Colossal Biosciences | The Last Goodbye

I grew up watching Steve Irwin and The Crocodile Hunter, and that played a huge part in why I’ve always loved animals and conservation. That’s also why I find what Colossal is doing so fascinating. Their work feels like one of those rare areas where science is pushing into something that once seemed impossible, while also creating technology that could help protect species that are still here. I kept thinking about the emotional side of extinction. When an entire species disappears, there isn’t really a funeral. Something that existed for thousands or millions of years can simply be gone. Colossal gave me a way to turn that finality into something more hopeful. TAKING GOODBYE BACK.

THERE IS NO FUNERAL FOR A SPECIES.

There are no flowers.
No eulogy.
No room full of people mourning what we’ve lost.

Most species disappear without a whisper.

When an animal dies, you can hold on to a memento.

When a species dies, you lose everything.

No second chances.
No take-backs.

Or at least, that used to be true.

Colossal is working with the best scientists and conservationists to protect endangered species before they disappear. By preserving cells, tissue, and genetic material, and developing new reproductive and genetic technologies, their work is helping protect species still with us while opening new possibilities for some we’ve already lost.

Some goodbyes should never have to happen.

And some may not have to be forever.

COLOSSAL
TAKING GOODBYE BACK

COLOSSAL
“THE LAST GOODBYE”
:30 FILM

FADE IN:

ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE - BLACK AND WHITE

Grainy footage montage of the last known videos of many different extinct animals

VO
There are some goodbyes
that we should never have to say.

CUT TO:

Another archival image of a species now gone, the white rhino.

Quiet. Still. Zooming into its eyes.

We hold on it just a little longer than feels comfortable.

VO
To the ones we’ve already lost.

QUICK CUT TO:

EXT. RAINFOREST - DAY

Color floods the screen like rain.

A TAPANULI ORANGUTAN moves through the rainy canopy.

Another endangered animal crosses through its natural habitat.

VO
To the ones still hanging on.

EXT. WILDERNESS - DAY

Researchers push through dense vegetation carrying field equipment.

A scientist kneels and carefully collects a biological sample.

Another team watches an endangered animal from a distance.

A sample is sealed.

A label is written.

Tracking data flickers across a field monitor.

VO
Colossal is doing its part to ensure a future for endangered species...

MATCH CUT TO:

INT. COLOSSAL LAB - DAY

The field sample becomes a vial sliding beneath a microscope.

Scientists study genetic material.

Cells glow across a monitor.

Gloved hands work with preserved DNA.

Embryonic development is observed with extraordinary care.

Precise. Controlled. Real.

VO
...and give the ones we’ve lost along the way
another chance.

CUT TO:

INT. RESEARCH FACILITY - DAY

A newborn DIRE WOLF PUP is gently examined.

A researcher cradles it carefully.

The pup looks up.

CUT TO:

EXT. OPEN LANDSCAPE - DAY

The same animal, older now.

Standing beneath open sky.

Wind moving through its coat.

VO
Because some goodbyes
should never have to happen.

The dire wolf begins moving across the landscape.

For a brief moment, we glimpse research connected to the next species.

Another image.

Another possibility.

The work continues.

VO
And some...

A beat.

VO
...may not have to be forever.

CUT TO BLACK.

SUPER:

COLOSSAL

TAKING GOODBYE BACK

FADE OUT.

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