Louie Psihoyos

Louie Psihoyos is a world renown National Geographic photographer and Oscar-winning director whose mission is to use storytelling to shift humanity to a more sustainable and compassionate future. He is co-founder and Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), a California-based non-profit organization. His first film, The Cove, is an eco-thriller that exposed the brutal slaughter of small cetaceans in Japan and became one the most acclaimed documentaries in film history. The activism around that Oscar-winning film helped reduce dolphin and porpoise slaughter in Japan over 93%. 


He and his team’s projection events of endangered species on iconic buildings for their film, Racing Extinction, received over 5.4 billion media views and led to laws that protect some of the earth’s most endangered species. Over 75% of the world’s interest in shifting towards a plant-based diet has been attributed to his 3rd film, The Game Changers, a film about plant-based super athletes. He co-directed Mission: Joy a buddy film about how to find joy in a world of full of sorrow and features his Holiness, The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His Netflix series, You Are What you Eat: A Twin Experiment has been seen around the world by 10's of million of people and continues to nudge the world closer to a healthier and more sustainable future. 

Courses and Content

May13

The Sundance Institute Founder Series: Robert Redford’s Impact on Conservationism and Climate Storytelling

May 13, 2026
12:00PM - 1:00PM (PDT)
With: Jill Tidman, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Louie Psihoyos and Erica Elson
In this session, you will hear from a panel of environmental filmmakers as they discuss Redford’s impact on their careers, why climate storytelling is more important and empowering than ever, and how all filmmakers can incorporate climate themes and social impact into their work.