Life Force Production Team
Read biographies of the talented production team for Life Force...
Shin-ichi Murata
Shin-ichi Murata is an executive producer with one of the world’s largest broadcasters, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). After studying forestry, he joined NHK in 1981 and has since produced numerous documentaries mainly in natural history. He has extensive experience in fieldwork, and also has been involved in various international co-productions including Wild Asia and Equator - an HD series produced by NHK, NHNZ and Discovery Channel that went on to win numerous awards.
In 2005 his production Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Water Garden won six global awards including “Best of Festival” at the 29th International Wildlife Film Festival and Prix Italia 2005. His follow-up production, Satoyama 3: Japan’s Secret Forest was recently awarded the Children EARTH VISION Grand Prize at the 18th EARTH VISION Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival (2010). The same production last year won the award in the category “Best of Climate Change and Sustainable Technologies” at the 5th CMS VATAVARAN Environment and Wildlife Film Festival in India.
Andrew Waterworth
With a career in television and science journalism spanning over thirty years, Andrew’s experience as reporter, presenter, producer and executive producer has yielded an inherent understanding of what makes great television.
Since joining NHNZ in 2000 Andrew has executive produced over 150 hundred hours of highly successful documentaries including Animal Face Off (for Discovery Primetime), Death Valley (WNET), Tribal Life (Travel Channel), Shark Rebellion (Discovery Channel), Tsunami – Race for Survival (TLC), Man Made Marvels (Discovery Networks Asia), Ultimate Disaster (National Geographic Channels US and International) and Colossal Squid (Discovery Primetime).
More recently he exec produced Megastructures – China, showcasing the Beijing Water Cube, Shanghai’s Super Tower and China’s Ultimate Port, Shark Nicole – Great White Odyssey for NGUS and NGCI, two Ancient Man Made Marvels for Discovery Asia and Discovery Science Channels, China Quake about the earthquake that devastated Sichuan also for NGCI, Bite Me with Dr. Mike - a series hosted by English virologist and adventurer Dr. Mike Leahy for Travel Channel and NGC, and Clash of the Continents, a two hour special on what the world will look like 250 million years from now for National Geographic Channels US and International.
Judith Curran
New Zealand-born Judith Curran is an award-winning producer, director and writer. Before joining NHNZ in 2001, Judith spent 15 years in Australia working in a wide spectrum of factual television. There she was credited with the production of a diverse range of documentary programs on subjects from young female gymnasts aiming for Olympic gold medals to extinct sharks and, from women in high security prisons to fashion designers showing in Paris. With a background as a playwright, and experience as a story-liner and writer for television drama, Judith brings a strong focus on narrative and character development to her work.
Since joining NHNZ, Judith has produced over 30 hours of quality documentary programs for international networks and has also been instrumental in developing programs for the global market. Her work as producer on the seven part Growing Up series for Animal Planet saw the Growing Up Orangutan episode nominated for an Emmy award in 2005. More recently Judith has series produced two 13 part series of the top rating Orangutan Island for Animal Planet. She also produced a successful pilot for the highly emotive I Survived... series which was the basis for 40 x 1 hour programs for A&E Television Networks, and is now executive producing a spin off series of 6 x 1 hours called Beyond and Back.
Satoshi Okabe
Satoshi Okabe joined NHK as a producer for Global Family in 1989. An experienced diving instructor with a degree in marine biology, Satoshi became a specialist in underwater filming. In 1990 a show he produced about coral spawning in Okinawa won Japan’s coveted Takayanagi prize for the best science production on television.
In 1993 Fish of Lake Tanganyika, was awarded the Special Jury prize at the BANFF TV Festival, strengthening Satoshi’s reputation as a specialist in underwater filming. And in 2002 Miracle of the Pantanal won awards in both the Sichuan TV festival and the Asian TV festival.
In 2005 Satoshi produced Equator – Rivers of the Sun, a co-production between NHNZ and NHK. This production went on to win seven awards, including the Best Animal Behavior Award at the FIFA International Wild Life Film Festival and the Grand Prize for the Best Wildlife documentary at the Amazonas International Festival in Brazil.
Rory McGuinness
Rory McGuinness has worked in the factual TV industry for over 30 years. He is experienced in a diverse range of genres including adventure, environmental, socio political, ethnographic, science and natural history. He has worked in many environments including the Arctic and the Antarctic, jungles, deserts, mountains and the sea and is known for bringing a unique flair to any production while getting results under challenging conditions.
