Reef Keepers
Gainesville, Florida | Film Feature
Documentary, Nature
Florida’s Coral Reef has guarded our coastline for thousands of years. Now, this natural treasure is struggling to survive. REEF KEEPERS follows the journey of a tight-knit band of defiant scientists who refuse to let the reef—and the communities that depend on it—slip away.
Reef Keepers
Gainesville, Florida | Film Feature
Documentary, Nature
1 Campaigns | Florida, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $9,000 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
82 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Florida’s Coral Reef has guarded our coastline for thousands of years. Now, this natural treasure is struggling to survive. REEF KEEPERS follows the journey of a tight-knit band of defiant scientists who refuse to let the reef—and the communities that depend on it—slip away.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
One of the world’s largest barrier reefs stretches 350 miles along the Florida coastline, buffering it from hurricanes and flooding and undergirding the state’s tourism and fisheries. Worth an estimated $8.5 billion, Florida's Coral Reef may be its single most-valuable natural resource.
But the reef also ranks among the most degraded globally. It has lost more than 90% of its living coral cover to heat, disease, storms, and pollution. Today, more Florida corals live in aquariums, labs, and artificial nurseries than on the reef itself.
The survival of Florida’s Coral Reef now rests on a small number of shoulders. After a massive bleaching crisis in 2023, coral scientists across the state banded together to innovate short-term coral solutions and build toward the long-term changes needed to guarantee the reef’s future.
REEF KEEPERS is about the people fighting to save Florida’s Coral Reef. We follow key figures in coral restoration — Cindy, Ken, Keri, Leneita, and Phanor — through storms, setbacks, and sacrifice as they work to protect the reef that protects Florida. This film reveals one of the nation’s greatest environmental crises as a deeply personal struggle, showing the heartache of witnessing the reef’s decline and the resolve it takes to secure our corals for generations to come. It offers each of us a roadmap for how to turn hope into action and how to fight for what we love.
Check out our trailer by clicking on the image below.
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Florida’s Coral Reef is at a tipping point. We are capturing this critical juncture of solutions unfolding in real time, offering hope instead of despair.
The future of corals is also intertwined with our own. They face the same threats confronting communities across Florida and beyond: extreme heat, pollution, disease, rising seas, and more powerful hurricanes. The fight to keep the reef alive in the short-term, and improve water quality so corals can one day survive without our help, is also a fight for our own lives and livelihoods, and those of generations to come.
Co-Directors Alyson Larson and Natalie van Hoose are native Floridians and environmental storytellers who grew up immersed in their home state’s fragile beauty. Alyson is a filmmaker with a passion for climate narratives told through a human lens. Natalie is a science writer who tracks the health of Florida’s waterways and fisheries.
We’re passionate about highlighting the hard work happening in unexpected places — downtown strip malls, backyard workshops, and rural coral farms — to safeguard Florida’s unique coral heritage. We want to show the many faces of coral restoration: innovators pushing the boundaries of science, homegrown entrepreneurs, hurricane survivors, veterans, Scouts, and dive junkies.
In a space often characterized by doom and gloom, we want to inspire audiences to action, not despair. REEF KEEPERS embodies a salty, scrappy Floridian spirit and captures the powerful change that is possible when people come together to protect our natural world.
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We’re mid-production and seeking funding for the next batch of shoots critical to the REEF KEEPERS storyline.
In September, we’ll head to The Florida Aquarium to record endangered pillar corals spawning in the lab with two of our main characters. We aim to head to South Florida and the Keys in the fall to capture needed scenes, interviews, and archival material and cover a reef science conference in Miami.
Post-production will continue into 2026, with distribution plans that include a statewide screening tour in partnership with local organizations, broadcast networks, and a national festival run.
Documentary film has the distinct ability to convey our coral crisis and the groundswell of teamwork needed to save the only living barrier reef in the continental U.S. By highlighting the personal stories of those on the frontlines of reef restoration, REEF KEEPERS will connect audiences in Florida and beyond to the emergency unfolding in our waters and the remedies within reach.
Grab your fins and join the adventure.
Here’s how you can help:
- Hit “Follow.” Growing our community shows there’s an audience for the story and helps us build momentum.
- Contribute. Every pledge gets us closer to completing the film and sharing this story in Florida and beyond. Enjoy those reef-friendly and fresh-from-Florida perks!
- Share our campaign. Got aquaphiles in your circle? Help us expand our reach by spreading the word to friends, family, colleagues, dive buddies, ocean-lovers, nerds, and nature fanatics.
