Danielle Parsons AB '95 specializes in making small subjects larger than life in documentary and video art using microscopes and macro setups. Danielle is the founder of Wonder Science, a Los Angeles-based production company and worldwide streaming app available on Roku, Apple TV, iOS, Android, and Fire TV players. The channel’s programming combines science and art, inviting viewers to see the invisible, and experience a flow-like state of relaxation and curiosity. As a student at Harvard College, Danielle drew inspiration from scientists E.O. Wilson and Stephen Jay Gould. Her passion for film has taken her to some far flung places, from Kazakhstan to the Galapagos Islands. She has produced and directed content for TV and digital outlets such as The History Channel, Showtime, Disney, WIRED, NPR, BBC, and Slate. Danielle's video art has exhibited at museums and galleries including SLOMA, IFP New Media Center, LAPL, and the SPRING/BREAK art show. She built a science museum in the metaverse. Danielle’s work has screened at festivals including the Imagine Science Film Festival, Goethe Science Film Festival, and the Infinity Festival, among others. Danielle creates concert visuals and music videos for bands such as Metallica. She is repped commercially by MAJORITY.
Q: Wonder Science, your amazing content platform where viewers can enjoy and learn from “a fusion of art and science”, is soon launching an app version! What does this mean for you and the platform’s future? What’s the most exciting thing about having a mobile version?
Thank you for your question and compliment! We launched the Android app in May, so now Wonder Science is available through both the iPhone App store and Google Play Store. The mobile apps represent another extension of the Wonder Science brand, putting relaxing, beautiful science into the hands of more people. They will also serve as an additional revenue stream, which is particularly valuable as I bootstrap the business!
I hope the omnipresence of mobile will cause even one viewer to start a science conversation with the person next to them. And I hope new users on mobile will also find their way to watching Wonder Science on larger TV screens via the streaming platforms, Apple TV, Roku, and Fire TV, since subscribers can watch on any device.
Q: You studied science at Harvard, then worked for several years in Hollywood as a filmmaker at MPCA, MGM and Destination Films, and eventually the History Channel. What made you gravitate towards film and Hollywood with your scientific background?
It may appear as a pivot, but it was a natural progression. My focus had already expanded beyond science during my studies. While studying genetics and evolutionary biology, I had incredible professors like E.O. Wilson, Stephen Jay Gould, and Richard Lewontin, who opened my eyes to the intricate workings of the natural world. However, I never aspired to be a scientist. Advancing genetics requires intense repetition and specificity, and I was drawn to broader interests and making connections between diverse ideas. In my junior year, I petitioned to change my concentration to Social Studies, one of Harvard's few interdisciplinary paths, which I ultimately graduated with.
As for my interest in film, I had produced several plays during my time at Harvard, which sparked my curiosity. Working in film seemed to be a prevalent option among my peers, alongside investment banking and law school, after graduation. I had the opportunity to intern with a producer in Los Angeles during the summer between my junior and senior years, and that experience clinched the deal. So, after graduating, I headed to Hollywood. Q: Where did intersections between art and science first develop in your work? What personal experiences or specific gaps in science education led you to found Wonder Science?
Leading up to launching the Wonder Science channel, I had enjoyed a decade of complete creative freedom during which I produced much of its content. I have a home filming and editing studio and could do everything literally in house. The artistry in my work emerged from patiently observing and appreciating the beauty of the subjects I filmed. With limited resources, I also relied on the creative problem-solving skills of myself and my talented collaborators. We used traditional arts and crafts supplies to visualize elements that were too small to be filmed directly. For instance, we crafted molecules by gluing together balls of fluff and created stop-motion animations of quantum processes using cut-up construction paper.
Through filming hundreds of hours of science solely under my own direction, the style of my content diverged from what I saw in mainstream science media. And I thought there was value in that. As the independent streaming industry began to gain traction, I worked with multiple tech teams until we successfully developed the Wonder Science apps. I was excited to have a platform to reach audiences directly. During one summer, I assembled a team of seven editors, and together we sifted through the hundreds of hours of footage, ultimately producing twenty-five programs that became the foundation of Wonder Science. The videos covered a range of topics, including microorganisms, gems, physics, flowers, biology, and even seven videos dedicated to ants.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges of creating microscopic content? How do you even film something that’s invisible to the naked eye?
Filming through microscopes is incredibly satisfying. It’s almost a cheat, the factor of strangeness one can achieve looking at almost anything under a microscope. There are several types of microscopy, some of which manipulate light in ways that accentuate different aspects of a subject – one technique makes a microbe seem to glow from within; another technique is great for capturing surface detail on its body. There is a delightful range of what I call “in-scope effects” that can be achieved with different filters, and even DIY. There is also microscopy that doesn’t use light at all, like electron microscopy.
As for how to film invisible subjects, it takes attaching a camera to a microscope via an adaptor. In cases where there isn’t light to capture, as when imaging the smallest things possible, it involves simply setting up a screen capture. The main trick is the microscopy. Microscopy is hard. Electron microscopes I couldn’t begin to operate alone. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the people, especially to members of the Microscopy Society of Southern California, who have taught me light microscopy hands on. I try to pass it on by volunteering at STEPCon, acquainting hundreds of young students with the microscope as a window to wonder.
To do light microscopy requires directing the light through the optics of the microscope such that the subject is illuminated and in focus. To do video microscopy is challenging because one must attend to multiple things at once: operate the camera as well as the microscope, keep the subject in focus, move the stage to keep it in frame, adjust the height of the condenser to focus the light.
