Welcome to Pelican Media
Based in San Francisco, California, Pelican Media is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose primary aim is the production of films with environmental themes. Our special focus is on urban habitat: the relationships between people and animals. Recent projects include films about a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco, California least terns in Alameda, and the conversion of south San Francisco Bay salt ponds to natural marsh. Our revenue comes from foundations, individuals, organizations, government grants, broadcast rights, film royalties, stock footage sales, DVD/video distribution, and other program-related sources. Executive Director Judy Irving is an Emmy-and-Sundance-award-winning filmmaker.
Recent Projects
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, about the relationship between a former street musician and a flock of wild parrots, screened in over 500 theatres nationwide, is the 4th highest-grossing theatrical documentary about animals, and is among the 50 top nonfiction features ever released.
19 Arrests, No Convictions, about a former bar owner with a fishy night life who redeems himself as a San Francisco Bay open-water swimmer, premiered last year at the Ocean Film Festival. George Farnsworth holds the record as the oldest person to "escape" from Alcatraz on New Year's Day.
Christmas at the Bait Shop is a short film celebrating the friendship between Keith Fraser, a San Rafael bait shop owner, and his avian buddies: Ahab, a Heermann's gull, Nasty, a great blue heron, and Wee Willie, a snowy egret. The film is a favorite on public television each Christmas. Click here to see it.
Salt Pond Habitat Restoration: both a short film and an ongoing still photography project. From 2004 to the present we have been building a photo archive documenting wetlands, wildlife, and restoration progress in south San Francisco Bay.