Alastair Fothergill - Our Planet

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From the beginning, Our Planet has been a partnership between Netflix, WWF, and Silverback Films. The aim has been to make a documentary series, combined with the whole range of media, to convey to the world the natural wonders we still have, what makes them special, and how we can ensure their future. Without this partnership, our goal would have been impossible to achieve.

First, we needed to be able to reach millions of people across the world with a compelling series. Netflix, from the moment we first pitched the idea, believed in the mission and has tirelessly supported us through the journey and made it a reality. There are many wonderful people on the Netflix team who have contributed much. However, two have been by our side from the very beginning: Lisa Nishimura, vice president of original documentary and comedy, and Adam Del Deo, director of original documentary programming. Through all the complexity of producing this project, they have always made things happen and have given a huge amount of valuable editorial advice.

Second, we needed to draw attention to the right places and issues. Here the partnership with WWF was essential. The vast knowledge base about the natural world and conservation that resides within WWF is a wonder to behold, and it has enriched this project in so many ways. Again, the list of individuals who have contributed is long, but two people have been crucial in achieving our goals. Colin Butfield, executive director of Our Planet WWF, developed the original idea with us and has been a tireless dynamo ever since, creating ideas and enabling them to become a reality. Mark Wright, WWFs chief scientific advisor, has given the project the scientific backbone it needed. Both in this book and across every aspect of the series and in other media, Our Planet needed to be accurate and Mark has ensured that it is.

Third, we needed the Silverback production team. Their names are listed below, and it goes without saying they are the salt of the earth. They have worked tirelessly, faced huge adversity, and above all brought to the project creativity the likes of which we, in our long careers, have never witnessed before. And, yes, they have been a joy to work with.

The aim of this book has been to draw all aspects of the Our Planet project together. We desperately wanted it to be a book of such importance that it needed to be read, rather than simply looked at. We knew that the task of selecting the crucial issues would be extremely complex and that telling the stories would require skill and style. We needed a world-class environmental journalist to make this possible. We think we found the best with Fred Pearce.

As one of the worlds top environmental and science journalists for the past three decades, Fred has used his lifetime of knowledge about the natural world to boil down the essentials of what we all need to know about our planet and, crucially, what needs to be done to ensure that it thrives in the future. The natural world and its conservation issues are endlessly complex. Conservation may have suffered because focus is rarely brought to bear on the few most crucial issues and their solutions. Here, Fred has achieved this with great skill, and we believe that is what makes this book special.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Adam Chapman

Dan Clamp

Jon Clay

Darren Clementson

Lisa Connaire

Rebecca Coombs

Huw Cordey

Marcus Coyle

Tash Dummelow

Charles Dyer

Amy Ferrier

Alastair Fothergill

Rebecca Hart

Jane Hamlin

Hal Hampson

Jo Harvey

Dan Huertas

Jonnie Hughes

Tara Knowles

Nancy Lane

Sophie Lanfear

Ben Macdonald

Ilaira Mallalieu

Fiona Marsh

Laura Meacham

Susie Millns

Simon Nash

Elisabeth Oakham

Kieran ODonovan

Sean Pearce

Hugh Pearson

Keith Scholey

Oliver Scholey

Niraj Sharda

Vicky Singer

Mandi Stark

Gisle Sverdrup

Sarah Wade

Hugh Wilson

Jeff Wilson

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Matt Aeberhard

John Aitchison

James Aldred

Guy Alexander

Doug Anderson

Tom Beldam

Levon Biss

Dane Bjermo

Howard Bourne

Ralph Bower

Barrie Britton

Keith Brust

Darren Clementson

Tom Crowley

Sophie Darlington

Tom Fitz

Flying Camera Company

Ted Giffords

Roger Horrocks

Sandesh Kadur

Richard Kirby

Paul Klaver

Denis Lagrange

Tim Laman

Ian Llewellyn

Alastair MacEwen

David McKay

Jamie McPherson

Justin Maguire

Hugh Miller

Blair Monk

Simon Niblett

Nathan Pilcher

Owen Prmm

David Reichert

Tim Sheppherd

John Shier

Andy Shillabeer

Hector Skevington-Postles

Warwick Sloss

Alastair Smith

Mark Smith

Robin Smith

Rolf Steinmann

Paul Stewart

Gavin Thurston

Alexander Vail

Alex Voyer

Ignacio Walker

Tom Walker

Mateo Willis

Miguel Willis

ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ryan Atkinson

Steve Axford

Chris Bryan

Jim Campbell-Spickler

Gene Cornelius

Gemilang Dini Ar-Rasyid

Murray Fredericks

Will Goldenberg

Markus Kreuz

Katie Mayhew

Matthew Polvorosa Kline

Edwin Scholes

Sam Stewart

Alex Tivenan

Darren Williams

CAMERA ASSISTANTS

Santiago Cabral

Ferando Delahaye

Trent Ellis

Neil Fairlie

Joe Fereday

Jeff Hester

Tyler Johnson

Casey Kanode

Jean-Paul Magnan

Felipe Pinzon

Sam Quick

Mark Sharman

FIELD ASSISTANTS

Sergey Abarok

Hadi Al Hikami

Khalid Al Hikami

Peter Amarualik

Evgeny Basov

Duncan Brake

Timothy Brgler

Maxim Chakilev

Andr De Camargo Guaraldo

Einar Eliassen

Jimmy Ettuk

Yoann Gourdin

Juliette Hennequin

Chad Hanson

Carlos Hernndez Vlez

Richard Herrmann

Lingesh Kalingarayar

Valeriy Kalyarakhtyn

Norman Kisisipak

Anatoly Kochnev

Peter Koonoo

Maxim Kozlov

Magnus Lge

Tatiana Minenko

Sergei Naymushin

Yelizaveta Protas

Prakesh Ramakrishnan

Nikolai Reebin

David Reid

Israel Schneiberg

Oleg Slovesnyi

Oskar Strm

Franck Sur

Evgeny Tabalykin

Stanislav Tayenom

Kieran Tonkin

Emily Vaughan Williams

Myloh Villaronga

Emilio White

Andrew Whitworth

Kim Ten Wolde

Mike Wright

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION

Kat Brown

Matt Carr

John Chambers

Samantha Davis

James Dubourdieu

Patrick Evans

Nicola Gunary

Rachel James

Rosie Lewis

Rachel Norman

Judi Obourne

Eleanor Perryman

Sarah Pimblett

Elly Salisbury

Gina Shepperd

POST-PRODUCTION

Matt Chippendale-Jones

Films at 59

Miles Hall

Gordon Leicester

George Panayiotou

Wounded Buffalo Sound Studios

MUSIC

Abbey Road Studios

Philharmonia Orchestra

Steven Price

FILM EDITORS

Nigel Buck

Andy Chastney

Martin Elsbury

Matt Meech

Andy Netley

Dave Pearce

ONLINE EDITOR

Franz Ketterer

DUBBING EDITORS

Kate Hopkins

Tim Owens

DUBBING MIXER

Graham Wild

COLORIST

Adam Inglis

GRAPHIC DESIGN

BDH Creative

VISUAL EFFECTS

AXIS VFX

WWF TEAM

Amy Anderson

Paige Ashton

Will Baldwin-Cantello

Mike Barrett

Jessica Battle

Karina Berg

Colin Butfield

Leanne Clare

Sarah Davie

Rod Downie