Trade Secret with GOLD PANDA award
Last night, Trade Secret received an incredible honour – the coveted Golden Panda Award 2025, as well as the award for Best Independent Film at the International Wildscreen Awards. This is an unbelievable recognition from our industry for which we are deeply grateful. We hope this moment reinforces the importance of independent filmmaking at a time when the challenges facing independent storytellers are so pronounced.
But the most important thing about last night is that it gives Trade Secret - and its real and confronting message - a chance to reach a wider audience. Despite the existential threat of their rapidly changing world, polar bears still suffer the impacts of international commercial trade. Our singular goal for this film is to awaken the world to this reality – and to inspire action to change it.
We’ve long admired films like Blackfish and The Cove for their ability to move audiences and spark real change. We hope Trade Secret can do the same because the world has lost 70% of its wildlife in the past 50 years - it’s clear the status quo is failing the natural world.
The Wildscreen Awards, often referred to as the Green Oscars, received 682 entries from 46 countries across 17 categories, with 48% of entries featuring talent from underrepresented backgrounds. The international jury represented experts from 20 countries. It was directly through your support that we were able to bring some of our team to Bristol for the Monday screening and appearances at the awards.
On behalf of my fellow producers Dom West ACS and Louis Cooper Robinson, I’d also like to thank the incredible team who helped bring Trade Secret to life:
Primary contributors: Ole J. Liodden, Iris Ho, and Adam Cruise
Executive Producers: Martin and Celestina Hughes, and Adam McKay
Editor: Nico Bee
Composer: Jesse Watt
Consulting Producers: Melissa Lesh, Trevor Frost, and Jenefer Joffe
Cinematographers: Mark Klassan, Justin Lewis, and Goh Iromoto
Sound Design: Wounded Buffalo – Tim Owens, Ben Peace, Rory Joseph, Myles Ackerman-Smith, and Ellie Bowler
Colourist: Blair Wallace
Online: Jo Curtis
DI Manager: Andrew Scattergood
Assistant Editor: Lorna-Jean Bradley
Additional Cinematography: Konrad Czystowski, Teo Weyman, Michael Mark Lanham, Pete Matthews, Christopher Nemes, Blake Castle, and Espen Saur
VFX: Moonraker VFX – Alex Dilworth, Scott Metcalfe, and Ella Stewart. And huge thanks to Morten Jørgensen, Nikita Ovsyanikov, Robert Thompson, Paul Nasso, Holly Winter, Katie West, Paul Nicklen, Cristina Mittermeier, David de Rothschild, Costas Christ, Laura Turner Seydel, Jane Kachmer, and Trevor Groth and Annie Roney - and to everyone who continues to support this film and its mission.
