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PACE in Bloom: Mission featured in feature film at Goddard Film Festival

Red tides.

This type of harmful algal bloom/event, which occurs when there is high concentration of toxic algae in the water, was something NASA filmmaker Emme Watkins encountered as a child, while visiting the small island of Boca Grande, Fl.

Filmmaker Emme Watkins shooting interviews with PACE staff. (Credit: Image courtesy of Emme Watkins)

"I remember going to the beach and coughing up a storm, not really knowing what was going on," she said, "I just knew it was uncomfortable and because of that, we had to stay out of the water."

She never forgot the experience. While working on her film thesis at American University in Washington, D.C., Watkins reflected on those childhood memories, using them as inspiration for the subject of her documentary.

Watkins' film, 'An Ocean in Bloom' premiered at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. this month.

Filmmaker Emme Watkins at the PACE launch. (Credit: Image courtesy of Emme Watkins)

The documentary explores the devastating impacts of harmful algal blooms and how the pioneering satellite technology of NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Mission will help combat them.

"I just thought, how cool would it be to combine my work at NASA with what I am passionate about," she said.

Watkins first learned about PACE while working as a multimedia intern, producing videos on everything from the James Webb Space Telescope to new findings in Earth science.

She heard of PACE while discussing her film thesis with one of her NASA mentors.

Watkins felt a connection right away.

"PACE was going to accomplish so much, especially in monitoring harmful algal blooms. Not only that, but scientists could use the data and create solutions to mitigate their impact," she said. "I was like 'Oh my gosh, ok, I'm really familiar with this.'"

Filmmaker Emme Watkins getting ready for a shoot. (Credit: Image courtesy of Emme Watkins)

To make filming possible, NASA Goddard helped create an incubator program to help Watkins get access to the resources she would need. The program is designed to extend the agency's relationship with leading film programs to provide opportunities to filmmakers and producers who share a passion for telling NASA's stories.

Watkins got to work storyboarding and raising funds for her film. She hired a production crew, embedded herself with PACE scientists, and started imagining how her story would come to life.

The film explores red tide surges in Boca Grande in 2018, which impacted different aspects of life in the region.

"We interviewed fishermen, a doctor, a nurse and the kind of people that were impacted by red tides. It was important because this put a lot of people out of business," she said. "If I had more time, I would've interviewed more people, but the ones we got were just amazing."

The film then transitions to the PACE mission and what it hopes to accomplish.

Watkins said one of the most memorable parts of filming was watching PACE’s primary scientist Jeremy Werdell get emotional as the satellite launched into orbit.

"It was just pitch black. All of a sudden you see the glow of the rocket on Jeremy's face and almost tears in his eyes as he's looking at it," she said. "Then there's a huge smile on his face and his family surrounding him. And he's just seen his baby for the past 20 years go into space, which is such an emotional and powerful moment."

Since launch, Watkins has transitioned from intern to a multimedia fellow, working on videos about Earth science. She credits her film mentors Wade Sisler, Lauren Ward and Ryan Fitzgibbons for helping her with bringing her vision to life. She was also thankful to the PACE team for their time and effort in teaching her about the mission.

Click here to watch “Ocean in Bloom” on NASA+.