Peter Rowe (born 1947) is a Canadian
filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
and author specializing in themes of history and exploration. He is the producer of the 49-part television series
Angry Planet, which airs on streaming and television networks around the world. His book, ''Music vs The Man'' was published in 2020.
Career
Rowe’s feature films include ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
'' starring
Jack Palance
Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...
and
Kevin Zegers
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
, ''
Lost!
"Lost!" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. It was co-produced with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for the band's fourth album, ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends''. The song was released on 10 November 2008 as the third offici ...
'' starring
Ken Welsh,
Michael Hogan and
Helen Shaver
Helen Shaver (born February 24, 1951) is a Canadian actress and film and television director. She has received Emmy and Saturn Award nominations, among other honours.
Early life
Shaver was born and raised, with five sisters, in St. Thomas, Ont ...
, and ''
The Best Bad Thing
''The Best Bad Thing'' was originally a book authored by Yoshiko Uchida. A screenplay was developed and a film released in 1997. The story is set on the U.S. west coast during 1935 when the U.S. economy was still recovering from the effects of the ...
'' starring George Takei
Rowe has directed numerous documentaries including ''Beyond the Red Wall, Art War,'' ''Joshua Slocum: New World Columbus'', and ''Popcorn With Maple Syrup: Film in Canada from Eh to Zed''.
His 2013 film ''
Shipwrecked on a Great Lake'' is based on
James Fenimore Cooper's book
Television series he has directed include ''Angry Planet,'' ''On the Run'', ''Super Humans'', ''
Ready or Not'', ''
E.N.G.
''E.N.G.'' is a Canadian television drama, following the staff of a fictional Toronto television news station. The show aired on CTV from 1989 to 1994. The series ran for 96 episodes, produced by the Alliance Entertainment Corporation.
Plot ...
'', ''
African Skies'', ''Exploring Under Sail'', and ''
Fast Track
The fast track is an informal English term meaning "the quickest and most direct route to achievement of a goal, as in competing for professional advancement". By definition, it implies that a less direct, slower route also exists.
Fast track or F ...
''.
His wilderness filmmaking has taken place in over 40 countries and many far-flung corners of the world including numerous active
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Ear ...
es, several
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s and
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es,
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
,
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
, the Canadian
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
, and the
Sahara and
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
n Deserts.
Rowe has also performed as an actor, most recently playing
Hunter S. Thompson in the TV biography series ''
Final 24
''Final 24'' is a Canadian documentary series which airs on the Discovery Channel, Global Television Network, and OWN. Released in Canada in 2006, the series chronicles the last 24 hours of the lives of famous celebrities of the late 20th ce ...
''.
He appeared in the documentary film ''
Rewind This'' about the impact of
VHS on the film industry and home video.
His 2020 book, ''Music vs The Man'' chronicles the battles between musicians and the authorities—police, border guards, mayors, city councils, the FBI, the Kremlin.
His 2021 book, ''Ablaze: 10 Years that Shook the World'', recounts the revolutionary, incendiary era of the late 60s and early 70s, including the birth of the new passions of the era—Black power, the environmental movement, women's liberation, gay pride, the animal rights movement, sexual revolution, and the antiwar movement.
Awards
* Canadian Society of Cinematographers 2010 Award for Lifestyle/Reality Cinematography (
Angry Planet "Hurricane Triple Threat")
* Gold Medal, Worldfest Film Festival (
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
)
* Gold Special Jury Award, Houston Film Festival (Joshua Slocum: New World Columbus)
* Best Film, Montreal Children’s Film Festival (
The Best Bad Thing
''The Best Bad Thing'' was originally a book authored by Yoshiko Uchida. A screenplay was developed and a film released in 1997. The story is set on the U.S. west coast during 1935 when the U.S. economy was still recovering from the effects of the ...
)
Memberships
*
Explorers Club (Fellow, Past Chair-Canadian Chapter (Ontario/Nunavut)
*
Directors Guild of Canada
The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...
(Ontario Chairman, 2001–2003)
*Canadian Society of Cinematographers
*
Writers Guild of Canada
The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies o ...
*Royal Canadian Geographic Society (Fellow)
*Founding Board Member-Whistler Film Festival
*Founding Board Member-Explorers Club Film Festival
*Lecturer in Post-Graduate Film Production-
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.
Founded i ...
(2002–2003)
*Lecturer in Film Production – Harris Institute for the Arts (1995–1997)
Further reading
Rowe chronicled his life and adventures in his 2013 memoir ''Adventures in Filmmaking''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Peter
1947 births
Living people
Canadian television directors
Film directors from Winnipeg
Canadian documentary film directors