Six-part Series Breaks a Gender Barrier, Marking the First Women-led
Production Team to Capture A New Perspective on Nature
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Never before has a women-led production team set out to capture the
wondrous beauty of the natural world, and never before has natural
history storytelling focused solely on matriarchal societies… until now.
National Geographic, world renowned for its rich tradition in natural
history storytelling and cinematic craft, announces QUEENS, an
epic, six-part natural history docuseries that follows six powerful
sisterhoods within the animal kingdom where females rule. The all-women
visionaries behind the series draw on their female intuitions to shine a
fresh light on the natural world, revealing unique feminine behaviors in
six distinct animal communities: hyenas, elephants, ring-tailed lemurs,
insects, primates and orcas.
QUEENS, which began production this spring will air globally
in 172 countries and 43 languages, is a mammoth undertaking; crews are
estimated to spend at least 300 days filming each of the six episodes in
order to paint intimate portraits of each queen and the sisterhood she
leads.
“QUEENS is a wild departure from anything you’ve ever
experienced with natural history storytelling,” says Vanessa Berlowitz,
series executive producer, Wildstar Films. “We’re accustomed to a
narrative where the male animal voice often outshines that of the
misperceived ‘gentler’ sex. In QUEENS, females drive
the story: the most accomplished women in the industry get behind the
camera to turn things on their heads, revealing surprising insights into
how females rise to power, often relying on cooperation and wisdom over
brute strength to get ahead.”
“With QUEENS, National Geographic challenges a
historical bias in wildlife storytelling that favors masculine
societies,” says Janet Han Vissering, senior vice president of
development and production, National Geographic. “The assembly of
first-ever women-led production team will bring a new perspective to
telling these intimate narratives. Scientifically, women score higher
for emotional and social intelligence, so it will be fascinating to see
how the team will read relationships to underscore the nuances of how
female-bonded societies operate.”
Each episode devotes itself to discovering just why the title of queen
is so coveted and tenuous. While getting to the top signifies power,
holding rank is far from easy. Every day brings challenges – and
challengers – to a queen’s rule. How she remains dominant depends on
individual personality, loyalty, cooperation, politics, strength and
fate.
Despite major behavioral differences among each society – for example,
bees, wasps and ants are slaves to a single dictatorial queen, while
elephants choose the oldest and wisest of their matriarch – there’s at
least one thing that each queen has in common: family comes first. In QUEENS, nothing
outmatches the powerful bonds of sisterhood.
The production team is led by Berlowitz, CEO of Wildstar Films and
series executive producer, and also boasts some of the world’s most
renowned, accomplished cinematographers, including Sophie Darlington (“Our
Planet,” “Dynasties,” Disneynature’s “Penguins”) and Justine
Evans (“Planet Earth,” “Frozen Planet,” “Life”).
“This series is full of possibilities and will offer a contemporary
perspective on nature with the ambition to build industry legacy through
diversity, collaboration and inclusiveness,” says Darlington. “It’s so
exciting to create a project with such a talented team; we share a
strong commitment to the environment and believe that engaging women is
key to saving the planet.”
QUEENS features state-of-the-art technology, including
remote camera systems, the latest drones, cameras that operate in
virtual darkness and gyrostabilized cameras for close-up, immersive
filming. All the equipment used throughout each episode aims to give the
viewer a profound understanding of the secret relationships within each
queen’s sisterhood.
QUEENS is produced by Wildstar Films for National Geographic. For
Wildstar Films, Vanessa Berlowitz is executive producer. Janet Han
Vissering is senior vice president of development and production,
National Geographic.
Link to photos: https://rumpus.natgeonetworks.com/_xwgAJzsZgV1lFR
About National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between Disney
and the National Geographic Society, is committed to bringing the world
premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivalled
portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic
television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo
Mundo, Nat Geo People) with National Geographic’s media and
consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines;
National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms;
books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include
travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and
e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of the
world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 131 years,
and now it is committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going
further for consumers… all while reaching millions of people around the
world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month. NGP returns 27
percent of its proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic Society to
fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation and
education. For more information visit natgeotv.com
or nationalgeographic.com.
About Wildstar Films
Wildstar Films is a production company based in Bristol, UK. We are a
team of passionate film makers committed to creating films to inspire
global audiences about the natural world. Our Emmy and BAFTA-Award
winning staff have set new standards in wildlife film-making as show
runners, producers, directors and writers. We have many long standing
alliances with cutting-edge technology and camera companies, which also
keep us at the forefront of innovation. Credits include “Planet Earth,”
Frozen Planet,” “ Enchanted Kingdom,” “Wild Yellowstone,” Disneynature’s
“Earth,” “Chimpanzee” and “Monkey Kingdom.”
Contacts
Jennifer DeGuzman, National Geographic, 212-656-0713, [email protected]
Tahli
Kouperstein, National Geographic, 202-912-6543, [email protected]
