His primary employer is LIC-BCBC, China's largest private documentary producer, syndicalist and distributor, where he is head of the International Department. His job is to organize and facilitate international co-productions that bring Chinese content to the world.

In 1985, he was part of the first Western documentarycrew allowed to film in Inner Mongolia. Since then he has made or re-versioned over thirty documentary programs in Asia including Inside The Forbidden City, The History of Beijing, Kung Fu Dragons of Mt Wudang and others.

When not working for LIC he is active as a consultant and teacher. One of the many hats he wears is as Head of Studies at the peripatetic longitudinal Crossing Borders master-school. He also frequently works with another longitudinal training program, Greenhouse, promoting filmmakers from North Africa and the Middle East. Shorter workshops for the BCPF, KOCCA and RAPA(Korea), Sunnyside (France) and CNEX, among others, help keep him off the streets.

SPEECH:

Ni Hao, Shenzhen. Hello CICSEP-The China International Conference of Science and Education Producers.

Warm greetings from a locked-down England.

I first had the honour of participating in CICSEP back in 2010.I participated in every event since then and am sincerely sorry I cannot join you this year.

I have watched CICSEP grow for over a decade and am deeply impressed by the good work it does in promoting and improving science and education documentaries in China.

The team he assembled are to be commended for their many accomplishments.

The documentary industry owes them a huge debt.

Ivery much look forward to joining you again next year.

You have my very best wishes for a successful 2020 Conference.

Pat Ferns is President of Ferns Productions Inc. and has produced some of Canada's finest award-winning programming and the world's leading media events. He presents his signature pitching sessions worldwide. He moderated CoPro 21, CCDF-10 and GZDOC in 2019. Pat is currently engaged in the Canada/Germany co-productionWhale Talk. He recently completed China: The Miraculous Transformation,a feature-length documentary on DengXiaoping and served as Executive Producer on award-winning eight-part series 1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus. Called in his native land "the father of independent production", Pat was awarded The Order of Canada in 2005 for his services to the industry.

SPEECH:

Welcome delegates to the China Intemational Conference of Science and Education Producers. My name is Pat Ferns and Iam speaking to you from the West Coast of Canada.I have always enjoyed my attendance at the Conference and joining in the celebration of excellence at the China Dragon Awards.I treasure my own Dragon Award and my final production is in competition this year.I shall soon be retiring from production, but I hope to continue my work at various festivals and conferences for another few years. So,I hope I can join you in person once travel becomes easier again after the pandemic.For now,I can only join you remotely.

The COID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the importance of good science and good communication of facts in order to get through this crisis. The countries that have been clear about communicating scientific information have been the ones to most successfuly mitigate the impact of the disease. Why is science television and good educational programming so important? For many reasons, but most of all because they reflect life as it is. Documentaries can show both ordinary life andextraordinary achievements. They can record events in a person's biography or in a nation's history. They explain our natural world and what is happening to it. Good documentaries can educate, inform and inspire. Documentaries can reveal the world as it is or as it might be...

Most of us make films in search of truth. Filmmakers are storytellers and we want to bring to the world great stories with strong characters that wll move the audience and help them understand the world around us. Filmmakers work in an industry of collaboration. And film festivals and conferences such as yours are a great place for colaboration and sharing.CICSEP is China's window on the world of science and factual programming and the China Dragon Awards are the world's window on what flms China celebrates in this field. So, see as many fine films as you can; speak with as many people as you can; and enjoy the fruits of sharing good work and hearing from good people.

Iwish you success.As they say in these times of COVID-19:Be wellStay safe.Take care.

And enjoy all that CICSEP has to offer.