BBC GREEN PLANET
PRODUCTION COMPANY
BROADCASTER
WHAT
This documentary was produced on behalf of the BBC Natural History Unit as part of a landmark series called ‘Green Planet’, covering the world of plants, which follows the recent series ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Frozen Planet’ and ‘Blue Planet’. Presented by Sir David Attenborough and filmed around the world, ‘Green Planet” will be broadcast worldwide in 2022.
The documentary, for the ‘Deserts/Drylands’ component, covers the inter-relationship between the two giants – elephants and the mighty baobab tree – in Mana Pools National Park. The filming covers the bahaviour and destruction of the baobabs by elephants during the dry season, using them for food as well as a source of water. It also covers the attempts (and successes) by Conservationists to protect the Baobab to keep Mana Pools beautiful for generations to come.
WHERE
Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.
HIGHLIGHTS
The honour of working with the legendary BBC Green Planet setup. So many challenges to overcome – and we delivered.
Firstly, finding the right location where this unique phenomenon happens – in the time of COVID – with the pressure of weather. We bounced from Gonarezhou National Park in Eastern Zimbabwe, up to Ruaha National Park in Tanzania, and back to Mana Pools on the northern Zimbabwe border – where we struck gold in terms of a window as well as an abundance of options.
Secondly – dealing with COVID in Zimbabwe, where we had to carve out a plan as well as a protocol for managing the potential fall-out from the pandemic. We wrote a COVID strategy that was eventually approved – and then adopted by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health as the national plan!
And then actually making it happen, Remotely. Roping in the best crew, kitting them out with the best (and appropriate) equipment, securing all the permits and National Parks permissions (including drone permissions) – not an easy task with all the Zimbabwe filming criteria. We flew specialised lenses in, developing backup plans, but we pulled it off. We love it when a plan comes together.