 Wildlife Film News
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Welcome to these new full members, who've joined us in August! Mountain Travels Pakistan - Fixer/producer in Pakistan, led by Mr. Ghulam Ahmad. A trusted name in the arena of cultural, adventure, and nature tourism in Pakistan. Offering Trekking, Tours, Climbing Expeditions, Services for Filming, Paragliding, Rafting, Jeep Safaris, Photo Safaris. Sabine Bernert - A French wildlife and conservation writer and photographer. Aaron Cook - A wildlife cameraman with a creative mind and focus to work in the Natural History Sector. Guy Fenton - A TV & Media Presenter based in Australia. Combining background as a biological research scientist, experience in teaching, passion for health and interest in natural history. Stefan Fletcher - A recent graduate with a first in Creative Music Technology (BMus), now working full time as a composer for film and television. Trevor LaClair - A passionate wildlife presenter on a mission to promote conservation through education. Sky McCain - A multi-talented new film-maker with camera skills and a background in Green Activism, science & spirituality! There's basic FREE membership for all here or for a much more comprehensive listing, Profile Page and additional benefits, become a full member: Wildlife-film.com/freelancers or Wildlife-film.com/companies |
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Available Wildeye Course Places... Join the Great Ape Adventure! Due to a cancellation we have just one place avilable on Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Uganda, 9-20 November 2015 - this amazing trip will see us trekking to see/film wild mountian gorillas and chimpanzees in the forests of Uganda, whilst learning about conservation projects to protect our close relatives. For many people this is on their lifetime wish-list - so grab the chance while you can! A unique itinerary is planned to give participants an incredible opportunity to see wild great apes and engage in their conservation – highlights include: mountain gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, visiting the Ngamba Chimp Island Sanctuary, several game drives featuring lions, leopards, elephants, monkeys, buffaloes and more, boat cruising, learning about and participating in conservation projects such as tree-planting, teaching local people about the value of wildlife, and the Pedal Powered Cinema Project, staying at Dian Fossey Lodge . Click here for further information, full itinerary and booking details. New dates for the Introduction to Wildlife Film-making course have been sheduled for next year... 22-24 April 2016... Why not book early and start your Wildeye journey! £295, book here. Visit the hompage for up-to-date availability on all courses: www.wildeye.co.uk |
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Sponsor the Wildeye Conservation Film Festival!! The Wildeye Conservation Film Festival, which will holding it's inaugural festival at the University of East Anglia from 28-31 July 2016, is looking for sponsors! For the continued survival of life on Earth it is our mission to improve wildlife conservation and environmental protection through the education of the public and those with political power. We are in a period of man-made mass extinction, with rates already many thousands of times the base-extinction-rate, and greenhouse gas emissions continuing to increase despite decades of warnings about climate change. Film-making whether it be for cinema, television or the web is a powerful tool for education and can inspire change. The Wildeye Conservation Film Festival aims to seek ways to utilise this inspirational tool for maximum power in effectively educating and motivating audiences. The vision for the annual Wildeye Conservation Film Festival is to not only provide an empowering forum for film-makers, web/broadcasters and conservation organisations to discuss better practices for conservation-related productions, but also to celebrate, and bring larger audiences to, those films which make a difference.
