Heckler teams up with Studio Birthplace as VFX Partner on Global Greenpeace Music Video

To mark International Biodiversity Day, Greenpeace has launched a cinematically powerful music video ‘MoneyTrees’ in collaboration with rap artist GreedyBoy, that acts as a wakeup call to end the corporate destruction of nature.

Set to the pulsating beat of GreedyBoy’s specially composed track, Heckler joined forces as VFX partner on the striking video produced by Studio Birthplace – a creative agency focused exclusively on planet positive projects.

Led by Heckler creative director Cody Amos, the VFX team got to work setting the forest on fire. They also created some of the forest environment, including a few CG trees and wood embers, along with compositing the eye-catching fire elements that star heavily in the video.

Opening on a disturbing scene of profit-driven bankers destroying a rainforest with their chainsaws, the visuals then flip to the rainforest and bankers’ boardroom scene being engulfed in a frenzy of embers and flames.

MoneyTrees aims to expose the absurdity of how unregulated banks pour billions in investment into the big corporations that are destroying our planet’s natural habitats.

Says Charu Menon, managing director and executive producer, Heckler: “I think the work Studio Birthplace are doing is essential – as their motto so succinctly puts it, they truly are telling the earth’s most urgent stories.

“It was a privilege to come on board as a VFX partner. The visual metaphor of a forest fire raging and almost engulfing a board meeting is chilling and unforgettable. The hyperbolic performances and the music track elevate the film.”

In portraying the forest destruction caused by bankers and corporations, it was crucial to Greenpeace and the creative team that no trees were harmed during filming. The film location features two giant trees that had recently been floored by a storm, creating a natural ‘destruction’ site.

Greenpeace Team
Davin Hutchins, Christine Gebeneter & Bamboo Zardetto

Production Company: Studio Birthplace
Film Directors/Writers/Editors: Jorik Dozy & Sil van der Woerd
Music Artist: Greedyboy aka Joseph Wills
Executive Producer: Alea Rahim
Producer: Sara Kong
Visual Effects Company: Heckler
Visual Effects Supervisor: Cody Amos
Executive Producer: Charu Menon
3D Artists: Sen Ree Ooi & Sam Schwier
Compositors: Cody Amos, Davor Zec, Johnson Lim & Abi Santos
Grading Company: No. 8
Colourist: Alex Gregory

Music Composer: Joe Wills
Music Production: Joe Wills
Music Company: Obscenic Ltd
Sound Designer: Joe Wills

Thanks to: Radu Dumitrascu, Meike Rijksen & Marieke de Vries