Sebastian Copeland is an award winning photographer, author, lecturer, extreme outdoor adventurer and environmental activist.[1] He has led numerous expeditions around the globe to photograph and film endangered environments. His award-winning documentary Into the Cold was a featured selection at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and was released on DVD timed to Earth Day 2011.[2]
He has addressed audiences at the United Nations, The World Affairs Council, The General Assembly on Climate in New Orleans, The George Eastman House, Google Headquarters, and Apple Inc.’s Senior Design Team.[1]
The son of Director of the Lille National Philharmonic Orchestra, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Sebastian graduated Summa Cum Laude from the UCLA Film School.[1]
Sebastian began his career in New York City directing music videos before moving on to commercial directing as well as professional photography with credits spanning everything from fashion and advertising to album covers and celebrities. His commercial credits include work for Fila (company), Old Spice, Pantene, Disney, Nintendo, and Mennenamongst others. His music video work has included collaboration with artists ranging from Branford Marsalis to Harry Connick, Jr. and Hall and Oates.[1]
His career in still photography has ranged from celebrities to ad campaigns for Hollywood Studios such as Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, and Paramount Pictures. His studio credits include promotional work for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and Goal!, as well as international press for such films as the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Seabiscuit, and Troy. His Celebrity subjects include: Elijah Wood, Kate Bosworth, Salma Hayek, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Phil Collins, Sandra Bullock, and Orlando Bloom.[1]
In recent years, Sebastian has focused his energy on becoming a voice in the fight to bring awareness to the crisis of global Climate change. His prints have appeared in numerous, worldwide exhibitions that include the United Nations (Solo Show, 2007), the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Peabody Essex Museum as well as the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, among others. His works can also be found in private collections in Europe and the United States where several have been inducted into The Natural World Museum in San Francisco’s permanent archive. In 2006 and 2007 prints from his first book, Antarctica: The Global Warning, were selected to tour with the International Photography Awards’ “Best in Show” world tour. 'Antarctica' garnered much attention, winning Copeland the 2007 Photographer of the Year award in the Book category.[3]
His still work has appeared in countless amounts of publications worldwide including GQ, Marie Claire, The Face, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Elle, People, USA Today, W, Interview Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, House & Garden, and National Geographic.[4]
Copeland was named German GQ’s Man of the Year for environmental leadership in 2008.[1]
He is also on the Board of Directors for Global Green and Shine On Sierra Leone, a Non-governmental organization providing educational platforms for the children of war-torn nations.[1]
In 2009 Copeland mounted an expedition to the North Pole meant to commemorate the centennial of Admiral Robert Peary’s expedition in 1909.[5] Sebastian and his partner Keith Heger, filmed their 400-mile expedition on foot to the pole. The surviving footage became Sebastian’s acclaimed documentary “Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul” which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010.
Most recently, Copeland traversed the extensive ice flats of Greenland on a Kite skiing expedition. His expedition was meant to raise awareness of Global Warming. He documented the journey with his camera as well as blogged live updates through Facebook and Twitter.[6] The expedition lasted 44 days [7] and earned Copeland's expedition the new kite skiing distance World Record by covering the longest distance in a 24-hour period: 595 kilometers.[8]
Sebastian currently lives in Los Angeles.[1] Sebastian continues to lead expeditions to remote corners of the globe to spread consciousness on Global warming.[9]