The Festival Directors are Piers Warren, founder of Wildeye and Wildlife-film.com & Jason Peters, editor of this newsletter! We really hope that past students, members and subscribers/followers etc will get behind us and the festival aims. It's Time To Focus!! Our Patrons are: Stephen Fry, Michaela Strachan, Joanna Lumley OBE, Steve Backshall, Bill Bailey, Mark Carwardine, Virginia McKenna OBE, Lee Durrell MBE, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Ian Redmond OBE and Richard Brock – Click here to read more about them. We are looking for sponsors... Please visit: www.wildeyefestival.org/sponsorship-opportunities or email for further info: jason@wildeyefestival.org We are also looking for help with fund-raising, so if you've relevant experience and would like to volunteer your time and expertise, please contact us! |
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JHWFF 2015 Finalists Announced! Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival recognizes 80+ of the best wildlife and nature films. The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, (JHWFF) the premier event of its genre, has announced the 2015 finalists for its 13th biennial Festival. Winners will be unveiled in Jackson, Wyoming at the Grand Teton Awards Gala on Thursday, October 1st,2015. The awards are one part of a five-day industry conference hosted at the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand Teton National Park, September 28-October 2, 2015, that attracts the leading filmmakers, organizations, scientists, broadcasters, and visionaries engaged in conservation and wildlife media. This year’s submissions in the prestigious competition included nearly 1,000 category entries, a record number, competing for 23 special awards. This year’s finalists were selected by over 150 international judges who viewing 3200 hours of media. A distinguished panel of international judges immediately preceding the Festival will select the 2015 award winners. Finalists in Best Sound and Special Consideration will be announced shortly. Congratulations to the 2015 Finalists! CONTENT CATEGORIES: Best Animal Behavior Program Best Wildlife Habitat Program Best Conservation Program (sponsored by Tangled Bank Studios) Best People & Nature Program (sponsored by The Nature Conservancy)
India’s Wandering Lions - Ammonite Ltd., Kosmik Global Pvt. Ltd., Earth Touch and Discovery Communications India Read about all finalists here... Dates: Delegate REGISTRATION is open! The conference is hosted in the heart of Grand Teton National Park at Jackson Lake Lodge and registration includes outstanding keynote speakers, special screenings, hosted social events and the Gala Awards Celebration! But—come early and stay late—this year we launch our first-ever Jackson Hole WILD public festival running September 26 through October 3rd! The 2015 trailer is live! Watch it now:
Follow us on social media or visit us at jhfestival.org |
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Borneo from Below - Discover the rumble beneath the jungle!
Borneo From Below Trailer Borneo’s not just about orangutans, pygmy elephants and sun bears. The dive sites around this exotic island are regularly voted the world’s best. And Scubazoo want to show you why. Here you can find weird and wonderful critters such as flamboyant cuttlefish and blue-ringed octopus, along with schools of hammerheads, sperm whales and manta rays. Borneo From Below is the first ongoing series dedicated to Borneo’s marine environment. Produced by Scubazoo and presented by Bertie, the series will showcase the area's incredible underwater inhabitants. Along with this, viewers will be offered tips to improve their photography and introduced to fascinating local cultures. Borneo From Below will also tackle some key environmental issues, including the trades that are pushing species to the brink of extinction. Footage and images ©Scubazoo www.scubazoo.com
What is it about Borneo? asks Aaron (aka Bertie) Gekoski Few places carry such exotic connotations. Jungles filled tree-to-tree with pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, sun bears and orangutans. Head Hunters, crazy-looking bugs, rainforests, mountains. And that’s just above the water. Borneo From Below does little to dampen the romance. This massive coastline – Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world – is home to world-class coral reefs that are visited by pods of pilot and sperm whales, mantas, whale sharks, gigantic schools of devil ray and more. |
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Cecil The Lion's Death Triggers Debate Over Trophy Hunting with Chris Palmer The killing of Cecil the lion, Zimbabwe's best known lion who was a major attraction in the park where he lived, generated international media attention and triggered global outrage among animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities. In the latest Update-1, Broadcast Committee member Irv Chapman talks to Chris Palmer, a professor, speaker, author and environmental/wildlife film producer, about Cecil's death. Palmer discusses the social media coverage of this story and why he thinks trophy hunting should be banned. Or listen here: www.press.org/news-multimedia/audio/cecil-lions-death-triggers-debate-over-trophy-hunting Here's a recent interview with Chris on dolphins and other issues with the International Marine Mammal Project at the Earth Island Institute. |
