. Tickets are sold out now, but the last two can be won (with a heap of other great goodies too) by entering the giveaway in my previous posts - which closes tonight at midnight! Hope to see you there 🌳🌊 In partnership with — @blundstone_uk @snowpeak_uk @finisterre #theforestandthesea

A standout project from last year has just gone live - a Woodland Trust live session with @lyrband . We filmed L.Y.R, a group made up of Richard Walters, Patrick Pearson & Simon Armitage, as they performed two tracks in an ancient beech grove; ‘Redwings’, and their latest single, ‘Dark Sky Reservation’. We wanted to capture the atmosphere of the incredible location, and really embed the group’s performance within the space. Tom and I recce’d the location (we were given some coordinates and told to look for the mossiest beech trees we could find) and decided we should haul a comical amount of sound recording equipment, generators and cameras up to the site to ensure the highest possible quality of capture. Amazing effort from the whole team to pull this off, especially our soundie Josh who brought a full on studio into the woods. All in all, a special day in the forest, and to paraphrase Pat - it’s lovely to know that those trees have now witnessed a gig as well as everything else they may have seen these last few hundred years. You can watch the full film on the @woodlandtrust YouTube channel. Thanks to @anya.wilding for the lovely behind the scenes captures, and to @sambmanning for pulling this all together. Director - 👋🏻 DOP - @tomkirkman AC - @samfack Sound - @patchworkstudios BTS - @anya.wilding

*COMPETITION CLOSED - congratulations to our winners @whereva.is.ella and @wilkinsonfeller !* 🌳🌊 We’re thrilled to be offering a giveaway ahead of THE FOREST AND THE SEA event on 26th February, to win the last two tickets - and much more! In partnership with @blundstone_uk ⁠ @finisterre and @snowpeak_uk . Enter now for your chance to win:⁠ 2 x tickets for the evening event on 26th February - Snow Peak Store, London AND an incredible bundle of gifts to take you outside from forest to ocean. 2 x pairs of Blundstone boots⁠. 2 x Snow Peak Titanium ocean bottles 2 x Finisterre + Snow Peak exclusive ponchos 2 x Finisterre + Snow Peak drift buckets 24L 2 x Finisterre wool socks To enter:⁠ 🌲 Like this post⁠ 🌊 Tag who you’d bring ⁠as your guest 🐟 Make sure you’re following @ted__simpson , @blundstone_uk ⁠, @snowpeak_uk and @finisterre ⁠ Entries close at midnight on Sunday 22nd February. The winner will be selected at random and contacted on Monday 23rd February from @blundstone_uk official account.⁠ ⁠ Good luck! 🤞⁠ Winners will each receive a goodie bundle + ticket to The Forest and the Sea event on Thursday 26th February in London. UK only. Winners must organise their own travel to the event and collect their goodie bundle in person at the event. The giveaway opens Thursday 12th February and closes on Sunday 22nd February at 23:59 GMT. Winners will be contacted via DM from the @blundstone_uk account only. Artwork by @alohajackito T&Cs UK residents aged 18+ only. Winner will be selected at random. Winner will be contacted by @blundstone_uk only - please beware of fake accounts. No purchase necessary. Prize cannot be exchanged for monetary value. This promotion is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Instagram. Full T&Cs available on request.

This Saturday, The Pine Hunters is screening at Fort William @mountainfestival . The precarious, gnarled wild Scots pine pictured here is in some ways the main character of that film - featuring more than 10% of the screen time, held in one unbroken shot. As we’ve been in development for The Forest And The Sea, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we film nature, how we approach shooting and representing characters within the landscape, and what happens when you approach filming a tree as you would do a person. Forests often feel like one ‘thing’, a place that envelops you - but the more time you spend, the more characters you find within the tableau. Finding ways to bring these characters to life seems to be at the forefront of my mind at the moment - there is so much to think about before the trees come to bud. Saturday’s screening is sold out - but there will be a couple more chances to watch The Pine Hunters on the big screen soon.