Rory's credits include such award-winning shows as the BBC's Life of Mammals, the ABC/BBC co-production Wild Australasia and the ABC TV special about Orca, Killers in Eden. He has won many national and international awards for cinematography and was nominated for an Emmy for the National Geographic special, The Search for Kennedy's PT109.
Rory likes to focus on marine subjects, with credits including the ABC TV production The Big Blue about blue whales, the recent BBC Natural World production on whale sharks, the BBC special, Saved by Dolphins and the marine feature film Turtle – An Incredible Journey. He is currently shooting a BBC series on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Rory has had a long and happy relationship with NHNZ and most recently produced for them the National Geographic special Shark Nicole.
Brant Backlund
Brant Backlund is a multiple award-winning Producer and Director of factual television programmes. With university degrees in Biology and Natural History Filmmaking, he has a unique passion for presenting scientific concepts in new and interesting ways. His stylish first film, Exhuming Adams, won awards around the world including the prestigious ‘Wildscreen Panda Award’ for ‘Best Newcomer’ to the industry. Since then, he has worked in Europe, the United States, and New Zealand in a variety of roles for different production companies.
Brant joined NHNZ in 2005, working as a director for several documentary series including Scarfie Days (TVNZ), The Most Extreme (Animal Planet), and Orangutan Island (Animal Planet). In addition to production, Brant has worked as a development producer for NHNZ, helping formulate new ideas and treatments.
Masahiro Hayakawa
Masahiro Hayakawa joined NHK in 1993. For the first three years he produced science programmes, but when transferred to another bureau he also became involved in human interest documentaries, news, sports and live shows.
In 2000 he joined NHK’s Division for Science and Environmental programmes in Tokyo. Since then he has mainly worked on natural history productions, specializing in programmes about Japan and Latin America.
Productions he worked on include Decent into Mystery - The Guiana Highlands and The Old Apple Tree is a Cradle for Owl for NHK. Most recently he was director/producer on Planet Earth – a co-production between NHK, the BBC and Discovery
Peter Hayden
Peter Hayden has worked at NHNZ for more than twenty years, making nature and wildlife films for the international market as well as science, health and adventure documentaries.
During that time he has mainly been based in New Zealand but has worked with producers and broadcasters in the US, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Chile, Brazil, France, Germany and Holland and has travelled extensively. As Head of Development at NHNZ (1996-2000) he was responsible for widening the company’s production focus on natural history to include health, science, history, archaeology and adventure. In 2002 he became Head of Special Projects and spearheaded NHNZ’s initial production effort in China.
His programmes have received many awards including two International Emmy nominations.
Peter now contracts for NHNZ as a series producer where his work has included several high profile and ambitious projects such as the two-part World’s Biggest Baddest Bugs for Animal Planet and the 13-part follow up, Buggin' With Ruud, and a six-part nature series Equator, which Peter co-wrote and narrated. Equator went on to win ten awards including a gold medal at the New York Festivals.
Nigel Dunstone
Before moving to New Zealand in 2005, Dr Nigel Dunstone had a distinguished academic career at the University of Durham in the UK spanning 26 years. He lectured in the fields of Animal Behaviour, Evolutionary Biology and Conservation Biology and has published more than 50 scientific articles and authored/edited five books.
Over the years he developed a global portfolio of international research interests and led biodiversity survey expeditions to many remote parts of the world. He has conducted research in South and Central America (Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Belize), Sulawesi and South Africa, and previously also in the Middle East (Jordan), and many European countries.
During his academic career in the UK he frequently acted as scientific advisor for the BBC’s Natural History Unit. His own research has also frequently been the subject of documentary films, and he has made numerous appearances on camera and on radio.
Dr Dunstone is currently contracted to NHNZ as a researcher.
Glenda Norris
Glenda Norris began a career in teaching before joining the television industry in the early 1980s. A pioneer in the industry – she was one of the first production managers budgeting, contracting and scheduling natural history programmes, first in New Zealand – and then internationally.
She has sent crews to all corners of the globe, from Svalbard in the North, to the Snares Islands in the Subantarctic. Shows she worked on have gained over 44 international awards – and have been seen in European and US markets.
Much of her recent work has been on major wildlife co-productions with NHK - including the six part series Equator, and now the much anticipated six part HiDef series Life Force.
