George Duffield is a British marine conservationist, film producer and wildlife photographer. He is best known for the documentary film The End of the Line and is a co-founder of the marine charity, the Blue Marine Foundation and a co-founder of Ocean 14 Capital.
Duffield is the son of Dame Vivien Duffield (née Clore), the British-Jewish philanthropist, and the financier John Duffield. [1] [2] [3] He graduated from Harvard University. [4] He is married to actress Natasha Wightman.[ citation needed ]
He is the grandson of Sears plc founder Charles Clore
Duffield co-founded Arcane Films with Meg Thomson. [4] Among the company's most successful films was the documentary The End of the Line which changed the attitudes of individuals and companies such as Pret a Manger and Marks & Spencer. [5] [6] The End of the Line was inspired by the book The End of the Line: How Overfishing Is Changing the World and What We Eat by Charles Clover, the journalist and columnist. [7] The documentary followed him as he investigated how overfishing is having a dramatic effect on the number, quantity and types of fish in the seas. [8] It was described by the Chicago Tribune as "an apocalyptic documentary that is as beautiful as it is damning". [9]
In 2011 the low-budget film won the inaugural Puma Creative Impact for its success in changing consumer behaviour. [10] [11] A study by the Channel 4 Britdoc Foundation found that it had been seen by more than 1 million people and had created press and media attention worth more than £4 million. [11] [12] Among the places it has been screened are 10 Downing Street, [13] the United Nations General Assembly, [14] and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. [15]
He produced the 3D IMAX film Jerusalem with Daniel Ferguson (Writer, director, Producer), Taran Davies (Producer) and Jake Eberts (Executive Producer). The film is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch [16] and focuses on the cultural, political and religious importance of Jerusalem. [17] It was released in 2013. [18]
Other films produced by Duffield include the 2009 documentary Wild Art: Olly & Suzi that was made for the BBC and is about two contemporary artists – Olly Williams and Suzi Winstanley – who travel the world to meet and paint predators in their natural environment, often at risk to themselves. [19] He also produced Dot the i starring Gael García Bernal [19] which was premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and won the 2003 Deauville Film Festival Audience Award. [20]
Duffield is on the board of trustees of the Grierson Trust which promotes documentary film-making and celebrates the work of John Grierson. [21] [22]
Aside from documentary films, Duffield is a wildlife photographer. In 2005 he won the Underwater Worlds category of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. [23] [24]
George Duffield and Chris Gorell Barnes, the executive producer of The End of the Line , co-founded the Blue Marine Foundation as a legacy project of the film. [25] [26] [27] It was formed with the aim of fixing what it describes as "the largest solvable problem on the planet – the crisis in the oceans". [28] [29]
George Duffield is married to actress Natasha Wightman.[ citation needed ]
