ANIMAL PLANET

Film Fixers was commissioned by Discovery’s Animal Planet to shoot a pilot for a planned series that would tell the story of how animals affect – and are affected by – the ebb and flow of ‘civilisation’ as we know it. Specifically how man encroaches on territories, and what happens when man leaves – how man interacts with the animals, either learning to co-exist of driving them out. This is essentially a positive series, but the pilot is told through the plight of the cheetah – a species on a knife-edge – and the critical work being done by the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).

Namibia is central to the light of the cheetah, and the core of the filming was done at the CCF outside Otjiwarongo north of the capital, Windhoek. The shoot covered the animals themselves, interviews with key personnel, including the amazing Dr Laurie Marker, as well as the scientific and veterinary research being undertaken on-site. This was supplemented by footage shot in other locations in Namibia.