John Downer (filmmaker)

John Downer
Born	John Leslie Keith Downer 1952 (age 72–73) London, England

John Downer (born 1952) is a British film producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is best known for his contributions to the nature documentary series BBC Wildlife Specials .

Education and career

John Downer was born in 1952 in London. ^[1] He studied zoology at Swansea University. ^[2] He started his professional life in 1981 at the BBC Natural History Unit, ^[2] later creating his own production company John Downer Productions headquartered in Bristol. ^[3] Downer pioneered a number of techniques for wildlife filmmaking, in particular by putting cameras on birds, and by filming birds from the air using various airborne filming platforms. ^[3]

Film and television credits

• 1988: Supersense , six-part series
• 1991: Lifesense , six-part series
• 1992: Digging in the Dirt , music video for Peter Gabriel, awarded a Grammy
• 1999: Supernatural: The Unseen Powers of Animals , six-part series
• 2000: Lions - Spy in the Den, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2002: Weird Nature , six-part series
• 2003: Elephants - Spy in the Herd, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2004: Bears - Spy in the Woods, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2004: Pride , feature-length documentary
• 2007: Trek - Spy on the Wildebeest, two-part series, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2008: Tiger - Spy in the Jungle, three-part series, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2009: Swarm, two-part series
• 2010: Polar Bear - Spy on the Ice, two-part series, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2010: Psyche, music video for Massive Attack ^[2]
• 2011: Earthflight , six-part series
• 2013: Penguins - Spy in the Huddle, three-part series, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2014: Dolphins - Spy in the Pod , two-part series, part of BBC Wildlife Specials
• 2017: Spy in the Wild
• 2018: Spy in the Snow
• 2019: Serengeti, six-part series
• 2023: Spy in the Ocean

Read also

• Downer, John (1989) Supersense – Perception in the Animal World. Henry Holt, New York

References

1. Jenifer Warren: John Downer: Natural Highs . Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1991.
2. BBC Earth: John Downer's Biography , retrieved in October 2020
3. Interview with EARTHFLIGHT Filmmaker John Downer. PBS Nature, August 12, 2013.

External links

• John Downer at IMDb
• John Downer Productions