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NONFICTION HOTLIST ORIGINALS

Love Birds

2025 28 min Nature

When George Hunt and Molly Warner discovered 'lesbian seagulls' on Santa Barbara Island in 1972, they didn't expect national headlines. But the media frenzy that followed would upend their lives—and their relationship.

Official Poster

About the Film

Love Birds follows biologists George Hunt and Molly Warner, whose 1972 discovery of same-sex seagull pairs sparks a national conversation at the height of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Their groundbreaking research changes history while forever altering the course of their own lives.

  • DOCUMENTARY
  • SHORT DOCUMENTARY
  • HISTORY
  • SCIENCE
  • LGBTQ+
  • LGBTQ+ HISTORY
  • WILDLIFE BIOLOGY
  • ORNITHOLOGY
  • SEAGULLS
  • ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
  • CALIFORNIA
  • CHANNEL ISLANDS
  • SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY
  • WOMEN IN SCIENCE
  • LOVE STORY
  • CIVIL RIGHTS
  • ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
  • HUMAN INTEREST
  • BIOGRAPHY
Director
Elliott Kennerson & Angel Morris
Producers
Elliott Kennerson · Angel Morris · Molly O'Brien · Liz Cole · Andy Berg · Nell Lawrenz-Wareham
Editor
Elliott Kennerson & Angel Morris
Production Companies
A Perfect Four Productions · NBC News Studios

Festivals & Awards

21 SELECTIONS
  • Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (Premiere) (2025)
  • Provincetown International Film Festival (2025)
  • DC / DOX (2025)
  • Jackson Wild Summit (Editing Award) (2025)
  • Santa Fe International Film Festival (2025)
  • Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (2025)
  • Newport Beach Film Festival (2025)
  • Festival International du Film Ornithologique, Menigoute, France (Jury Prize) (2025)
  • St. Louis International Film Festival (Best Short Doc) (2025)
  • NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (Finalist, Best Short Film) (2026)
  • Wild & Scenic Film Festival (2026)
  • Hindsight Film Festival (Best Editing, Short) (2026)
  • American Documentary And Animation Film Festival (2026)
  • Annapolis Film Festival (2026)
  • Ocean Film Festival, San Francisco (Jury Award) (2026)
  • Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival (2026)
  • San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (2026)
  • Santiago Wild (2026)
  • deadCenter Film Festival (2026)
  • Doc Edge Film Festival (2026)
  • Sidewalk Film Festival (2026)

Production Stills

5 STILLS

The Filmmakers

Elliott Kennerson
DIRECTOR & EDITOR Elliott Kennerson

Elliott Kennerson (he/him) is a San Diego-based director, producer, and post-production specialist. He is the recipient of three Regional Emmys for his work on Deep Look, a co-production of KQED and PBS Digital Studios, and the originator of Animal R&R, an Emmy-nominated wildlife rescue series for KPBS San Diego. As a team member at Day's Edge Productions, he worked on the PBS Nature episode San Diego: America's Wildest City and Human Footprint, a PBS national series about ecology and evolution. His work as a nature filmmaker focuses on queerness in the natural world and LGBTQ perspectives in science, and Love Birds is his first independent film. Elliott received his M.F.A. in natural history filmmaking from Montana State University and holds a B.A. from Yale in archaeology. He lives with his partner Matt and their dog, Magnolia.

Angel Morris
DIRECTOR & EDITOR Angel Morris

Angel Morris (they/them) is a nonbinary producer and award-winning editor based in Skåne, Sweden. Their experience spans film, broadcast, and digital media, with a focus on natural history and archive-based documentaries, including projects with National Geographic, NBC, and PBS. Their debut film, Diving for Rays, was released by WaterBear Network in 2021, and their work on Love Birds won them the editing award at Jackson Wild. Angel has served as a full-time editor at Day's Edge Productions, a San Diego-based natural history production company known for PBS's Emmy-nominated series Human Footprint, and they are the lead editor and post-production supervisor on the PBS series In Her Nature. Angel enjoys spending time in the outdoors with their partner Sarah and their dog Juniper.

Molly O’Brien
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Molly O’Brien

Molly O’Brien (she/her) is an Academy Award- and Primetime Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, producer, and executive whose work explores culture, identity, and social change. Her film The Only Girl in the Orchestra won the 2026 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. She currently serves as Head of Documentary at NBC News Studios, where she oversees the development and production of premium nonfiction films and series. Before joining NBC News Studios, she was an executive producer at Fork Films and a founding producer of the Sundance Institute’s Catalyst Initiative.

More about the Film

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