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 The ''BBC Wildlife Specials'' are a series of nature documentary programmes commissioned by BBC Television. The series premiered in 1995, and 22 specials have been produced to date, with most of the more recent ones consisting of multiple episo ...

''.

Education and career

John Downer was born in 1952 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

.Jenifer Warren:
John Downer: Natural Highs
'. ''Los Angeles Times'', December 8, 1991. He studied

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

.BBC Earth:
John Downer's Biography
', retrieved in October 2020 He started his professional life in 1981 at the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

, later creating his own production company ''John Downer Productions'' headquartered in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

.Interview with EARTHFLIGHT Filmmaker John Downer
PBS Nature, August 12, 2013. 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 ''Supersense'' is a six-part nature documentary television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One, BBC1 in 1988. The series producer was John Downer (filmmaker), John Downer and th ...

'', six-part series * 1991: ''

Lifesense ''Lifesense'' is a six-part nature documentary television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One, BBC1 in 1991. The series producer was John Downer (filmmaker), John Downer and the ...

'', six-part series * 1992: ''

Digging in the Dirt "Digging in the Dirt" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel. It was released as the first single taken from his sixth studio album, '' Us'', on 7 September 1992. The song was a minor hit on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number ...

'', music video for

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

, awarded a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

* 1999: '' Supernatural: The Unseen Powers of Animals'', six-part series * 2000: ''Lions - Spy in the Den'', part of ''

'' * 2002: ''

Weird Nature ''Weird Nature'' is a 2002 British documentary television series produced by John Downer Productions for the BBC and Discovery Channel. The series features strange behavior in nature—specifically, the animal world. The series now airs on the Sc ...

'', 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 Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'', feature-length documentary * 2007: ''Trek - Spy on the Wildebeest'', 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'', part of ''BBC Wildlife Specials'' * 2010: ''Psyche'', music video for

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

* 2011: ''

Earthflight ''Earthflight'' is a British nature documentary that shows a flight from the view of the wings of birds across six continents, showing some of the world's greatest natural spectacles from a bird's-eye view. The BBC series was created by John Do ...

'', six-part series * 2013: ''Penguins - Spy in the Huddle'', three-part series, part of ''BBC Wildlife Specials'' * 2014: ''

Dolphins - Spy in the Pod ''Dolphins - Spy in the Pod'' is a British factual television series that was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 January 2014. The two-part series was narrated by David Tennant and produced by John Downer Productions. The series was also broadcas ...

'', part of ''BBC Wildlife Specials'' * 2017: ''

Spy in the Wild ''Spy in the Wild'' is a British nature documentary television series, produced by BBC Natural History Unit, John Downer Productions and PBS. The series, which is directed and produced by John Downer, premiered in 2017 with a second series in ...

'' * 2019: ''Serengeti'', six-part series

Read also

* Downer, John (1989) ''Supersense – Perception in the Animal World''. Henry Holt, New York

References

External links

*
John Downer Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downer, John Alumni of Swansea University British television producers Nature television producers Grammy Award winners Living people 1952 births