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Let's Go Beyond Cecil and Ustad by Swati Thiyagarajan So Cecil, a lion with a name gets killed, and there is world wide outrage, just like when a tiger named Ustad was removed from the wild. So it's not a situation of a rose by any other name, because if either that particular lion or tiger had not been known to tourists, nobody would be protesting right now. I call it the "concern hierarchy". It affects everything from conservation to hunting to how and what we consume. More here: www.ndtv.com/opinion/lets-go-beyond-cecil-and-ustad-1203558?pfrom=home-opinion |
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Tom and Sabrina Karges, Natural History Producers, are presenting a seminar on wildlife filmmaking - 25-27 September 2015, Estes Park, Colorado, USA If you are passionate about wildlife and have a desire to learn about wildlife filmmaking, this is the workshop for you. The spectacular Rocky Mountain National Park, a true gem of the National Park Service, is the location for this extraordinary wildlife filmmaking workshop. The park's lush green valleys, majestic mountains and abundant wildlife is the backdrop for your learning experience. We are offering only one workshop at the peak of the “elk rut”. There are unbelievable filming opportunities where one will see hundreds of elk up close during the mating season. The elk rut is just the beginning – there are also opportunities to film deer, moose, coyotes, beaver, marmots, bird life, waterfowl and maybe the occasional bear.
Cost: $400.00 |
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Steven Ballantyne - Hong Kong Doc Course Tutor! Hong Kong based wildlife Field Director and remote location manager Steven Ballantyne - most recently working as Field Director and specialist logistics expert on the new Disney Nature production Born in China, filming Snow Leopards and Chiru Antelope - when not on location mentors students at the HK International Film Academy and will be running a two day documentary development workshop in September.
Hong Kong International Academy of film and Television - run by Steven Ballantyne - for further information email lorna@iaft.net Visit www.iaft.net |
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Book Review by Piers Warren: Animal Music: Sound and Song in the Natural World There are precious few books about sounds from the natural world, and this new publication from Tobias Fischer and Lara Cory makes a very welcome addition. Animal Music : Sound and Song in the Natural World is an overview of the debate about the idea that animals enjoy music on a similar level to human beings. It includes exclusive interviews with Chris Watson, Jana Winderen, Yannick Dauby, Slavek Kwi and Geoff Sample as well as features on Bernie Krause, Jez riley French and many more. This will be fascinating reading for anyone involved in wildlife and field recording. Chapters explore the people and institutions that record and study animal sounds, how animals produce sounds and how they hear, why animals sing, artists attempting dialogues with animals and a thought-provoking discussion trying to define music both in human and other-animal terms. In addition there is a section where a number of leading field recordists give their expert views on recording technology and equipment. By the time I'd finished reading the book, apart from anything else, I was itching to get outside into the wilds with my recorder! Also included, and worth the cover price alone, is a specially-compiled 60 minute CD of excellent field recordings from the Gruenrekorder label, many of them made by recordists featured in the book. The recorded subjects vary from owls, water scorpions and Amazonian river dolphins to wood ants, pilot whales and hermit crabs. Purchase the book on Amazon.co.uk |
Students attending the workshop should have a passion for wildlife and wildlife filmmaking. To produce a successful wildlife film it takes more that just shooting hours of footage of elk. You must be able to combine your creative story telling ability with your technical expertise in shooting and then putting it all together in the final edit. In essence, the goal of the workshop is to inspire you to develop your skills to be successful wildlife filmmaker. The workshop will be supplemented by many handouts.Photo credits: John Timmis
