Despite being our closest relative, chimpanzees are one of the species we least understand.

The chimpanzees that we see in entertainment and advertising, are without exception infants. As a result, our impression of them is indelibly marked by their “cuteness”, but the fate of these chimpanzees as they grow older remains shrouded from public view.

By following the extraordinary life of “Cobby”, a fifty-six year old chimpanzee whose journey has taken him from the African wild to TV stardom to the San Francisco Zoo, we (researchers Dr. Donna McRae and Dr. Michael Vale) intend to explore the difficult subject of chimps in entertainment through a documentary film. The film will present snapshots of Cobby’s early life with human ‘siblings’, the showbiz world of the 1960’s, and his life in the Zoo. But for every Cobby who has been cared for all of his life, other chimpanzees haven't fared as well. We will also explore the tragic world many chimps still face - exotic pets, scientific laboratories and other cruel destinies. This project will highlight the future of these animals, which has reached crisis point.

This film follows our journey - from the delight in finding Cobby (it started out as Searching for Sugarman with Chimps) to the realisation that other chimpanzees have not been as lucky as he. 

Snippet of an interview: 


GOOD PRESS:  http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/09/cobby-...
http://agnesfilms.com/interviews/interview-with-do...



Some cute footage of Cobby  

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As you will be aware, filmmaking is a time consuming and expensive business. We have already shot most of the footage, but now need to put it all together. With your help, we can employ an editor to take the footage and get it to the 1st cut stage. If we manage to raise extra funds we will also start work on our animated footage, which will be another crucial part of the documentary. We will use the whole $11000 to employ an editor for 8 weeks to go through all the footage and take it to the first cut - any amount over that we will be able to get the animation started. 
 

Time is our challenge - we need to get this project out now !