Filmmaker has ‘Spirit of the Reef’

Laguna filmmaker Greg MacGillivray, of MacGillivray Freeman Films and its related educational foundation, was honored Saturday with the Reef Check Foundation’s 2008 Spirit of the Reef Award, for a lifetime spent documenting reefs and oceans.

In addition to 34 other IMAX films like “Coral Reef Adventure,” “Dolphins” and “The Living Sea,” the producer and director was responsible for this year’s “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D.”

Earlier in his career, he created surf films like “Five Summer Stories.”

MacGillivray has said he has a personal mission to produce 10 IMAX films about water and ocean issues; he has created six to date.

“Greg MacGillivray has inspired millions with his lifelong commitment to ocean conservation and his extraordinary talents as an IMAX Theatre filmmaker,” Reef Check Founder and Executive Greg Hodgson said.

“His film ‘Coral Reef Adventure’ did more to raise awareness about the beauty, value and plight of coral reefs around the world than any other single activity.”

As part of the International Year of the Reef, Reef Check honored MacGillivray at its Reef Rescue gala, featuring representatives of six of the 90 countries Reef Checks operates in.

The evening included Hawaiian hula dancers, a Fijian henna tattoo artist, Chinese fortune sticks, Caribbean pirate treasure, Reef Check scuba divers performing in the main aquarium tank, didgeridoo, the Year of the Reef Song and cuisine from reef nations around the world.

The Reef Check Foundation was formed in 1997 to reverse the decimation of the world’s coral reefs, by combining the efforts of thousands of volunteer citizen scientists in more than 90 countries and territories. A special California program launched in 2006 for the sake of the rocky reef life.

To learn more about MacGillivray Freeman Films, visit macfreefilms.com. For more information on Reef Check, visit reefcheck.org.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at [email protected].