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Nat Geo Wild, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and the African Wildlife Foundation Anoounce Elephant Conservation PSA Contest – RALLY THE HERD Finalists to Attend Jackson Hole Elephant Summit and Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival; Winning PSA to Air on Nat Geo WILD. Nat Geo WILD, in partnership with the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), announced today (29/07/15) the Rally the Herd public service announcement (PSA) contest, to raise awareness of the plight of the African elephant. The contest will give aspiring wildlife filmmakers, conservationists, students or anyone with a passion for protecting our largest land animals the opportunity to create a public service announcement that rallies others to action. The winning PSA will air on Nat Geo WILD. Participants are asked to submit a PSA focused on the African elephant, with the goal of inspiring others to learn more about the decline of the population and to offer their help. PSAs should be no longer than 90 seconds and can be created with original footage, and/or footage and photography provided by Nat Geo WILD. Entries will be accepted through Sept. 7 at each of the partners’ Facebook pages or by visiting bitly.com/RallyTheHerd, and will be judged on the following criteria:
The top three finalists will be announced by Sept. 14, 2015, and invited to the Jackson Hole Elephant Conservation Summit, Sept. 27-29, where for three days leading elephant scientists, conservationists and advocates will convene with 650+ international media professionals to share resources and strategies, and brainstorm innovative approaches to halt the killing of elephants and illegal trafficking of ivory. The winning PSA will air on Nat Geo WILD later this year. “Getting people to care about these elephants is the first step in motivating them to act,” said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president and general manager of Nat Geo WILD. “We look forward to seeing how these filmmakers use the camera lens to ignite that passion in viewers to want to learn and do more.” Poachers kill as many as 35,000 elephants each year in Africa, and other threats such as habitat loss and conflict with humans are jeopardizing the future of one of the continent’s most iconic species. Nat Geo WILD takes its viewers to the front lines of this crisis, where conservation groups like AWF are battling to save the species from extinction. “Documentaries, films, National Geographic articles and programs have all helped to inspire a sense of awe and appreciation for the African elephant,” said Dr. Patrick Bergin, CEO of AWF. “Now we need the camera lens to inspire advocates for their survival.” Lisa Samford, executive director of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival and Conservation Summit, added, “We aim to engage the power of media to influence global change to spark a cultural shift and empower a public front that doesn’t tolerate the use of ivory products and illegal poaching of the world’s elephants.” |
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Sussex Wildlife Trust Photo Competition - My Wild Sussex Sussex Wildlife Trust is looking for beautiful and awe-inspiring wildlife and landscape photographs to grace the pages of their 2016 online calendar. The subject matter is entirely your choice providing it follows the theme, ‘My Wild Sussex’. Choose the wild places that are special to you – maybe the downs, woodlands, or a favourite urban nature spot where wildlife thrives. First prize is £100 cash and the runner-up will receive a set of four Mark Greco wildlife mugs. Pictures taken by the 12 finalists will appear in The Trust’s 2016 online calendar, and the overall winning image will feature in their members’ magazine, monthly enews and on their website. You can enter up to five images and they must all be in a landscape format and have a file size of atleast 1MB. All images must be digital – no slides or prints. Once the Trust’s judges have selected the 12 finalists, the overall winner will be voted for by the public. Closing date for receipt of entries is 30 September 2015. Upload your images to their photo competition page or post a CD to: Richard Cobden, Photography Competition, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Woods Mill, Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD See: www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/photo-competition-my-wild-sussex |
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NaturVision – an island of the future Ludwigsburg: The NaturVision Film Festival drew to a close on Sunday evening with the grand gala award ceremony. This year again the four-day event was a triumph, repeating last year’s sensational success with this time around 11,000 viewers at both the indoor and open-air cinemas. "Islands of the Future" – under this slogan, NaturVision aims to present ideas and approaches to resolving global nature and environmental problems. This positive approach was also felt throughout the four days of the festival. The numerous international guests and industry visitors – twice as many as last year – were delighted by the films and supporting programme. Many of the events – from the school programme "Film & Discussion", to the NaturVision Science Slam, to the International Ocean Film Tour, which filled the Open Air Cinema to the brim on the Friday evening – catered specifically to young people as well, as NaturVision is keen to encourage their enthusiasm for nature and the environment. This year the NaturVision Film Festival programme was again characterised by magnificent landscapes and fascinating wildlife, but also by global environmental problems. For instance, "Der letzte Raubzug" (The Final Raid), a shocking documentary about the international ivory trade – for which