- Copy the campaign link and post: Join me in supporting Reef Keepers, a documentary film about the people fighting to restore Florida’s Coral Reef. It is a story of hope and possibilities filled with scrappy, can-do scientists ensuring the reef is here for future generations. Make your contribution and help this become a reality!
- Join our journey: Instagram: @reefkeepersfilm + Facebook + www.reefkeepersfilm.com
Our initial goal is to fundraise $10,000.
This will enable the REEF KEEPERS crew to:
- Complete a coral spawning shoot in early September.
- Shoot during an extreme weather event, such as a hurricane evacuation of land-based corals or a bleaching crisis.
- Partially fund a reef science conference shoot in November that showcases the restoration community under one roof.
We need to raise at least 80% of our funds to keep the money we raise and bring this next phase to life. Every dollar you pledge helps move us forward — thank you for your support.
Corals worldwide need our help. We hope you’ll consider becoming part of the REEF KEEPERS story by joining our efforts to shine a light on the barrier reef in our backyard.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Crew
Costs $7,500
We have a phenomenal but small crew. This covers our DP, Sound, and PA. The people to make the magic happen!
Travel
Costs $2,000
Roof over our heads, fuel to keep going, and food in our bellies on our shoots.
Essentials
Costs $500
Gear rentals to shoot coral spawning and insurance.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Alyson Larson - Co-Director / Producer
Alyson is a documentarian and adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida. Her work includes associate producer and camera operations on Being Michelle, a 12-time award-winning documentary that follows the journey of a deaf and disabled woman who survived incarceration and abuse. She has also filmed for Orange Kite Productions, Eternal Fire Keepers, and Seize the Day documentaries, still in production and post, respectively. Her National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine-funded short, After Michael, explored Florida Resilient Cities’ work with the city of Port St. Joe as it recovered from a Category 5 hurricane, among other climate crisis issues.
Natalie van Hoose - Co-Director / Writer
Natalie van Hoose is a freelance science journalist and adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida. A fourth-generation Floridian, she finds and reports unexpected conservation stories in her home state and beyond. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, Science News, Creative Nonfiction magazine, Florida Sportsman magazine, National Wildlife magazine, The Invading Sea, The Marjorie and other outlets. She also worked with WEDU PBS as writer and co-producer for the Suncoast EMMY-nominated documentary Public Square: Climate Change and as research coordinator for the 2025 documentary Good Natured.
Kris Spelce - Director of Photography
Kris Spelce is a national traveling DP known for his cinematic eye and dynamic visual storytelling. With a creative career spanning over 15 years, Kris began in the world of 3D animation, crafting high-end visuals for global brands like Hasbro, Verizon, and T-Mobile. His passion for merging CGI and live-action led him into the world of video production, where he spent five years in Texas honing his skills in videography and photography.
Now based in Florida, Kris has built a career behind the camera working with major clients including Amazon, John Deere, Tom Brady, Disney, and Lowe’s. His technical versatility, narrative intuition, and collaborative spirit make him a sought-after DP across branded content, commercial, and documentary projects. In Reef Keepers, Kris brings his signature blend of precision and heart to visually immerse viewers in the fragile, awe-inspiring world of coral restoration.
Frazier Nivens - Underwater Director of Photography
Frazier Nivens is an Emmy™ Award-winning underwater cinematographer and founder of Ocean Imaging Productions. For over 35 years, he has been internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in underwater visual storytelling. His stunning footage has appeared in major productions for Discovery Shark Week, National Geographic, One Strange Rock, Disney, Animal Planet, and the Emmy-winning series How to Do Florida.
Frazier’s credits span a wide range of networks, including CNN, BBC, PBS, ABC, NBC, MTV, Univision, and Fusion TV, and he has contributed to projects like Stan Lee’s Superhumans, The Blue Paradox, and Jared Leto’s A Day in the Life of America. His cinematography has taken him to some of the most spectacular marine environments on Earth, including the Galápagos, Red Sea, South Africa, Indonesia, and the Bahamas.
He currently serves as Director of Cinematography and Productions for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, continuing his mission to capture the beauty—and urgency—of ocean conservation through powerful imagery.
