Join The Explorers Club Conservation Committee on Friday, October 16th for a screening of Trade Secret.
Trade Secret follows three unlikely allies on a mission to protect polar bears from international commercial trade. Filmed over six years across nine countries, the film exposes the sanctioned sale of hundreds of polar bears each year on the global market. But as the investigation deepens, it uncovers a disturbing truth: those entrusted with safeguarding the species may be entangled in their continued commercialisation. The film raises urgent questions about how we protect vulnerable species in a world where the lines between protection and exploitation have become blurred.
Executive produced by Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up, The Big Short), Trade Secret premiered at Sheffield DocFest and has since screened at more than 40 international festivals, including the Hamptons International Film Festival and Palm Springs. The film has won more than a dozen international awards, including Wildscreen’s coveted Gold Panda. Described by Dr. Sylvia Earle as “a life changing film,” it has drawn comparisons to The Cove and Blackfish.
This in-person screening at the Explorers Club Headquarters, and will be followed by a panel discussion with the creators of the film.
RESERVATIONS
This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.
In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Abraham Joffe
Abraham Joffe ACS is an internationally acclaimed director, producer and cinematographer, known for combining cinematic scale with rigorous investigative and environmental storytelling.
He produced and directed the Southern Ocean episode of Our Oceans, a landmark Netflix series four years in the making, executive produced and narrated by Barack Obama. In 2025 he released his debut feature documentary Trade Secret, which won the Golden Panda at Wildscreen for its impact, ambition and investigative depth.
He previously produced and directed Netflix’s Tales by Light and has worked extensively with Big Cats in the Masai Mara with Jonathan and Angela Scott. In 2017 he was named Australian Cinematographer of the Year, receiving the prestigious Milli Award. Abraham continues to be drawn to stories at the intersection of human behaviour and the natural world, using film to reveal unseen systems and provoke meaningful change.
Adam Cruise
Dr Adam Cruise is an investigative environmental journalist, author and academic with over two decades of experience reporting on poaching, trafficking, trophy hunting and the failures of conservation policy. He holds a PhD in Philosophy specialising in animal and environmental ethics, has written four books, and his investigations have appeared in National Geographic and The Guardian. In 2020 he founded Endangered Wildlife Investigations (EWI), an independent agency exposing the forces behind the exploitation of endangered species. A recognised authority on CITES, he is the only journalist to have attended every committee meeting and conference since 2015, and is closely involved in drafting proposals and campaigns to protect vulnerable species.
Costas Christ
Costas Christ is a Fellow of The Explorer’s Club and Associate Producer of Trade Secret. His travels and expeditions have taken him to more than 100 countries across six continents. He is a former National Geographic editor and award-winning columnist whose work spans the intersection of travel, conservation and exploration. In addition, Costas served as Senior Director for Conservation International. In 2005, Costas was tapped by the United Nations to establish the world’s first international criteria for defining sustainable travel best practices. In 2012, he was honored as an Eco-Warrior together with Dr. Jane Goodall, ocean explorer, Dr. Sylvia Earle, and conservation philanthropist, Ted Turner, for his global efforts to save nature. Costas’ life’s work has been featured in two documentary films – Gringo Trails (2013) and The Last Tourist (2023) . He serves as Vice Chair of The Explorers Club Sustainability Committee and is a co-founder of The Blue Climate Initiative. He is a New York Times contributing writer and co-author of Transformational Opportunities for People, Ocean, Planet (BCI 2022); Transboundary Conservation (Cemex 2006) and Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places (CI 2003). Costas’ media appearances include Good Morning America, Today Show, BBC World, CNN, PBS, National Geographic Channel and National Public Radio, among others.
Sally Ann Ranney
Sally Ann Ranney is an environmental strategist and activist with four decades of work across conservation, renewable energy, water and climate. She is Chair of the Conservation Committee of The Explorers Club, sits on the board of the National Wildlife Federation, and co-founded the Arctic Angels, a global network of young women climate justice leaders. She has advised three US Presidents and served on the Presidential Commission on American Outdoors. Named among the “100 Top Environmentalists in the World You Should Know” alongside Jane Goodall and Vandana Shiva, she has worked to protect wild places across North America, Papua New Guinea, South America and Africa.
