The ‘Eightiness’ was palpable that night. It was June 8th. 8 brands we’re ready to rock’n’roll. And the star of the evening was a creature with 8 arms.
And just as the clock struck 8pm…

…a joyful and inspired crowd of Capetownian Sea-aficionados exited the Labia theatre and descended upon a delicious sprouted hummus ciabatta combo.
But let’s start at the beginning.

Stroke of Insight

It’s mid-May: My Octopus Teacher (MOT) had just won the Oscars, and as Oceaneers we had just organized our 1st big event, in the form of a Seaspiracy screening at the Labia. Still glowing from the vibe & energy of that evening, the Oceaneers-team – aka Nate & Kaspar – assembled the next morning in Muizies’ backline to discuss what’s next. There are different claims to the stroke of insight that happened while riding a gentle family wave, but what’s uncontested is that all of sudden the 5 Ws aligned:

• • What: Screening MOT
  • When: World Ocean Day
  • Where: The iconic Labia
  • Who: A community of Ocean-aligned brands
  • Why: To build community, and to instil compassion for marine animals

The Lead-Up

Our biggest concern was that we wouldn’t be allowed to feature MOT due to potential copyright infringements, but it turned out to be unfounded: The Sea Change Project’s response to our request was very positive, and they were in full support of our cunning plan.

Finding co-hosts turned out to be even easier, and we were able to rally up some of our favourite conscious brands out there: Mahina, Plushi, Camissa Moon, Back2Nature and Ocean Pledge co-hosted the event with us, while Captain Fanplastic and Happy Earth People featured as supporting brands.

The next thing we needed was a dedicated team for the evening. Luckily we could count on the support of Brandeye.am, as well as a wonderful bunch of Ocean-volunt-eers that had already delighted our guests at the Seaspiracy screening.

Lastly, we required an engaged and appreciative audience. The Seaspiracy screening had sold out in a very short time, and with that in mind, we decided to make the ticket application process a bit more interesting and challenging. Among other questions, requestees were asked to answer the following question:

“What are some of the things that you have in common with an Octopus?”

The responses we received were hilarious – here’s a small selection of them:

Starting the evening with a bang: Premiere of Think Conscious

And so – before we knew it – World Ocean Day had arrived. We felt calm and ready as the first guests trickled in – despite the fact that the short film we were about to screen ahead of the ‘My Octopus Teacher’ hadn’t arrived on the scene yet. But ‘In Plushi We Trust’ was our mantra, and sure enough, a few minutes before the start Connor (Co-founder of Plushi) arrived with a USB stick and soon after, a mesmerized audience marvelled at what the team around Plushi had created for World Ocean Day: A 5-min short film exploring the origins of environmentalism and the impact that space travel and psychedelics had on the consciousness revolution.

Have a look at it yourself here:

My Octopus Teacher in a theatre – a sensory delight

Think Conscious set the stage for the star of the evening: The eight-legged Teacher. About half of the audience had seen the documentary before, but only on a small laptop screen in the comfort of their homes. Watching MOT on the big screen and with a proper sound system in place was a completely different ball game. One felt immersed in the Big Blue and it was almost as if we could feel False Bay’s cold water on our skin.

Mingling, feasting and pledging

And this brings us back to 8pm, and to that joyful and inspired bunch of Capetownians exiting the theatre. Three of them had just won a goodie bag with products from Back2Nature, Happy Earth People and Captain Fanplastic, by coming up with the most creative answer to the Octopus question above.

Waiting outside on the terrace were some more treats for our guests: Camissa Moon had some delicious home-made hummus and microgreens presented beautifully on fresh ciabatta bread. Happy Earth People gave away mini-boxes of their mouthwatering pasta. Mahina’s luxury changing towels and Back2Nature products were for sale. Ocean Pledge was making the rounds taking pledges and of course we were present so that inspired guests could join the Oceaneers community by signing up.

What counts

As our guests slowly made their way home and the evening drew to a close, a small group of Ocean activists remained to share a beer. They were beaming with satisfaction and pride, knowing that they had made a difference on this World Ocean Day.

The end