Backyard Wilderness
The award-winning Backyard Wilderness film played in more than 70 giant-screen IMAX® theaters around the world, accompanied by an impact campaign designed to get kids outdoors and exploring the biodiversity in their own communities. Working closely with public libraries, the project centered around conducting a community “bioblitz” to observe and catalogue native species.
The campaign was built to achieve its learning goals with or without access to the film itself — offering both formal and informal educational materials to help educators and parents facilitate classroom lessons and outdoor activities, including the wildlife identification app SEEK, developed by the team behind iNaturalist as a kid-friendly entry point into community science.
The theatrical release was supplemented by a nationwide libraries initiative that brought the Backyard Wilderness pop-up exhibit and educational materials to libraries and science centers across the country. Through over 30 bioblitz events, the campaign inspired children and adults to explore the outdoors and introduced many participants, including libraries and educational institutions, to community science for the first time.
Highlights
1.5M
giant‑screen theatrical viewers across 70 giant‑screen and IMAX venues
2M
SEEK app sessions since launch, making it a top‑ranked kids app internationally
574
children and adults participated in 30 official Bioblitz events across the country
50+
libraries and museums hosted the pop‑up exhibit, extending community reach
Initiative
With a mission to get kids outdoors and exploring, the Backyard Wilderness impact campaign sought to achieve the following goals:
- For youth: Inspire kids to appreciate the natural world around them and understand how it works.
- For libraries: Provide an interactive exhibit and activities to inspire curiosity and outdoor exploration.
- For educators: Offer resources to augment science lessons and school curricula from kindergarten to high school.
- For families: Connect families and communities with outdoor activities to inspire kids’ curiosity and sustain interest in exploration.
- For institutions: Support the development and maintenance of local coalitions and partnerships working in youth-focused science education and community science projects.
Screenings & Events
Since premiering in 2018, Backyard Wilderness has played at 70+ IMAX and giant-screen theaters, science centers, and prestigious museums. Each theater screened the film multiple times a day during exhibitions lasting for a minimum of six months, reaching more than 1.5 million people in total. Highlights include:
- California Science Center
- Georgia Aquarium
- Fort Worth Science Center
- Challenger Learning Center
- Cincinnati Museum Center
- American Museum of Natural History
- Smithsonian Air and Space
- Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- Shanghai Science and Technology Museum
- Omniversum in The Hague, Netherlands
- Planetario Alfa in Monterrey, Mexico
- Malecon 2000 in Guayaquil, Ecuador
- National Museum of Natural Science in Taichung, Taiwan
- Guangdong Science Center in Guangdong, China
- L'Hemisferic in Valencia, Spain
- IMAX Victoria in Victoria, Canada
Backyard Wilderness also screened at film festivals around the world and won an impressive 13 awards in its first year of release. At the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) Expo, a trade association for the giant-screen and IMAX® industry, Backyard Wilderness received five awards:
- Best Film-Short Subject
- Best Film for Lifelong Learning
- Best Cinematography
- Best Visual Effects
- Big Idea Award
Educational Outreach
In the Classroom & Community
Backyard Wilderness was accompanied by a suite of educational materials developed by HHMI Tangled Bank Studios and partners, all designed to connect kids and families with the natural world in their local communities.
- Pop-up lobby display: A stand-alone, self-guided exhibit featuring digital and physical interactive activities to promote outdoor exploration and invite participants to start observing nature.
- Educator guide: Developed with the California Academy of Sciences for grades 3–8, the guide includes pre- and post-viewing questions, classroom and outdoor activities, and citizen science resources — all tied to NGSS standards.
- Family activity guide: Designed for families with elementary school-aged children, activities focus on hands-on interaction with nature and include parent/guardian "cheat sheets" and local species guides.
- Bioblitz guide & toolkit: These resources give libraries and community organizations everything they need to host their own Bioblitz — a short outdoor event where participants explore local ecosystems together as citizen scientists.
In Libraries
Working with STAR Net, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios brought the Backyard Wilderness exhibit and educational materials to 40 urban and rural libraries and science centers across the U.S. over 18 months.
- Selected institutions received interactive physical installations, educational materials, and training resources to support ecosystem exploration programming.
- Priority was given to libraries with strong local partnerships and reach among underserved communities.
- Partners typically hosted the exhibit for 8 weeks, facilitated at least one public Bioblitz, and curated a special collection of nature and environment books.
In Apps
Developed in partnership with HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, the SEEK app by iNaturalist was created as a free, safe, and accessible tool to encourage children's connection to nature and has become one of the most popular free nature-identification apps around the world.
- SEEK uses iNaturalist data to create backyard treasure hunts, with AI-powered species identification and badges to reward exploration.
- Since its 2018 launch, the app has reached more than 2 million sessions and been ranked the #1 kids app in the U.S. and among the top five in over 100 countries.
- In 2019, a major update added new AI features, and the app gained high-profile partners including WWF and Netflix for the docu-series Our Planet.
- In 2021, SEEK was featured prominently at an Apple product launch event — a testament to its continued popularity and cultural reach.
Partnerships
The Backyard Wilderness impact campaign succeeded in a large part due to partnerships forged with educators, exhibitors, mission-focused organizations, museums and libraries:
- STAR Net: STAR Net's network of libraries brought expanded reach and creativity to the campaign — with many libraries going above and beyond to create memorable outreach experiences for their communities.
- SEEK by iNaturalist: Developed in partnership with Tangled Bank Studios, SEEK grew into a widely celebrated platform, attracting high-profile partners like WWF and Netflix and earning recognition at Apple's annual product launch event.
- Bioblitz events: The Bioblitz model proved a highly replicable framework for outdoor community activations, giving youth the tools to explore and connect with the natural world around them.
- Giant-screen theatrical release: IMAX and giant-screen venues offered an immersive, memorable experience accessible to both school groups and families — extending the film's reach to over 1.5 million viewers.
Press Coverage
About the Film
Presented by SK Films, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, Arise Media, and Archipelago Films, Backyard Wilderness takes viewers on a surprising journey to discover the natural wonders right outside our doors. The film follows young Katie and her family, who — absorbed by screens and busy modern lives — are blind to the real-life spectacle unfolding around them, until a school project sends Katie outdoors and sparks her discovery of a whole new world. We experience her wonder as her backyard comes alive: wood duck chicks diving out of trees, salamanders dodging traffic, coyote pups learning to hunt, and more.
Captured with stunning 3D imagery from high-speed and time-lapse cameras mounted inside dens and nests and along the forest floor, Backyard Wilderness reveals these hidden neighbors in breathtaking intimacy — vivid proof that Wi-Fi is not the only connection that matters.
Learn More
Explore more about Backyard Wilderness, view the trailer, read reviews and press coverage, and learn where to watch.