When filming so small an area, any introduction of kinetic energy into this ‘set’ – such as the light touch of a finger on the stage or focus knob, or one’s breath -- can cause shot-ending perturbations in the medium.
One annoying but all too real challenge of filming microscopy is dealing with dust, which will detract from the impact of the footage. Sometimes the dust is on the slide. So you have to start over with a different sample on a clean slide. But count yourself lucky, because inside a microscope, there are a maddening number of hard to access places in which dust particles can collect, one more delicate than the next. When dust is unavoidable, which seems to always be the case to some degree, it then becomes a painstaking chore to mask it out as best as possible in editing. Glamorous work.
Q: How do you decide what content to create? And how do you work to ensure the content provided by Wonder Science remains up to date and relevant in an ever-changing scientific landscape?
At Wonder Science, the decision-making process for creating content is driven by a genuine sense of curiosity and enthusiasm. Firstly, my personal intellectual curiosity plays a significant role. I’ve been following that thread for years, across several broad topics represented in my work. By collaborating and conversing with experts, I gain insight that informs the content creation process. Additionally, sometimes random topics will leap out from newsletters and science publications. Other times, I figure out what’s interesting to say about something that I want to film because it’s beautiful.
I strive to stay connected with the scientific community and keep abreast of the latest developments in several fields. I’m involved with the American Association for the Advancement of Science and attend their conferences. I am an active member of scientific groups including the Microscopy Society of Southern California and the Lorquin Entomological Society.
I trust my intuition to draw me to topics that are years ahead of the curve. For example, I was knee-deep in making a project on light capture during photosynthesis when experimental evidence was published saying that the process involved quantum coherence, which was at that time highly surprising to find in a biological system, and which went on to buttress the emerging field of quantum biology. More than once, I have been asked to wait to release a video until after research was published.
Wonder Science also creates evergreen content about foundational science that will never go out of date. While some aspects of science remain enduring, there are always new breakthroughs and discoveries to explore. So it’s about striking a balance between established knowledge and emerging frontiers.
Q: What are your future plans and aspirations for Wonder Science?
One of my goals for Wonder Science is to communicate all the fascinating and important science I’ve researched over the years. To achieve this, I plan to create versions of existing and new content that incorporate narration and interviews with scientists while staying true to the channel's spirit. We have already released five narrated episodes. I’m planning to grow the content offerings over the next couple years by continuing to license outside content as well as producing in house. There are virtual reality projects and educational video games I’d be excited to do. There is merch I’m dying to make. I want to create and exhibit more science art.
I’ve nearly always retained the rights to what I produce, and I plan to continue to grow the value of my library of science content. I am preparing to pursue funding. In order to be eligible for grants, I recently established Wonder Science Education Corp as a 501(c)(3) non-profit branch of the company. All of my big plans for Wonder Science really hinge on attracting an amazing team of people, including a CEO, and a genius who can grow our audience across all the apps.
As I look ahead, my long-term vision for Wonder Science is as a multimedia brand, akin to a young National Geographic, infused with emerging music and culture. The ultimate goal is for this overall project to help people connect with their innate sense of wonder, and to incrementally improve the health of our planet and the well-being of all its inhabitants.
Q: I played around in the Wonder Science “Metaverse” for a little bit– it’s AWESOME! How do you think AI is going to impact anything in the Wonder Science-related or STEM space, along with both the entertainment and educational spaces at large?
I’m psyched that you did that! The main Wonder Science metaverse headquarters that you visited is in Voxels, a player-built metaverse on the Etherium blockchain. I have imagined for years a Wonder Science Museum, but my ambitious designs would require mammoth sums to accomplish IRL. Suddenly I could draft the first science museum in the metaverse where anything is possible and even the rules of gravity can be ignored in pursuit of scientific learning! Now we’re waiting to see how the metaverse landscape shakes out in time.
And now everyone is weighing in on AI which has seemingly instantly changed everything. It feels like we’re living in that stunned instant after a deep cut, staring at gaping flesh before the blood starts pouring out. I actually don’t feel entirely fatalistic about AI though, despite the gruesome choice of analogy. I mean, there will be massive job disappearances, and some networked AI may blow us all to smithereens next year. But I believe the potential is there for equally radical upsides. And that is thrilling, because the planet could use some huge upsides.
But as to my opinion about AI in STEM and the entertainment and educational spaces… In education as in news, from here on there is no certain truth unless you see it happening in real life in real time. There is no way to assess a student’s knowledge unless you watch them in person write their exams and essays on paper, in the absence of phones or other devices. It’s funny to me the way in which this technological advancement may semi throw us back to a time before computers. Certainly I think AI will advance our entire concept of knowledge.
I guess the entertainment and education we consume will get super excellent, human artists and copyright holders be damned. Personally so far I have been using AI as a tool to improve the quality of my footage through upsizing and slow motion. I don’t yet have ideas on other ways I would comfortably use AI in Wonder Science educational projects. Check back soon! As a science artist, I’m intrigued to collaborate creatively with AI.
Q: Finally, what do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy spending free time with my partner and my dog, and hanging out with friends. I like going to museums, movies, and the occasional Broadway show. I tend to have a novel going. I sometimes like to cook. I require free time in nature, hiking or exploring. I am a friend to insects and will interrupt a doubles tennis match to ferry a bee off the court.