John Downer

Directing

John Downer

A passionate zoologist, John has been making nature documentaries for the BBC for over 30 years. He made his name by abandoning the traditional style of nature documentaries and pioneering a highly inventive subjective approach using new technology and dramatic story-telling techniques His innovative approach to filmmaking has brought him numerous international awards for series such as Supersens…

Known For

Wings 3DWings 3D · 2014
Wings 3D
10.02014
MovieDocumentary
This feature-length RealD™ 3D experience was filmed with revolutionary aerial devices and techniques to fly right alongside birds. This breathtaking journey will take viewers across the world’s most iconic landscapes to the heart of the greatest animal spectacles on Earth: snow geese dash through Monument Valley and New York City, vultures ascend miles above the earth then dive down to huge wildebeest herds below, scarlet macaws race at breakneck speed through the rainforest. Using unique, state-of-the-art 3D cameras in barely accessible and highly dangerous places, the audience has never before been so close to the drama and beauty of nature until now.
PridePride · 2004
Pride
6.12004
MovieAdventureDrama
The story of Suki, a lioness cub, who rebels against her mother and her Pride to mate with an unsuitable lion from the other side of the river.
Snow Chick - A Penguin's TaleSnow Chick - A Penguin's Tale · 2015
Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale
7.32015
MovieDocumentary
A chronicle of the birth and development of one penguin chick, born late and smaller than any of its fellow toddlers.
EarthflightEarthflight · 2013
Earthflight
6.72013
MovieDocumentary
Nature documentary that takes a breathtaking flight on the wings of birds across six continents and experiences some of the world's greatest natural spectacles from a bird's-eye view.
Spy in the SnowSpy in the Snow · 2018
Spy in the Snow
6.52018
MovieDocumentaryTV Movie
The franchise returns with a brand new wintertime entry about animals that live in the coldest places in the world.
Polar Bear: Spy on the IcePolar Bear: Spy on the Ice · 2011
Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice
7.52011
MovieDocumentary
Shot mainly using spy cameras, this film gets closer than ever before to the world's greatest land predator. As the film captures its intimate portrait of polar bears' lives, it reveals how their intelligence and curiosity help them cope in a world of shrinking ice.
SupersenseSupersense · 1988
Supersense
1988
MovieDocumentary
Smell your way across an ocean as a salmon does. See, through the multi-aspected eye of a fly, what a human hand looks like when it is about to strike. Amazing effects reveal the secrets of animal perception.
Winged PlanetWinged Planet · 2012
Winged Planet
9.02012
MovieDocumentary
More than three years in the making, Earthflight uses state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated camera techniques to bring the world to us as seen by birds. Prepare to embark on an amazing voyage, as they migrate; crossing continents; interacting with wildlife phenomena and other natural wonders from their uniquely privileged position.

Filmography

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The Gathering SwarmsThe Gathering Swarms · 2014
The Gathering Swarms
6.52014
MovieDocumentary
A look at some of the planet's great gatherings, creatures that come together in inconceivable numbers - sometimes in millions, billions, and even trillions. Included are bats and bees, locust and ants, monarch butterflies in Mexico, 17-year cicada hatches, grunion in the Sea of Cortez and carp in the Mississippi River, sardine runs off the coast of South Africa, super flocks of parakeets in the Australian Outback, mayflies on the 4th of July, and even penguins and wildebeest. Some gather to breed or to migrate, some for protection, some simply to keep warm in the cold. But in the process, a kind of super-organism is created in which individual intelligence is superseded by a collective consciousness that shares information and moves with a single purpose for the benefit of all. Check out swarm intelligence, essentially a living embodiment of social media in the natural world.

Writer