countless animals are still having to die in the cruellest way – won the important German Conservation and Sustainability Film Award. The award was presented by Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary from the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. The German Biodiversity Film Award, presented by the Mayor of Ludwigsburg Werner Spec, went to "Bienen – Eine Welt im Wandel" (Bees – a Changing World), which impressively focuses on the species diversity of these exceptional insects. The Youth Jury – which this year consisted of members of the "Youth Initiative Baden-Württemberg" – also decided to award their prize to this film, because for young people in particular it put the subject of biodiversity across well. The documentary "Wildes Sri Lanka – Waldwelt" (Wild Sri Lanka – Forest World) also earned an honourable mention from the Youth Jury. They handed over their award together with Helmfried Meinel, Ministerial Director from the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and the Energy Industry for the German state of Baden-Württemberg. An epic film with unforgettable images of wildlife and landscape, "Brasilien – Wildes Herz" (Brazil – Wild Heart) received the German Wildlife Film Award. The magic of northern Canada – shaped by the endless expanse of the Arctic – was impressively conveyed in "Kanada – der hohe Norden" (Canada – The Far North), which won the NaturVision Camera Award for its painstaking and memorable photography. The award for Best Story went to "Triumph der Tomate" (Triumph of the Tomato), an original and informative documentary portraying the triumph of this fruit in Europe. For the NaturVision Film Music Award it was crucial for the jury that the music aptly accompanied the story while still leaving the viewer room for interpretation. And Thomas Höhl’s winning soundtrack to "Wenn ein Garten wächst" (When a Garden Grows) does exactly that. With its "charming and self-confident heroine" – according to the jury decision for the NaturVision Children’s Film Award – "Jessica – das Indianermädchen vom Amazonas" (Jessica – the Amazon Indian Girl) gives children an insight into the world of the indigenous people of Columbia living between the traditional and the modern. NaturVision awarded its Honorary Award to Kurt Hirschel, who received a standing ovation at the ceremony, in recognition of the life’s work of this extraordinary cameraman who has filmed with such nature film pioneers as Horst Stern and Hans Hass. It was with his pictures – which are still unbelievably fascinating today – that the tradition of nature and environmental films on TV began. With a glimpse at the history of nature films and the environmental movement, NaturVision wishes to honour achievements of the past and create continuity. It is important to us to get actively involved. Whether by promoting car-sharing or staging a food-rescue cooking event or an event on the current hot topic of "green IT", NaturVision aims to contribute to the sustainability policy of the city of Ludwigsburg and, here too, be an "island of the future". It is worth mentioning that the whole festival was characterised by an atmosphere of warmth and a great openness to issues and people, making it a festival of encounters in the best sense. The NaturVision Film Festival is organised by Earth Vision UG in cooperation with Film & Medienfestival gGmbH. The festival is supported by the city of Ludwigsburg, the Stiftung Naturschutzfonds Baden-Württemberg, the Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, the Landesanstalt für Kommunikation Baden-Württemberg and the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. Sponsors include the Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg, Stadtwerke Ludwigsburg-Kornwestheim, Wohnungsbau Ludwigsburg, Bürgerstiftung Ludwigsburg and the Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart. Among the media partners are SWR and BR, publishers such as oekom Verlag, and magazines such as Spiesser, Forum, Terra Mater, kulturnews, Lift, Übermorgen Magazin, Filmecho/Filmwoche, Film & TV Kameramann and Filmdienst. The NaturVision Film Festival is presented by Discovery Channel Deutschland, ARTE and the Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung. Ralph Thoms
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The 5th Green-Go International Short Film Contest CALL FOR ENTRIES is open! CEEweb for Biodiversity organizes the International Green-Go Short Film Contest for the 5th time to raise awareness about environmental problems and to celebrate our natural heritage, the European Nature. The Contest is awaiting creative/shocking/funny/explicit eye-opener short films in the following three categories: 1. Our footprint on Earth
Category winners are awarded with 700 Euros and the public award winner with 500 Euros. Deadline for submissions: 15 September 2015 Visit for the call in other languages: www.greengofest.eu & www.facebook.com/greengoshorts |
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New York WILD Film Festival - Call For Entries Now Open! We invite filmmakers from around the world to submit your work to the 3rd annual New York WILD Film Festival hosted by the Explorers Club, January 28-30, 2016.
