A16_Justifications___Sole_Source_v2_1.pdf

FWS Form (Rev. 2020) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE OPERATIONS

Acquisitions Operations

This sole source contract is being pursued with Tandem due to previous agreements with the company through the National

Wildlife Refuge Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which makes them familiar with the needs for individual film products and the specific deliverable of short films for tailored purposes. Additionally, Tandem’s prior work with the USFWS allows access to the previous work that has been produced, which will be included for distribution purposes. However, new work to supplement existing content is necessary to complete a suite of film products, as well as still images for use by the USFWS to significantly expand the awareness and relevancy of the wildland fire program. Given that the USFWS wildland fire program expands across much of the nation, this is a much larger scale arrangement and encompasses the entire refuge system, as compared to individual and specific refuge film products done on a case-by-case basis at limited locations and refuges.

Additionally, Tandem has prior experience filming wildland fire projects and is familiar with wildland fire operations and safety protocols while on the fireline and in the Department of the Interior aircraft. Tandem holds, or has held, all of the necessary required qualifications that allow them to fly in a DOI aircraft, which will be necessary to capture certain visuals.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposes to work with Tandem Stills + Motion, Inc. (Tandem) to expand a long-term business relationship to develop visual content for the Branch of Fire Management and support the Bureau's diversity and inclusion outreach and recruitment efforts. This proposal between the USFWS and Tandem will incorporate solid marketing and branding base to help with recruitment efforts across the USFWS Fire Management Program. Recruitment efforts will be designed to garner interest in wildland fire positions from qualified candidates. Additionally, the proposed project will help to target messaging and outreach to underrepresented groups to assist with diversity and inclusion efforts of wildland fire personnel.

The qualifications necessary to fill this contract will prove to be limiting factors in the available selection for filming and photography. The selected contractor will need to possess the necessary fire qualification experience to allow for filming and photography on the fireline, possess an understanding of the USFWS conservation mission, and provide top photography and cinema quality production products. Additionally, a stock of previously collected recorded and photographed National Wildlife Refuges would benefit the scope of this project. Previous filming and photography experience on National Wildlife Refuges is preferred, given the type of environment in which footage will be captured. Lastly, Tandem already possess a multitude of hours of footage and several thousands of photos of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The addition of fire footage and photography would likely complete the collection of images and footage that best represents the entirety of the National Wildlife Refuge System. By utilizing a different contractor, that does not already have preexisting footage and photographs, the overall cost of the proposed project would increase, as a new contractor would be building a portfolio from scratch.

Program / Project Officer

Contracting Officer

The anticipated cost will be determined fair and reasonable based on comparison of proposed pricing with that awarded on previous contracts, as well as market research.

The contractor is uniquely qualified for this requirement based on industry standard expertise and existing creative content and collaborative work with NWRS. This specific contractor is requested to contribute to the Branch of Fire Management’s recruitment and outreach efforts based on their experience with the NWRS and the agency over the last ten years. Specifically, Tandem has traveled on assignment throughout the refuge system to film and photograph a host of refuges, and specifically in areas closed to the public. In addition, assets that have been created by this contractor are authorized for USFWS use but copyright authority is retained by the contractor. The content that has been created is of industry standard quality and not available through any other context or format. The contractor and associated team is a conservation expert in the area of public lands and natural resources with an unmatched portfolio of projects in remote, politically sensitive and species sensitive areas.

The contractor also has the necessary qualifications for filming on the fireline, as well as for aerial filming/photographer during wildland fire operations.

The purpose of this project will be to develop visual content regarding the wildland fire program. Developed content will share wildland fire operations generally unavailable for viewing by the public, as well as increase visibility of the wildland fire program within the USFWS. These efforts will demonstrate the broad spectrum of environments and conservation and suppression efforts USFWS wildland firefighters encounter during the scope of their job. Content will adequately demonstrate efforts put forth within the wildland fire program to: protect and conserve wildlife and wildlife habitat; reduce the risk of unwanted catastrophic wildfires; and support the nation’s wildland fire suppression efforts across the country. The content obtained will be used to visually illustrate the attributes of the refuge system wildland firefighters in the form of film and photographic content. In order to satisfy the desired outcomes, the contractor should be required to have prior experience filming/photographing in a wildland fire setting, as well as carry and maintain all necessary qualifications to allow them on the fireline with firefighters. Additionally, Tandem has prior experience filming wildland fire projects and is familiar with wildland fire operations and safety protocols while on the fireline and in the Department of the Interior aircraft. Tandem holds, or has held, all of the necessary required qualifications that allow them to fly in a DOI aircraft, which will be necessary to capture certain visuals. Completion of this project will fill a gap in the existing products already completed by Tandem.