Shannon Service is an independent reporter and filmmaker whose work has appeared in The New York Times, the BBC, and The Guardian. She primarily focuses on crimes at sea, but her stories covered everything from the ravages of war to the intimacies of heartbreak. She’s won several reporting awards, including an Edward R. Murrow.

“Ghost Fleet” will begin screening at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8. The film is co-directed by Jeffrey Waldron.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

SS: “Ghost Fleet” follows an extraordinary abolitionist as she searches far-flung islands for men who’ve escaped from slave boats. The men have jumped off Thai fishing boats where they’ve been forced to work in mind-bending conditions for years at a time. Most can’t swim, but — as soon as they’re close enough to land — they risk their lives and jump.

Those who survive wash up on fairly deserted islands or flee into the jungle and live hand-to-mouth because they’re afraid the fishing companies might catch them. So — even after being trafficked, enslaved, and risking their lives to escape — they don’t have passports or money and can’t get back home.

Patima, our hero, assembles a crew and sets off to find these men so she can reunite them with their families.

It’s a very human, character-driven tale of courage and heroism that illuminates the dark underbelly of modern fishing.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

SS: I’m a reporter and, along with my dear friend Becky Palmstrom, I helped break the story of slavery in the fishing industry for NPR’s “Morning Edition” in 2012. Thailand is one of the largest suppliers of fish to the U.S. and their products arrive in everything from pet food to frozen shrimp.

We spent six months investigating the story and it became quickly obvious that this was a rich and fascinating world that could certainly prop up a film. The danger, of course, is creating a “take your medicine” film that basically browbeats the audience with the horrors of slavery at sea. I definitely didn’t want to do that.

Fortunately, I received a call from Greg Kwedar, who produced a really extraordinary documentary, “Rising from Ashes,” that tracks the rise of the first national Rwandan cycling team. It was exactly the kind of heroic film set in a dystopic world that I was hoping to create.

We joined up with my co-director Jeffrey Waldron, the cinematographer on “Rising from Ashes,” and set about finding an inspiring hero. We wanted a storyline whose peaks showed us the heights humans are capable of, as slavery plunged us into the depths.

Patima and her amazing team of survivors-turned-activists gave us all of this and more.

The combination of a strong female hero who rescues men, a group of survivors who then organize and work to liberate others, and a real-world action adventure made the project pretty irresistible.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

SS: I’d like them to think about where their fish comes from. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and, up here, a lot of food comes with story. This apple was grown biodynamically on a small farm 3.2 miles from the market. That steak came from a grass-fed cow named Jack.

But fish just shows up — storyless, blameless — divorced from the people who caught it or the oceanic ecosystems obliterated in the process. Our team is setting out to change that.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

SS: Language. In addition to Thai, Bahasa, Burmese, and Khmer, we filmed in a number of tiny indigenous languages like Iban and Benjinan. I, generally, had zero clue when the languages merged from Bahasa to Benjinan so I rarely had the presence of mind to get everything translated in the field. Jeff and I learned a lot of lessons about working in foreign languages.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

SS: In the early days we got seed grants from The 11th Hour Fund and the Panta Rhea Foundation, along with some incredibly important help from friends and family. The real break came from a big grant from Humanity United and investment from two of our executive producers, Shannon O’Leary Joy and Shari Sant Plummer. Then Vulcan Productions joined as a co-production partner, which was a game-changer. Their support, coupled with our grants and investments, really carried us through production and post-production.

Vulcan Productions surrounded two fledgling directors with not only a deep knowledge and expertise in documentary film production but also a commitment to launch a comprehensive audience engagement and impact campaign. We’ve been incredibly lucky in the caliber of support and help we’ve gotten along the way.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

SS: I used to be a pottery teacher and my favorite part of working with clay was taking some time at the beginning to figure out what it wanted to be. Sometimes I’d sit at the wheel and the wheel would spin and the clay would get all wobbly and I’d think, “OK, today the clay and I are going to make wobbly things.” Instead of forcing the clay into submission, I’d try to listen.

When I became a reporter, I realized that stories are like clay. Sometimes they’re more intellectual or intangible and want to be print. Sometimes they’re a path leading into darkness and they want to be investigative reporting. Sometimes they’re character-rich, hit on important themes, and illuminate something about our current human experience — so, for me, they want to be film.

So, it wasn’t so much that I wanted to be a filmmaker as it was that– as a reporter — I hit on some stories that just needed to be film. And I was really surprised to learn that I enjoy the filmmaking process.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

SS: The best advice came from witnessing how Greg and Jeff work with their teams. They both have sterling integrity and work with the people around them with a long view towards creating a creative community to work with in the future. It means placing as much emphasis on how we all work together as on getting the film done.

The worst advice came from the pressures we received to insert some kind of Western — white, English-speaking — character into the film to make it “more relatable.” This pressure came from potential funders whom our team walked away from — even when we really desperately needed the funding. I’m grateful that all the core members of the team walked away with me.

There are a lot of reasons why we walked, but the chief one — for me — is that this is exactly why so many stories look the way they do. The very last thing our world needs is another white or Western or exterior savior. The only way to break the cycle is to create more successful films that don’t bow down to this idea that only English-speaking, Western heroes are “relatable” in a world that is mostly brown or black and not English-speaking.

Our team is lucky that we have a strong crew of mostly-female executive producers who really backed us when we took these stands. And we’re also lucky that we met Jannat Gargi at Vulcan, who didn’t ask us to insert some exterior hero to fit the mold.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

SS: This is my first time directing, so I’m afraid I don’t have much advice!

For those just starting out, I’d just say that the path is made by walking. There were times when I’d have huge crises of confidence and look around for someone more “directory” or knowledgeable to take the wheel. I’d really wonder what I was doing as this investigative reporter on a boat directing a crew — I felt like a fraud. But when I could just focus on what was happening, the story, and the unfolding of the journey we were all on, it all became easier. And then, after many of these small steps, we had a movie. It still boggles the mind.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

SS: Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour.” It’s just a riveting and gorgeous film. I’m blown away every time I watch it.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

SS: Tough question. This is my first rodeo, so I don’t have a long timeline to compare things to. But I know there’s an explicit call for films that center on the stories of those not historically centered on and — crucially — to hire writers, directors, editors, cinematographers, and producers from a far more diverse pool. While I think this is obviously important, I’m still taking the Zen master “we’ll see” approach.

Transformation implies deep and real shift at the base — something long-lasting and structural — while the changes I’ve seen around me are still fledgling and new. Unfortunately, backlashes and snapping back into comfortable old norms is really common, but I’m hopeful. Especially because the timing is incredibly potent.

We’re seeing global political swings towards white supremacy, authoritarianism, and sexism, so if Hollywood can really ground itself in the opposite, it’s not a moment too soon.

Stories are enormously powerful at building the muscles of empathy that get weakened during these torrents of political fear mongering. People are being trained to be fearful and divided — which only works in a vacuum of real contact with the scapegoats — whether they’re immigrants or the queer community. As the fearful retreat further into their perceived clans, good films can reach into their living rooms and provide initial contact. The stakes couldn’t be much higher — and Hollywood seems a sucker for happy endings, so fingers crossed!