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Enter the Eden Shorts Competition 2015! After some fantastic entries in 2014, Eden Shorts has launched for a second year and is looking for more of your incredible one-minute wildlife films! Whatever your level, Eden Shorts is open to all skills and experience so get outside and film and you could see your passion for the natural world on Eden.
Your film must be:
Last years' winner, by Simon Owen: Effortless Beauty The competition is now open - find out how to enter here: eden.uktv.co.uk/eden-shorts |
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How to Change the World from Greenpeace In 1971, a small group of activists set sail from Vancouver in an old fishing boat. Their mission: to stop President Nixon's atomic bomb tests on Amchitka, off Alaska. They succeeded – and from these humble but brave beginnings, Greenpeace was born. On the 11th of September, How to Change the World, an award-winning feature length documentary about Greenpeace’s formation, focusing in particular on one of their founders - Bob Hunter, will launch in the UK. In How to Change the World, director Jerry Rothwell uses dramatic archive footage that has not been shown for over 40 years, and transforms it into a gripping, vivid and often-thrilling film. The film features incredible scenes of the first peaceful direct actions our founders took to prevent nuclear testing and whaling. It is here that the Greenpeace philosophy of bearing witness, and using peaceful direct action to generate media attention was born. These are still the core values behind all our campaigning today.
Having already won the Environmental Award at the Sheffield Documentary Festival and won praise at the Sundance Film Festival, How to Change the World is one of the must-see documentaries of 2015. Visit: www.howtochangetheworld.squarespace.com |
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Spoonievision with Kate Humble from WWT In this live broadcast Kate Humble takes you behind the scenes for the very first time to hear exclusive news from the people in the front line of conservation efforts.
Visit: www.wwt.org.uk/support/our-appeals/spoon-billed-sandpiper |
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Gannets At Bempton Cliffs from Alex Jones Shot on the RED EPIC in 5K, We explore the Bempton Cliffs in England to film a selection of shots for stock footage and sound. With 5 hours of footage to chose from, this is NOT just your average B-roll. It's a compilation of cinematic beauty.
FACEBOOK:www.facebook.com/wildlifefilmproductions |
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#GoodBoyDiego the anti-poaching dog: a rhino’s best friend from Tom Aveling Diego is not just any dog. He is a dog with a mission: to protect rhinos from poaching. When he has his eye on his target, there is no stopping him. Capable of reaching speeds of 40 mph, Diego really is a rhino’s best friend. Find out more: www.goodboydiego.com See: @AvelingFilms & facebook.com/pages/Aveling-Films/841004435944666
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Trailer: Angels of the Atlantic from Tom Young The official trailer for the short film Angels of the Atlantic. Tom Young goes on an adventure searching for one of the rarest species of sharks in the World. |
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Walking The Cumbria Way | A Journey Through The Heart Of The Lake District by AbbieBarnes Join Abbie Barnes and her mum, Pearl, as they walk one of the most popular long distance trails in England; The Cumbria Way.
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PBS, BBC find human angles in wildlife with "Big Blue Live" Realscreen spoke with PBS and BBC producers about the first project made under the pubcasters' copro deal, Big Blue Live, which wrapped its live broadcast on the BBC last week and tonight begins coverage on PBS. Read more here: Realscreen.com |
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Please send in YOUR news for the next issue to the editor: news@wildlife-film.com |
 copy.jpg) Disclaimer: Wildlife Film News publishes information and opinions as a service to its readers. |
