Theresa Demarest 10 pictures

Director, Composer, Producer
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Coinciding with the 20th Anniversary of the hit film Free Willy Keiko returns to Hollywood with the World Premiere Event on August 17 2013 at the Eqyptian Theater
Making it possible, Reino Aventura – which had originally paid $350,000 for Keiko – donated the whale to the newly founded Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, formed by the Earth Island Institute. At the same time, the Oregon Coast Aquarium agreed to build a new state-of-the-art facility to serve as a way station of sorts to allow Keiko to regain his health before returning to the wild. When the new tank was completed, Keiko was airlifted in January 1996 to his new home in Oregon in a plane donated by United Parcel Service (UPS).
As the outcry mounted, representatives from various organizations – including Phillips, Berman and Dr. Rose met with the owners of the Reino Aventura theme park in Mexico City, where Keiko was confined. They explored every possibility, including moving him to another aquarium. None were willing to take him, due to the mysterious skin disease Keiko had developed, which members of the captive industry feared would spread to otherorcas in their parks. When the option was suggested to return Keiko to his native habitat, Warner Bros. approached the Earth Island Institute to serve as the orca’s custodian.
Klettsvik Bay in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland where [Keiko] had been captured 19 years before. “This had never been done before, there was no textbook, no manual on how to do this, so we just did it based on what Keiko wanted to do,” says Berman. “We were giving him a chance that no other captive orca has ever had – to go home to his family, to the sea, to feel the tides, the natural beauty of [Keiko's] home country.”
Filmmaker Theresa Demarest directs an interview session during the making of the film,
Thorbjorg (Tobba) Valdis Kristjansdottir looking back on the two years she spent working with Keiko, calls him “an unbelievable animal. He absolutely had a definite personality. I spent a lot of time alone with him, and I talked and talked and talked to him. He would just kind of dance in the water.”
Theresa Demarest edits video at Rex Studios, Portland, Oregon
Theresa Demarest, Bio Image Director/ Producer/ Editor/ Musician
The millions of Keiko fans around the world finally learn the truth about what really happened when the “Free Willy” star became the first and only captive orca to be released back into the wild.
Keiko's Dream Tour- THE MUSIC A concert including the music of the Keiko's Dream Tour is comprised of the Award-Winning Jazz/Blue/Folk/Fusion original compositions and storytelling by Theresa Demarest & Good Company, culminating with the KEIKO'S DREAM story and instrumental that gives Keiko his voice and increased presence at the event. The Musicians are selected from six members of the Theresa Demarest & Good Company roster because of their level of expertise as musicians, their reputation in the music community, their experience as educators, and their commitment to The Keiko's Dream Tour. The key players in the project include Theresa Demarest, composer, award-winning songwriter, producer, vocalist and guitarist; Janice Scroggins, Grammy-award nominee pianist, composer and educator; Tim Ellis, lead guitarist, producer and educator (local and national); and Renato Caranto, saxaphone- all exceptional musicians.