Bristol UK
“We are born to explore and pursue our own firsts, however we define them, whether that means the outer limits of the known physical map, the inner chasms of our imagination, or our own identity.”
ABOUT
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Tania is a bilingual Zoologist and self shooting Assistant Producer with a passion for visually stunning, emotive storytelling and natural history. A graduate from the University of Leeds (1st class), and MA Wildlife filmmaking masters in partnership with the BBC, she is using her research skills and creative talents to produce cinematic and stylish wildlife documentaries that are entertaining and connect with audiences (from behavioural blue chip series, features, environmental/conservation stories to human - wildlife films).
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She is knowledgeable about the business and all areas of the industry including field directing (multi-shoot; long lens, GSS, drone, remotes, high speed, macro), shooting/camerawork, lighting, sound, editing, risk assessments, scheduling, grading, mixing, producing and scriptwriting. Her final student BAFTA nominated and award-winning wildlife film included actress Virginia McKenna and the Born free foundation, where she gained exclusive access to the largest ivory burn in Africa's history; and filmed the human-lion conflict in Meru National Park with Will Travers.
Experience in research/location work at the BBC on Wild Cats, Digital researcher on projects alongside Planet Earth 2 , Blue Planet II , researcher on Wild Metropolis, series researcher on Canadian Wildlife for Channel 5, Silverback Films on the 'Halo' for the wildlife series Our Planet in collaboration with WWF for Netflix, BBC's The Mating Game as a shooting researcher, Assistant Producer on a Netflix natural history feature film and now at Wildstar films on a major new series for Nat Geo/Disney on animal intelligence. A Panasonic, Wex Photo and Atomos brand ambassador and producer of exclusive video & photographic content, Tania uses her shooting skills working with 4K/UHD/HDR and broadcast department as well as giving talks at multiple national events including The Royal Geographic Society, The Photography Show at NEC, The Adventure Travel Show for Wanderlust, as well as technical workshops for Wex Photographic and CVP. She is also a guest lecturer at several Universities.
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Tania also spent time as a filmmaker and tour guide in South Africa, building up her knowledge of animal behaviour and habitats as well as ways of tracking and filming them. She also designed and conducted 10 months research on bats highlighting their fascinating behaviours, was a camera assistant/focus puller on drama sets and a fully licensed CAA UAV drone pilot.
Key Skills
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Ambassador: Panasonic, Wex Photo, Atomos, Sennheiser and Swarovski Nature Explorer
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Assistant Producer: Directing/shooting (see credits) - long lens, macro, high speed, GSS, drone, remotes, sync/presenter led
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Camera: Red Raptor, Helium 8K (CN20), Sony F55, Phantom Flex HD, Alexa mini, Varicam 35, EVA1, FS7, FS700, A7S, Panasonic GH5, HVX360, Canon C300, 7D, 5D, remotes, Blackmagic, GSS set up.
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Lenses: CN20 long lens, Master macro 100mm
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Drone pilot CAA certified drone license; Inspire 2, Mavic 3, 3 and Phantom 4 Pro.
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Post production & Edit experience on blue-chip landmark series with producers & editors (AVID)
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Archive trained (Redux, Fabric, Silvermouse BBC)
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Storytelling/Scriptwriting
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Editing (Avid, Premier, Final Cut) - also time in the edits/post production with editors and producers
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Colour grading (Da vinci - Resolve, Micro Panel)
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Photography/publishing: Panasonic/Lumix ambassador
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Sound: Mixer 522, Sennheiser 416, Radio mic (G300s), Sennheiser SK100, Boom operator (recording & post, Pro Tools)
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Lighting (ANOVA, rotor lights, Diva, Dedo, reflectors
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Translator (Scripts, live, voice dubbing in Spanish)
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Social media: Digital BBC Planet Earth II, Our Blue Planet/ Blue Planet II
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Guest Lecturer: University of Nottingham, Wales, Ibex Earth
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Speaker: Royal Geographic Society, NEC The Photography Show, Wanderlust, CVP, The Adventure Travel Show, BBC Radio Kent & Bristol, BBC Points West
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Owns Kit
Wildlife Show reel 2022. Contact me for my human reel too!
Skills/Field location experience
Tania is a keen extreme adventure sportswoman and enjoys caving (single rope technique), rock climbing (rope access), horse riding, hiking, kayaking as well as a current marathon runner.
