It's a breezy morning in eastern Annapolis. Sea gulls squawk overhead. Boats bob beside a dock. And on the deck of a tied-up charter vessel, two folk musicians in ball caps strum a shuffle on a banjo and ukelele, looking every inch the easy-living Jimmy Buffetts of the Chesapeake.
It's the final day of shooting for "Seize the Bay," the latest creation from Daphne Glover and Bob Ferrier, filmmakers from Severna Park, and as the two roll videotape, neither one can suppress a smile.
"Fantastic," says Ferrier, the director, clapping his hands as the music ends.
"We always laugh on this set," says Glover, his producer and wife.
Perhaps it's the way the musicians - Jefferson Holland and Kevin Brooks, better known locally as Them Eastport Oyster Boys - trade cornball jokes as on-camera hosts. Maybe it's the light-hearted approach Glover and Ferrier are taking toward a very serious subject.
Or maybe it's just that the Anne Arundel filmmakers, each of whom has spent more than 20 years doing documentaries for PBS, National Geographic and other networks, are finally getting to develop a project close to their hearts and their own backyard.
"We live and play on [the Bay], so we're aware as anyone that if we don't take care of it, we won't have crabs to crack, oysters to shuck or places to go boating," says Ferrier of "Seize the Bay," which will air in April as part of Maryland Public Television's Chesapeake Bay Week. "This is a natural subject for us, and it has been great fun."
It's strange to think it now, but Glover and Ferrier grew up an ocean apart. It took decades for their paths to cross.
Ferrier, 50, was born and raised in decidedly landlocked Perry Hall, where his best memories revolve around paddling on the Gunpowder River and filmmaking.
He climbed the ladder the old-fashioned way. A year at the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland taught Ferrier the basics of radio and TV production, and he used the skills to work his way through odd jobs on TV commercials in Baltimore.
Eventually, Ferrier found himself writing, producing and directing projects that took him to Hawaii, Asia and Africa - "Kursk: Disaster at Sea" for TLC, "Nero's Golden House" for Discovery, and more.
Glover's path was more winding. Born in Indiana, she grew up in Austria, where her father ran an international conference center in Salzburg.
The travelers she met sparked "an interest in people's stories," and when Glover studied international relations in college, she taught herself film production while helping a friend with a research project.
Over the next 20 years, she wrote and produced documentaries for the World Bank, PBS and other outfits.
Between treks, she wove in shoots for "Seize the Bay: The Ultimate Survival Guide to the Land of Pleasant Living."
"In this business," she says, "you keep a lot of balls in the air."
They met in 2005, when Ferrier was still a full-timer at the Discovery Channel. Both were surprised they hadn't crossed paths. "The film world is pretty small," he says.
Glover, who calls herself shy, and the outgoing Ferrier made up for lost time, marrying a year later. Before long, filmmakers who'd always shot on someone else's dime were talking about a project of their own.
The pair live in a house so close to the Magothy River they can walk their kayaks to a neighborhood beach, and when both are in town, they enjoy boating, fishing and cooking up crabs with their friends. Why not make a film on what they both loved?
But there would have to be a twist.
"If you look at the many documentaries people have made about preserving the Chesapeake," Ferrier says, "so many have a doom-and-gloom feel to them. Don't get me wrong, many are superlative films, but we couldn't help wondering: At this point, do viewers think it's too late to do anything? Have they grown desensitized?"
They decided, paradoxically enough, to make a movie that was fun.
Glover and Ferrier's small crew has been shooting "Seize the Bay" off and on for 24 months, mostly on weekends when they could steal time from other gigs.
They've traveled much of the Chesapeake's 11,000 miles of shoreline by boat, filming the National Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield, the St. Mary's Oyster Festival in Leonardtown, schooner races on the open water and more.
The message, seldom mentioned but always there: Take care of the Chesapeake, or these treasures will disappear.
Filmmakers, too, can use survival guides, especially in a day and age when the average TV documentary costs $300,000 to make, and they're working on a film they're financing out of their own pockets.
Two years ago, Glover and Ferrier formed Backfin Media Group to handle such projects. "Seize the Bay" is the first.
"We know the production part," says Glover. "Fundraising is a learning curve."
Two friends in the industry - director of photography Dave Hawxhurst and soundman Derek Johnston, both lovers of the Chesapeake - have worked unpaid so far. The producers may never be able to compensate Holland and Brooks.
"We found a lot of people willing to get on board," Glover says. "We held hands and jumped together."
Now that the footage is in the can - 70 hours' worth, to be cut down to an hour - months of editing await, a process representing many thousands in fixed costs.
Glover and Ferrier are writing grant applications, choosing foundations to approach, and getting the word out to environmentally conscious potential donors.
It would be "win-win" for such donors to have their names associated with the project, Ferrier says. But if they must, they'll pay for everything themselves.
"I don't say this lightly, but yes, it would be worth it," says Glover.
On tv
"Seize the Bay: The Ultimate Survival Guide to the Land of Pleasant Living" will air in two parts during Maryland Public Television's Chesapeake Bay Week (April 18-25, 2010).
To see trailer, learn more or donate, visit www.seizethebaynow.com.
