Nominated in the Environmental category of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards 2024, HELLBENT is a film by Annie Roth (science journalist, filmmaker, and children's book author) and Justin Grubb (filmmaker, photographer, published author, and naturalist). Their collaboration highlights the environmental challenges faced by a rural town in Pennsylvania. The story centers on the hellbender salamander, a species currently being considered for inclusion on the endangered species list. What changes in nature are visible from the perspective of this creature? Let's explore the message within this work and consider the future of our planet's environment.

Starring the elusive salamander

Why did you cast the hellbender salamander as the star of your film?

ANNIE ROTH: Justin had worked with hellbenders as a biologist. He pitched the idea at the retreat and we all connected with it.

JUSTING GRUBB: Hellbenders have a weird cult following—people name beer after them, put them on t-shirts, and even bake giant hellbender cakes. The community celebrates hellbenders as a signal that the water is clean and habitat is healthy. Although local celebrities, the species are relatively unknown outside their region, partly because these salamanders are extremely secretive, spending most of their lives under rocks. You often can't even spot a hellbender except during the brief breeding window. And, although they share a close relation to the larger Japanese giant salamander, they're small, about half a meter long.

AR: They're a species that's a canary in a coal mine, if something is wrong with its habitat, it's the first one to go. It had a direct tie to the health of its environment, which also had a direct tie to the health of the humans that were living alongside it. Freshwater pollution is a huge deal in the United States. Many people are impacted, but it doesn't get a lot of coverage in the media. We thought telling the story of relatively obscure species that is so tied to broader environmental problems would make for powerful storytelling.

Were there any difficulties specific to filming the hellbenders?

AR: The footage was a major challenge. When making a film about dolphins or whales, you can get millions of hours of footage on platforms like Shutterstock or Getty. For our film, we had to capture most of the footage ourselves, as there isn't much quality content available, except for a few archival news clips. Another challenge was making an amphibian seem endearing. It can be tough because some people find them a bit creepy. But on that front, I think we nailed it. I think they look adorable in our film, even if others might disagree.

JG: Not disturbing the environment was another difficulty. We couldn't really move or kick rocks because it can make them uninhabitable; hellbenders prefer rocks that are enclosed on all sides, except for one entry point. On top of that, stabilizing filming equipment was tricky due to the fast-moving, mountainous streams where hellbenders live.

The creator's impact on the environment

Why did you include a township's fight for clean water rather than focusing on the wildlife?

AR: When we first started, we really wanted to feature the hellbender salamander. We wanted to tell the animal's story, but we needed a vehicle to tell that story. You could get as much hellbender footage as you want, but that's not going to get people to care about them. But when we discovered this community in Pennsylvania who are fighting a fracking company and calling themselves the East Run Hellbender society, we knew we had that vehicle to tell their story.

JG: Fracking, where they take natural gas and oil out of the ground, really impacted the habitat where hellbenders are found in the Appalachians.

AR: The East Run Hellbender cared about the salamanders, but they were also taking matters into their own hands. We loved that because you could make a film that says, hellbenders are in danger, but that wouldn't make a difference. Making a film that showed people who are actually making a difference and giving an audience sort of a guide on how they could do it themselves felt really worthwhile. Plus, the weird, cute salamander gave a lot of levity to the story as well as levity to the community group's work. That's why they named themselves the Hellbenders. If the community calls themselves the Pennsylvania Anti-Fracking Group, no one really cares. But if they're the East Run Hellbender society, they get attention.

JG: While conservation might focus on the species level, actual conservation often takes place by working with people and navigating local politics. Working with the community through this film creates a different impact than releasing a salamander into a creek or a habitat restoration.

How do you get the viewer to care?

AR: We first show the creature in an endearing light, making them relatable. Then we show the audience what they can do. If you simply show someone that their actions are having a detrimental effect on an endearing creature, they might just tune out. But if we give them hope and pathways to lessen their environmental impact, they'll probably do it. But we want to make the viewer fall in love before giving a call to action. Honestly, it's easy to make someone fall in love with an animal because every animal has something fantastic about it. Animals often do funny things and act similar to humans. We're all just creatures trying to survive on this planet. If you can make them seem relatable, you can make someone fall in love with it.

How did you build trust with both the human and animal subjects of your film?

JG: The two main characters, the mother and daughter fighting for clean water, were open to us filming from the start. They knew that they had an interesting story and wanted to share it. But, in order to break down barriers that even the most cooperative have, we spent a few days getting to know them. We set up hammocks in between the trees along the side of their house and hung out. We ended up camping in their backyard during the whole shoot because of the pandemic.

As for the hellbender salamanders, we timed our trip perfectly, during the males' breeding season when they come out to fight for the right to breed. They were more focused on finding rivals than on us, which allowed us to capture great footage. We stayed quiet and moved slowly, keeping our camera work unobtrusive, and the hellbenders largely ignored us while concentrating on reproduction. Besides that, it was about staying quiet, moving slowly, and keeping our camera work unobtrusive.

In general, I wish creators would put more emphasis on animal welfare. When we film, we try our best to put the animal first; if an animal is stressed, we'll leave. Some wildlife influencers put animals in harm's way. We're trying to celebrate these animals, support them, and protect them—not collect likes and money at the expense of those animals.

How do you measure the impact of your work?

JG: Our main characters expressed feeling isolated while fighting these big institutions like the state of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court. Our film helped break that isolation because it was going to film festivals. Before they knew it, they were invited to speak on panels, had hellbenders named after them, and received letters of support from across the country. It put wind under their sails and helped them fight a little bit longer.

Another important outcome was that the film connected them to other communities facing similar environmental injustices, offering them a path forward. This is the approach we take with all our creative projects: we aim for change, driven by our passion for the environment and community rights. Every project has a conservation focus and an impact strategy, including Hellbent.

AR: As filmmakers, we experienced a similar connection when Justin and I attended the Sony Feature Filmmakers Awards this year. We were really excited to meet other environmental filmmakers there. We were also included alongside all these fiction filmmakers who are destined to end up in Hollywood. For our environmental storytelling, getting advice from these Hollywood-type people was really unique and valuable. I feel like the environmental filmmaking world and the regular filmmaking world are very far apart. For Sony to give us that opportunity at connection was really special.

The importance of environmental filmmaking

What do you hope for the path forward?

AR: Environmental issues rarely get the same level of media attention as political, financial, and cultural issues. It's a shame because people are seriously impacted by environmental issues every day. We hope everyone will give more support and understanding to filmmakers who are covering environmental issues.

JG: Environmental film is the most important type of filmmaking because, at the end of the day, we all need clean water, fresh air, and healthy food to survive. The films we're making contribute to these essential needs.

JG: We believe in a hopeful message. Showcasing a group making a positive impact or a species on the road to recovery motivates people more than negative messaging. So, we try to keep our films positive, even when addressing challenges. We aim to end with some good news to inspire hope.

AR: Ultimately, we want viewers to feel hopeful and to see animals as beings of equal value to humans. If you watch anything either of us makes, you'll notice that.