Filming for Silverback/BBC in Papua New Guinea
Caving- SRT
Rock climbing- Trad and Sports
Filming (self-shooting, permits/access) Long Lens - Jungles
Adventure activity and training and skills: Rock climbing and caving
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I am also a hugely passionate rock climber and caver…and yet to master Scuba diving! I completed a climbing course, learning how to lead climbs (Traditional climbing) and follow health and safety regulations on several outdoor trips. As well as this, training in Single Rope Technique as part of the Leeds Speleological society has allowed me to be confident when caving, and have been to several locations around the Yorkshire Dales.
At Leeds University I also joined the society, and this has significantly helped my communication skills, as you have to be constantly aware and perceptive as a climber or belayer to ensure the safety of both parties involved. Learning how to lead climb requires an element of coordination and cooperation between your fellow climbers above and below you. This allowed me to test myself and my judgement; where to place the climbing gear safely and securely, and to also engage with others and encourage them on their climbing routes, which is very enjoyable.
As part of the Speleological society, I also enjoyed challenging myself and pushing my abilities to the limit in situations that require a high degree of assertiveness. Being constantly aware of the dangers and conscience of your team members' position in case of rock falls is vital for an enjoyable and safe trip. When descending and ascending at pitches, the switch-over with SRT gear has to be done quickly and calmly. I have learned both skills because I love challenging myself and find it useful to gain different perspectives when filming.
I further enhanced my caving expedition skills the end of March at the Summit centre (Wales) with a course at Merith Tyfild, including basic SRT, advanced SRT, SRT self-rescue, vertical team rescue, cave surveying in the artificial cave, first aid, emergency procedures, kit selection, underground cooking, expedition do's & don'ts, etc.. and large-scale vertical rescue workshop at the wall and underground cave rescue practice.
SRT caving kit required for ascending and decending caves. This was all the University's club kit I used for my for my first outdoor trip to Selgil in Yorkshire.
(Above) Training for the Dachstein expedition in Austria. A variety of caving gear was used in the Cardif Sports and Leisure Centure (at Rock Summit) in order to practice the techniques. Complex SRT, rescue, first aid, cave photography, cooking skills as well as mapping skills were attained. Leeds and Cardif University clubs attended the weekend trip. (left) The expedition itself took place this summer (2015, August) where a hike to the Dachstein was undertaken, in order to descend the 60m pitch and continue to push into the Herlatz chamber and connect the two colossal caves.
MA Wildlife filmmaking
Bristol
My true passion aside from research, is photography and wildlife filmmaking, which I got into during my early teens with my first DSLR camera. I studied for a Masters in Wildlife Filmmaking in Bristol, as from a young age I aspired to gain a career in this industry as a camera operator and researcher - as well as being open to all areas of the film industry including producing.
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This course enabled me to learn a range of skills vital to all aspects of the production, right through to the green lit stage to when it is sold/commissioned worldwide. It also has close links to the BBC NHU, with various seminars being taught by current producers and camera operators, and so the course content is highly relevant and applicable to industry standards. In a world where technology and audiences are continually changing, this course has prepared me for the challenges facing the industry.
Check out news and updates on the course for this year on my blog.
Speaker/Guest lecturer
Being an ambassador for Panasonic and Atomos has opened up several opportunities for me to be able to attend talks at conferences, talks, interviews photography/video events such as the NEC Photography/Video Show, Wanderlust, The Adventure Travel show, CVP tech talks BBC Radio and The Royal Geographic Society for the Big Cat Festival. I also guest lecture for several Master's courses at Universities around the UK. I'm hugely passionate about doing them because it is not only rewarding to be speaking and sharing information about a topic dear to your heart, but also to help raise awareness about the very 'stars' of our show - and what we can be doing to help our planet.
Global Ambassador for Wildlife Conservation
The Ambassadors for Global Biodiversity Programme (Director, Chris Livemore) sets out to appoint twenty upcoming environmental scientists, future conservation leaders and inspirational explorers to act as Ambassadors and help establish a positive platform to promote the importance of protecting global biodiversity. It aims to raise awareness about the importance of preserving global biodiversity and highlighting the benefits that healthy ecosystems bring to us all through conservation filmmaking of which I am delighted to have been selected to be a part of.