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.
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Education and career
Downer was born in 1952 in London. He studied zoology at Swansea University. He started his professional life in 1981 at the BBC Natural History Unit, later creating his own production company John Downer Productions headquartered in Bristol. 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.
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
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