Meet Eric Forbes, Co-Founder of WUI Productions

Welcome back to the WUI Productions blog!

In our last post we introduced you to co-founder Matthew Ross, so today we'd like you to meet the other co-founder of WUI, Eric Forbes.

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Eric is a documentary filmmaker and photographer who is dedicated to communicating environmental and scientific issues in innovative ways. Eric is a driving force behind our mission to make a positive impact through visual media.

Eric's journey into the world of environmental communication began when he decided to pursue a master's of science degree in Journalism and Media Communication at Colorado State University (CSU), shifting his career path towards his true passion. Since joining the program, he has been involved in significant projects with organizations such as the USDA, NOAA, and the CSU Environmental Learning Center.

Eric on location enjoying some ice cream, a mandatory treat for filmmaking

Throughout these experiences, Eric has worn multiple hats, serving as a director, field research photographer, data analyst, and ice cream connoisseur.

As a filmmaker, Eric excels in both documentary and narrative styles, utilizing the power of storytelling to captivate viewers and shed light on pressing environmental issues. He brings a unique blend of creativity and authenticity to his projects, aiming to engage audiences on an emotional level and inspire them to take action.

In addition to his filmmaking, Eric has an extensive photography background. Whether he's capturing stunning landscapes or documenting crucial research, his images have a way of conveying the beauty and fragility of our natural world. With a deep understanding of both analog and digital photography, Eric creates visuals that leave a lasting impact on viewers.

Before shifting his career path to environmental communication, Eric developed his skills behind the camera with years of experience creating corporate video production. Eric’s time in the corporate video production world has given him valuable industry experience in how to quote projects, work with clients, and create content that stands out. Using these developed skills, Eric has helped foster good relationships with clients and collaborators for WUI Productions.

With a little more background on our Co-Founder, Eric Forbes, we invite you to join us on this exciting journey as we explore the world of environmental and science communication at WUI Productions. Stay tuned for more captivating content and behind-the-scenes insights as we continue to push the boundaries of environmental communication here at WUI Productions.

Meet Matthew Ross, Co-Founder of WUI Productions

In this blog post, we'll meet Matthew Ross, Co-Founder of WUI Productions.

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to the WUI Productions blog! My name is Matthew Ross and I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about who I am and what inspired me to be a co-founder of WUI Productions. So have a seat, grab a refreshing beverage and enjoy the story!

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Matthew Ross is a wildlife and conservation photographer, video producer and media creator. Originally from Long Island, New York, Matthew moved to Colorado in late 2013 and decided to retire from a successful career in alternative medicine and fitness to embark on a new career and life in his new home state.

As an avid nature lover and outdoorsman, Matthew decided to turn this passion of his into a new career. This decision would lead him to returning to school and begin studying natural resource and conservation management.

Matthew Ross in his element, capturing images of wildlife in the field

He began this journey as a student at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins where he studied forestry, natural resource, and wildlife management. He loved this program as it focused on learning through hands-on work in the field with other students and professionals. This program was also very inspirational as it opened up a new world to him as he learned how precious our natural world is and why it’s so important to manage our natural resources and the wild creatures that live within it.

Through his studies at FRCC and with the encouragement from some of his instructors and mentors, he would then enroll at Colorado State University to continue his studies in Human Dimensions of Natural Resource Management. This program is offered at the Warner College of Natural Resources and focuses on park, natural area, and protected area management and conservation.

Along his journey and though the work he was doing outdoors, Matthew would become interested in photography and communicating conservation and environmental issues instead of directly managing them. This would lead him to once again change his studies and major to journalism and media communications where he would focus on enhancing his skills in writing, photography, video production, and other forms of media communication.

Capturing b-roll footage of a burn scar from the Cameron Peak wildfire, just west of Fort Collins, for the film Lasting Embers

Through his studies in both programs at CSU, Matthew began to notice a disconnect between conservation science and educating the general public on important issues within conservation and environmental issues, and wanted to learn how to better communicate them through a variety of media productions. This would lead Matthew to decide to continue his studies as a masters student, where he decided to focus on learning science communication through documentary film, photography, and other forms of visual media.

This decision and through working on films with other students and faculty such as Lasting Embers and short-form documentary series on crop diversity and soil health, would ultimately lead to him co-founding WUI Productions with his friend and classmate, Eric Forbes.

Today, Matthew is looking to finish his master's degree in the spring of 2024 to continue communicating science through films and other video projects with Eric and their company, WUI Productions.

In his spare time, Matthew enjoys getting outside and photographing wildlife along the Front Range and other parts of Colorado. He also takes multiple road trips a year to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park, as well as other destinations around the country. Matthew also looks to do more international travel so that he can capture images and video of wildlife around the globe.

He hopes that the videos and films they produce and the images they captures are able to tell captivating and engaging stories that inspire others to appreciate and protect the natural world around us.

Welcome to WUI Productions, a new video production company in Fort Collins, CO

Working in the field with fire professionals in Grand County, CO, at a burn scar from the East Troublesome Fire

Welcome to WUI Productions, LLC, a new video production company located in Fort Collins, CO. The name WUI was inspired from the term Wildland-Urban Interface, or the space where urban communities come together with wildlands such as forests and grasslands, and is the point where human development merges with unoccupied land.

WUI Productions was officially founded in late 2021 and opened for business in June of 2022, by friends and classmates enrolled in the Colorado States Journalism and Media Communication departments masters program for science communication, Eric Forbes and Matthew Ross.

Our company name was chosen during our time as students at Colorado State University while we were enrolled in a documentary filmmaking class and producing the film "Lasting Embers." This film focused on the residents who were directly affected by the Cameron Peak fire of 2020 that burned nearly 210 thousand acres of primarily WUI land west of Fort Collins where thousands of people live in and around the wilderness of Northern Colorado.

WUI Productions is a film company that focuses on communicating important environmental science and issues through documentary film. We have worked with a variety of researchers and communications professionals at Colorado State University, along with state and local affiliates to produce short-form documentary films and series focused on educating other scientists and researchers, industry professionals and the general public.

In addition to science communication films, WUI Productions also offers video production services for corporations and organizations of all types who are seeking to communicate messages either internally or externally, as well as other media services such as photography.