Laura Landry - Editor
Laura is an award-winning producer and editor. With degrees in anthropology and interactive media, Laura is an astute observer of the human condition. Happiest when editing, she also enjoys producing, connecting with talented crews, and gaining intimate insights into people's lives. Her work in public media has earned her seven Suncoast EMMYs®, three National Public Media Awards, and the 2021 Griot Drum Community Hero Award from the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists. Dedicated to supporting women in film and fostering opportunities for diverse, emerging filmmakers, Laura mentors on set and volunteers in media education for youth.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
One of the world’s largest barrier reefs stretches 350 miles along the Florida coastline, buffering it from hurricanes and flooding and undergirding the state’s tourism and fisheries. Worth an estimated $8.5 billion, Florida's Coral Reef may be its single most-valuable natural resource.
But the reef also ranks among the most degraded globally. It has lost more than 90% of its living coral cover to heat, disease, storms, and pollution. Today, more Florida corals live in aquariums, labs, and artificial nurseries than on the reef itself.
The survival of Florida’s Coral Reef now rests on a small number of shoulders. After a massive bleaching crisis in 2023, coral scientists across the state banded together to innovate short-term coral solutions and build toward the long-term changes needed to guarantee the reef’s future.
REEF KEEPERS is about the people fighting to save Florida’s Coral Reef. We follow key figures in coral restoration — Cindy, Ken, Keri, Leneita, and Phanor — through storms, setbacks, and sacrifice as they work to protect the reef that protects Florida. This film reveals one of the nation’s greatest environmental crises as a deeply personal struggle, showing the heartache of witnessing the reef’s decline and the resolve it takes to secure our corals for generations to come. It offers each of us a roadmap for how to turn hope into action and how to fight for what we love.
Check out our trailer by clicking on the image below.
Florida’s Coral Reef is at a tipping point. We are capturing this critical juncture of solutions unfolding in real time, offering hope instead of despair.
The future of corals is also intertwined with our own. They face the same threats confronting communities across Florida and beyond: extreme heat, pollution, disease, rising seas, and more powerful hurricanes. The fight to keep the reef alive in the short-term, and improve water quality so corals can one day survive without our help, is also a fight for our own lives and livelihoods, and those of generations to come.
Co-Directors Alyson Larson and Natalie van Hoose are native Floridians and environmental storytellers who grew up immersed in their home state’s fragile beauty. Alyson is a filmmaker with a passion for climate narratives told through a human lens. Natalie is a science writer who tracks the health of Florida’s waterways and fisheries.
We’re passionate about highlighting the hard work happening in unexpected places — downtown strip malls, backyard workshops, and rural coral farms — to safeguard Florida’s unique coral heritage. We want to show the many faces of coral restoration: innovators pushing the boundaries of science, homegrown entrepreneurs, hurricane survivors, veterans, Scouts, and dive junkies.
In a space often characterized by doom and gloom, we want to inspire audiences to action, not despair. REEF KEEPERS embodies a salty, scrappy Floridian spirit and captures the powerful change that is possible when people come together to protect our natural world.
We’re mid-production and seeking funding for the next batch of shoots critical to the REEF KEEPERS storyline.
In September, we’ll head to The Florida Aquarium to record endangered pillar corals spawning in the lab with two of our main characters. We aim to head to South Florida and the Keys in the fall to capture needed scenes, interviews, and archival material and cover a reef science conference in Miami.
Post-production will continue into 2026, with distribution plans that include a statewide screening tour in partnership with local organizations, broadcast networks, and a national festival run.
Documentary film has the distinct ability to convey our coral crisis and the groundswell of teamwork needed to save the only living barrier reef in the continental U.S. By highlighting the personal stories of those on the frontlines of reef restoration, REEF KEEPERS will connect audiences in Florida and beyond to the emergency unfolding in our waters and the remedies within reach.
Grab your fins and join the adventure.
Here’s how you can help:
- Hit “Follow.” Growing our community shows there’s an audience for the story and helps us build momentum.
- Contribute. Every pledge gets us closer to completing the film and sharing this story in Florida and beyond. Enjoy those reef-friendly and fresh-from-Florida perks!
- Share our campaign. Got aquaphiles in your circle? Help us expand our reach by spreading the word to friends, family, colleagues, dive buddies, ocean-lovers, nerds, and nature fanatics.
- Copy the campaign link and post: Join me in supporting Reef Keepers, a documentary film about the people fighting to restore Florida’s Coral Reef. It is a story of hope and possibilities filled with scrappy, can-do scientists ensuring the reef is here for future generations. Make your contribution and help this become a reality!
