Shell and Great Big Story co-create video series Fast and Forward

Shell has partnered with Great Big Story for a new video series, called Fast Forward, celebrating innovators of the hyper-industrial age. The collection of five films is a part of Shell’s global #makethefuture campaign.

The series is designed to resonate with Great Big Story’s young, intellectually curious audience, particularly 18-45 year olds who are interested in energy. Highlighting the next generation of technologies that are inspired by and created with natural sources to improve energy consumption, the videos include how sea lion flippers are influencing aquatic transportation and a branded content film about the Shell Eco-marathon.

The videos will be available across Great Big Story’s platforms reaching over 10 million fans. Distribution will also be enhanced on social media, using Turner’s Launchpad technology to reach key audiences in USA, Brazil, UK, India, China and Australia.

Brokered by CNN International Commercial (CNNIC), the partnership also includes an interactive Shell-branded content hub produced by create, CNNIC’s in-house studio.

Stories featured in this series include:

How sea lion flippers are influencing aquatic transportation

While most animals swim using a tail or fluke, sea lions clap their fore flippers into their bodies to propel themselves to incredible speeds. It’s an elegant, efficient movement that land-dweller Megan Leftwich, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at George Washington University, wants to reproduce in robotic form.

Building the Ultra-Efficient Drive

It is a branded content film about Shell Eco-marathon, where young people from around the world build and drive ultra-energy-efficient vehicles towards a more sustainable future. Benjamin Esquirol and his buddies from Saskatchewan Polytechnic shares their experiences in driving a car made with a lawn chair, a dismantled drill, a 3D printer and some recycled hockey sticks.

Reinventing the Wheel

Mike Burtov abandoned his startup company two years ago to try and build a prototype for an electric bicycle wheel - and his GeoOrbital wheel is a game-changer. Join this new approach to biking as we discover what it means to replace a bicycle’s front wheel with a GeoOrbital wheel and clip a thumb-activated throttle to the handlebars for up to 50 miles of electric bike-riding bliss in this Great Big Story.

Exoskeleten (to be launched on November 2)

As a child, Yoshiyuki Sankai loved novels like I, Robot, and was hooked on cartoons like Cyborg 009. As he grew up, pursuing his passion for robot science, Sankai dreamed of creating robots that could improve people’s lives. Now a professor at the University of Tsukuba, Sankai has founded a billion dollar cyborg company developing the HAL (Hybrid Assisted Limb), a device unlike any other physical therapy aid. The HAL is a robotic exoskeleton attached through nodes on the skin to read brain signals, allowing patients to control movement using only their mind - and it’s working. In this Great Big Story, we’ll meet the team behind this ground-breaking technology straight out of science fiction that is revolutionising mobility and movement for those in need around the world.

Sailing the Globe with Renewable Energy (to be launched on November 15)

In 2013, veteran ocean racer Victorien Erussard was halfway through his trans-Atlantic race when his ship lost all power. Erussard would make sure that would never happen again, and five years later, he’s created The Energy Observer: the world’s first hydrogen-powered boat. This groundbreaking craft has since been journeying from port to port around the world, showcasing its advanced tech, and spreading awareness about the future of travel using renewable energy. In this Great Big Story, we’ll join Erussard and the team as they prepare to repeat the very same trans-Atlantic race — only this time, they’re going green.