Moonbears TV ad
Our long-time supporter Olivia Newton-John has come to our aid, recording a moving TV advertisement calling for an end to bear farming. And another talented supporter, German musician Andreas Goldschmidt, wrote the beautiful backing music.
Olivia’s impassioned plea is being broadcast throughout Australia and New Zealand, on Channel 7, Channel 9, National Geographic and SBS, across Asia on Star World and Nat Geo Wild and in other countries later in 2007.
On a recent whirlwind concert tour of Asia, lovely Olivia took time out of her hectic schedule to record the session in Hong Kong with yet another of our wonderful supporters, filmmaker Libby Halliday (who made “Moon Bears: Journey to Freedom”, which was released recently on Animal Planet.)
We are so grateful that we can count on Olivia’s support: “It is simply heartbreaking that these poor bears are put through such unnecessary torture,” she said recently. “Some of them are kept in tiny cages for up to quarter of a century. This is cruelty beyond belief. It is so important that people understand that there are plenty of effective and affordable alternatives to bear bile,” she said.
“I have a great deal of admiration for Jill and the Animals Asia team. They have a very tough job, but they are making real progress because their approach is non-confrontational and they work with the local authorities, not against them.”
Ever the professional, this delightful, talented performer barely batted an eyelid when her suite at the InterContinenal in Kowloon was taken over by Jill, Libby, Annie (our Head of Media), Henry (the cameraman) and a lighting operator - not to mention a ton of equipment. Sipping a cup of herbal tea between takes, Olivia patiently repeated her lines over and over to ensure we had five different usable versions for broadcast in HK, Australia, NZ, the US and UK. So a huge thank you to Olivia, who, as Jill said, “didn’t just agree to make the announcement - she offered!”.
Photo above: Annie, Olivia, Jill & Libby from animalsasia.org after the shoot.