- Join our journey: Instagram: @reefkeepersfilm + Facebook + www.reefkeepersfilm.com
Our initial goal is to fundraise $10,000.
This will enable the REEF KEEPERS crew to:
- Complete a coral spawning shoot in early September.
- Shoot during an extreme weather event, such as a hurricane evacuation of land-based corals or a bleaching crisis.
- Partially fund a reef science conference shoot in November that showcases the restoration community under one roof.
We need to raise at least 80% of our funds to keep the money we raise and bring this next phase to life. Every dollar you pledge helps move us forward — thank you for your support.
Corals worldwide need our help. We hope you’ll consider becoming part of the REEF KEEPERS story by joining our efforts to shine a light on the barrier reef in our backyard.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Crew
Costs $7,500
We have a phenomenal but small crew. This covers our DP, Sound, and PA. The people to make the magic happen!
Travel
Costs $2,000
Roof over our heads, fuel to keep going, and food in our bellies on our shoots.
Essentials
Costs $500
Gear rentals to shoot coral spawning and insurance.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Alyson Larson - Co-Director / Producer
Alyson is a documentarian and adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida. Her work includes associate producer and camera operations on Being Michelle, a 12-time award-winning documentary that follows the journey of a deaf and disabled woman who survived incarceration and abuse. She has also filmed for Orange Kite Productions, Eternal Fire Keepers, and Seize the Day documentaries, still in production and post, respectively. Her National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine-funded short, After Michael, explored Florida Resilient Cities’ work with the city of Port St. Joe as it recovered from a Category 5 hurricane, among other climate crisis issues.
Natalie van Hoose - Co-Director / Writer
Natalie van Hoose is a freelance science journalist and adjunct lecturer at the University of Florida. A fourth-generation Floridian, she finds and reports unexpected conservation stories in her home state and beyond. Her work has appeared in Fast Company, Science News, Creative Nonfiction magazine, Florida Sportsman magazine, National Wildlife magazine, The Invading Sea, The Marjorie and other outlets. She also worked with WEDU PBS as writer and co-producer for the Suncoast EMMY-nominated documentary Public Square: Climate Change and as research coordinator for the 2025 documentary Good Natured.
Kris Spelce - Director of Photography
Kris Spelce is a national traveling DP known for his cinematic eye and dynamic visual storytelling. With a creative career spanning over 15 years, Kris began in the world of 3D animation, crafting high-end visuals for global brands like Hasbro, Verizon, and T-Mobile. His passion for merging CGI and live-action led him into the world of video production, where he spent five years in Texas honing his skills in videography and photography.
Now based in Florida, Kris has built a career behind the camera working with major clients including Amazon, John Deere, Tom Brady, Disney, and Lowe’s. His technical versatility, narrative intuition, and collaborative spirit make him a sought-after DP across branded content, commercial, and documentary projects. In Reef Keepers, Kris brings his signature blend of precision and heart to visually immerse viewers in the fragile, awe-inspiring world of coral restoration.
Frazier Nivens - Underwater Director of Photography
Frazier Nivens is an Emmy™ Award-winning underwater cinematographer and founder of Ocean Imaging Productions. For over 35 years, he has been internationally recognized as one of the leading experts in underwater visual storytelling. His stunning footage has appeared in major productions for Discovery Shark Week, National Geographic, One Strange Rock, Disney, Animal Planet, and the Emmy-winning series How to Do Florida.
Frazier’s credits span a wide range of networks, including CNN, BBC, PBS, ABC, NBC, MTV, Univision, and Fusion TV, and he has contributed to projects like Stan Lee’s Superhumans, The Blue Paradox, and Jared Leto’s A Day in the Life of America. His cinematography has taken him to some of the most spectacular marine environments on Earth, including the Galápagos, Red Sea, South Africa, Indonesia, and the Bahamas.
He currently serves as Director of Cinematography and Productions for the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, continuing his mission to capture the beauty—and urgency—of ocean conservation through powerful imagery.
Laura Landry - Editor
Laura is an award-winning producer and editor. With degrees in anthropology and interactive media, Laura is an astute observer of the human condition. Happiest when editing, she also enjoys producing, connecting with talented crews, and gaining intimate insights into people's lives. Her work in public media has earned her seven Suncoast EMMYs®, three National Public Media Awards, and the 2021 Griot Drum Community Hero Award from the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists. Dedicated to supporting women in film and fostering opportunities for diverse, emerging filmmakers, Laura mentors on set and volunteers in media education for youth.