Star of Taiji dolphin-hunt film wants to win over Japan

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Dilbert14 at 09:46 PM JST - 5th September

Moderator, I wish we could include some arguments about why we shouldn't kill dolphins and give some examples about how smart they really are. Is it really off topic, when we are discussing about moral points of what's happening in Taiji?

Ninjaninaritai, I too would love to talk more on the subject. If you can, please check about the dolphins in autism studies. It blew my mind.

Moderator: How smart dolphins are is not what the story is about. If you have an opinion on "The Cove," please post that.
Mark_McCracken at 01:50 AM JST - 6th September

This is a great story. So much conflict. Ric O'Barry of the late 1960s making (likely) great money training dolphins for television vs. Ric O'Barry today making (likely) great money promoting a film vilifying taking dolphins and using them for entertainment. Ric O'Barry essentially playing "my culture is better than your culture" with local fishermen. Local Japanese trying to restrict access to a national park, and police unable to arrest clandestine filmmakers who circumvent the barricades. This looks like it has the makings of a non-fiction best seller.
Disillusioned at 09:48 AM JST - 6th September
Foxie - Eventhough I have lived and travelled all over Japan, I never saw dolphin meat.

The reason you have not seen it is because it is not labeled as dolphin meat. It is sold as whale meat. Yet another food scam in Japan. If you were to order whale meat at a chain izakaiya it would be dolphin meat and more likely from Wakayama (Taiji) full of all sorts of chemicals and heavy metals and possibly frozen for six months.
- Will this movie be translated into Japanese and played at the major cinemas? - Just kidding! :P
isthistheend at 02:34 PM JST - 6th September

Hey Mark, what a cynic! I highly doubt O'Barry is making a killing in making money, on the scale the hunters are with the dophins. Ever hear of doing something out of your deep personal beliefs? If the man loves dolphins for over 50 years, wouldn't you think he might feel something averse to a story like The Cove without being driven by thought of financial gain for himself? I think you strike out completely on this point.
nipponreddog at 04:20 PM JST - 6th September

O'Barry makes nothing from doing this Taiji campaign. Zero, nada, nothing. He will end up back home in Coconut Grove with a pillowcase of out-of-pocket expense receipts that never get reimbursed. It is the story of his life.
nipponreddog at 04:24 PM JST - 6th September

Meanwhile, Greenpeace, Sea Sheperd, and the ocean full of "save the...(insert cause" organizations rake in millions. Look at the Red Cross chief pulling down $300,000 + Meanwhile, O'Barry eats riceballs...
Mark_McCracken at 03:19 AM JST - 7th September

If the man loves dolphins for over 50 years, wouldn't you think he might feel something averse to a story like The Cove without being driven by thought of financial gain for himself? I think you strike out completely on this point.

Perhaps I did. Except worldwide box office receipts for The Cove as of September 6th were $693,822. If O'Barry wasn't interested in financial gain, why didn't he just put the film on youtube instead of showing it at Sundance? Surely he could have gotten donations to cover the cost of production.
OssanAmerica at 04:04 AM JST - 7th September

The meat from one dolphin fetches about 50,000 yen, and is sold at >supermarkets across Japan, where dolphin and whale meat are considered >delicacies.

Nonsense. Dolphin is NOT considered a "declicaty in Japan. In fact the only way it can be sold is to be mislabeled as "Whale Meat".
nonegiven at 09:44 AM JST - 8th September

If O'Barry wasn't interested in financial gain, why didn't he just put the film on youtube

The film was not made by O'Barry, it was made about O'Barry, and it was funded by a donation; from Jim Clark, the multi-millionaire behind Netscape. So what on earth are you talking about!?!

There are other perfectly logical reasons why a movie or documentary cannot just be release direct onto Youtube, e.g. when it comes to entering into certain competitions or finding distributors.

Gaining a prize such as Sundance is a lot more important to establishing the credibility of the campaign than Youtube views (on which there is already plenty of related footage).

Have you any idea what it cost to make ... all that tech, post production ... all the crew?

In short, if you do not know what you are talking about ... don't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4LQ9o2LOSg
Mark_McCracken at 02:36 AM JST - 9th September

Have you any idea what it cost to make ... all that tech, post production ... all the crew?

If the film was funded by a donation from Jim Clark, as you said, I would guess zero, is that correct? So then who is getting the $693,822 from the theater box office? Besides the theaters and the distributor?

Assuming, though that Ric O'Barry isn't making money great money off of the film, I'll revise my comment. Is there anything about this sentence that is incorrect?

Ric O'Barry of the late 1960s making (likely) great money training dolphins for television vs. Ric O'Barry today promoting a film vilifying taking dolphins and using them for entertainment.
kirakira25 at 09:18 AM JST - 9th September

As a wider issue, I find Japan generally lacking in conscience when it comes to animal rights in general. I just don`t think Japanese see the rights of animals in the same way many in western culture do.
Makkun70 at 12:59 PM JST - 9th September

There's children starving in the world and multi-milionnaires like Jim Clark of Netscape chose to fund this? The world is going crazy!
KobeKid at 06:38 PM JST - 9th September

Ric O'Barry did not make one dime from the movie. Money from The Cove goes to a non-profit called OPS, http://www.opsociety.org/home.htm

I read somewhere that the movie cost 2.5 million to make. Right now it is #113 on the list of top grossing documentaries, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?view=main&pagenum=2&id=documentary.htm

Anyone making claims that Ric O'Barry or the backers of this film are doing this to make a profit have a very stiff uphill climb to make their case.
bdiego at 03:16 AM JST - 11th September

Mark, revise your comment. You simply assumed, and incorrectly.
Mark_McCracken at 06:33 PM JST - 12th September

Mark, revise your comment.

Please see above.