The Wildlife Film Network has been formed to help its members overcome some of the larger obstacles that lie in the way of entering / working in the wildlife film industry by;
1. Making it easier to meet with like-minded people, by way of face-to-face network meetings,
2. Independently raising funds to be able to produce a project; by way of a members production kitty,
3. By giving you the opportunity of being employed by our own independent wildlife production company and gaining a broadcast credit for working on a wildlife production.
The Wildlife Film Network has developed from over a decade of running the UK Wildlife Film School as a way of continuing to help fulfil the needs of people wishing to work in wildlife film and television production.
The UK Wildlife Film School has been successfully running for over 10+ years now; during which time it became the only wildlife film school outside of a university setting to award its students an internationally recognised qualification for attending a course; and whilst some of our students have gone on to gain employment with some of the largest wildlife and natural history production companies in the world (Such as the BBC Natural History Unit and Films@59.) and work on such prestigious documentary series as ‘Our Planet’ with Sir David Attenborough; we are greatly aware that approximately 90% of all media students that have studied some form of film or television production in the UK whether it be at a college, university or elsewhere; are still not actually be working in film or television production industry.
We feel this is simply not good enough and have decided to expand our operations to offer an alternative way of entering the industry to those still wishing to work in the fantastic genre of wildlife film-work and photography by creating…
The “Wildlife Film Network”
Become a member of the Wildlife Film Network
The main purpose of the Wildlife Film Network is to provide a specialist online database (This website) where wildlife orientated members can advertise their interests, skills, services and abilities to the world.
As a member of the WFN you will be able to advertise up to 4 Job Roles in up to 4 different Job Categories; these are
Wildlife Film,
Wildlife Photography,
Wildlife Artist,
Wildlife Writer,
Wildlife Scientist,
Wildlife and Environmental Conservation
- You can join the WFN if you are an amateur, student, wannabe or professional.
- You do not have to only work in wildlife film, to be a member of the Wildlife Film Network.
Work as part of our independent production company filming wildlife
In addition to the WFN website and database; the Wildlife Film Network also runs its own independent television production company (as part of the network) that specialises in collaboratively producing wildlife television documentaries and films for broadcast; from within our WFN members, giving you a real ‘Broadcast Credit’
Gain a broadcast credit with us
A lot of people wishing to enter the industry may not realise it, but one of the biggest restrictions to people gaining full time professional employment in the world of wildlife film is the lack of a broadcast credit. Students leaving university with qualifications as high as a Masters (MA) in some form of wildlife film production, still find it almost impossible to gain permanent work in the industry as most vacancies are posted with the need for at least one broadcast credit, as a minimum requirement.
As a member of the Wildlife Film Network who has worked on a wildlife production with us, you will be credited for the role you perform, and by default, gain that extremely valuable ‘Broadcast Credit’
Produce wildlife films with our self-funding Production Kitty
In addition to running the WFN website the Wildlife Film Network will put 50% of our ‘production’ members monthly membership fees into a Production Kitty. The WFN will then use this ‘Kitty’ to eliminate the process of needing to find external funds to cover the cost of a wildlife production; which our ‘pro’ members of the WFN will produce through the WFN’s own independent television production company.
We have received a £10,000 'Production Grant' for 2023
We are delighted to announce that the Wildlife Film Network have received a £10,000 ‘production grant’ for filming in 2023 which we have now added to the ‘Production Kitty’
As you can imagine this will make a very nice addition to the present ‘Kitty’ fund level and allow the WFN to produce / or pre-produce some form of wildlife documentary or film during 2023 or onwards. (We will be discussing the details of this production further during our future Zoom and Face-to-Face WFN Network Meetings.
Should you be interested in working on this future production (even if we haven’t yet decided on what it may be) please email us at info@wildlifefilmnetwork.com and we will add you to an emailing list, and get back to you with more information as things develop.
Please Note: you will have to be a ‘Production Member’ of the WFN for at least 6 months before you are able to work on a WFN production.
Help save endangered wildlife by funding the Anti-poaching Project in Selous
As well as part your monthly membership fees to build a production Kitty; the WFN will also be donating £1 every month from each of its ‘Production’ membership to APPS (Anti-poaching Project, Selous) In this manner, not only will the WFN be advertising you skills and abilities to the world, whilst producing Wildlife Documentaries for broadcast; but you also helping save and protect the iconic wildlife of Africa by helping to fund the essential work of the Wildlife Ranger Service in Tanzania.
For more information APPS on the project, double click here
Join us at our face-to-face UK wide network meetings
Once the current restrictions in place to deal with the Covid-19 situation have been lifted; the Wildlife Film Network will run a series of networking meetings in different locations across the UK; where WFN members can make friends and meet other like-minded individuals who actually wish produce wildlife television documentaries and films themselves, or work in the wildlife television / film orientated industries.
As a member of the WFN you will be able to attend as many of these meetings as you like. The Wildlife Film Network is here to act as a meeting point, information hub and database for those already in the industry, and those wishing to enter the industry and work in wildlife production.
As a ‘networking group’ we are looking for members from anyone wishing to work in wildlife documentary and wildlife film production, no matter what your background. We would like to hear from; writers, script-writers, location scouts, film finance managers, camera operators, sound recordists, production assistants, editors, producers, directors, animal behaviour specialists, photographers, conservationists and environmentalists and everyone else in-between.
Become an award winning wildlife film maker
In film making, titles are held in high regard. It is a well known that an award-winning film maker will go on to gain more professional work then an unrecognised film maker.
As the WFN grows, we will be looking to run an annual Wildlife Film Competition from within its Full & Production Members, once the membership is large enough to make it viable (500+ film makers). This can be both, a film a WFN Member has worked on as part of a WFN production, or an independent production they have produced themselves.
The member/s winning the award will have the honour of being able to introduce themselves as an WFN award-winning wildlife film maker, be listed as such on the WFN website, receive an award certificate and trophy for permanent display.
The competition will have three sections:
– Wildlife films of up to 5 minutes
– Wildlife films of 5 to 30 minutes
– Wildlife films of more than 30 minutes.
The competition will be held annually in January selecting from wildlife films produced by an individual or crew within the previous year.
become an award winning wildlife photographer
The world of professional wildlife photography is a very hash one. To fully succeed you need to be able to stand out from the crowd. One of the most commanding ways to do this is to become an award winning photographer.
As the WFN grows, we will be looking to run an annual Wildlife Photographic Competition from within its Full & Production Members once the membership is large enough to make it viable (500+ photographers). This can be both of, a scene or event that has occurred during a film they have worked on as part of the WFN, or an independent wildlife photograph they have taken at any time during the year themselves.
The member/s winning the award have the honour of being able to introduce themselves as an WFN award-winning photographer, be listed as such on the WFN website, receive an award certificate and trophy for permanent display.
The competition will have three sections:
– Photographs of wildlife
– Photographs of wildlife conservation
– Photographs of ‘behind the scenes crew/s’ working on a wildlife film production.
The competition will be held annually in November selecting from photographs taken over the previous year.
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