Picture this. Earth. The future. The polar ice caps have melted. There are only two polar bears that remain in existence. They are homeless, hungry and extremely horny. Welcome to the world of Bob and Harry, the Last Two Polar Bears, starring Harry Shearer and Rip Torn in an extremely funny SOS film for Live Earth by award winning husband and wife team Oli Barry (Director) & Sophie Keller (Writer/Producer/Actress) of Miracle Entertainment.
Desperate for a place to live, Bob and Harry pay a visit to a slimy real estate agent, who tries to sell them some 'full service' urban condos, which turn out to be cages in a zoo. "Believe me, once you're in there, you'll never want to leave". They then attempt to get a bite to eat at a top, fancy restaurant, but due to over-fishing, their choices are limited, sushi without the fish and the special of the day, the 'Valdez' broth (You remember the oil spill). Harry, feeling lonely and in serious need of a little female companionship visits the 'Endangered Species Dating Agency' where he is offered a choice between a hippo "opposites do attract you know" or a frigid panda, although the flirty match-maker quite fancies the handsome bear for herself.
When my husband Oli Barry and I were initially approached to do an SOS film we were on an environmental roll having spent nearly a year working with the Prince of Wales on a documentary feature film through our production company Miracle Entertainment. So with our brief from Live Earth to do something on climate change, we decided to do a fictional piece on polar bears. We brought in a few friends to help with the structure and then I spent the following two months writing and fleshing it out with the aim of keeping the narrative suitably insightful and moving while making the characters accessible and funny.
Conceived as four vignettes, Oli shot Bob and Harry, The Last Two Polar Bears in five locations in and around Los Angeles over two and a half days with a crew of fifty. Despite have a budget of only $105,000 we managed to pull in favors worth at least $400,000. The cast have a natural gift for comedy and as well as Harry Shearer and Rip Torn starring in the title roles of Bob & Harry, we had Lucy Davis playing the panda, Steve Valentine as the restaurant owner, Tara Karsian as the realtor and I played the dating agency woman. We were really fortunate to have such a terrific cast and fantastic crew, all of whom donated their time for this noble cause; and what better way to make people aware of the environmental issues than through comedy. Everyone likes to laugh and while the audience is open and unaware, we were able to hit home with the all important message. "It is estimated that all polar bears will be extinct within the next 100 years."