WILDBEAR - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer
• Managing Director

Alan Erson is a dynamic force in the Australian television industry with a strong background in leading creative teams making high-quality science, history and natural history programming for global audiences. Read more Alan Erson is Managing Director and Executive Producer at WildBear Entertainment, leading creative teams developing and producing history, wildlife, science and engineering titles for global audiences. Formerly ABC Australia's Head of Factual, his recent WildBear EP credits include Stuff The British Stole (ABC and CBC), The Black Hand (ABC), Rachel's Farm (Madman), Australia Come Fly with Me (SBS), Brock: Over the Top (Universal), A Dog's World with Tony Armstrong (ABC), Barrenjoey Road (ABC), Waltzing the Dragon with Benjamin Law (ABC), Playing with Sharks (Madman, Dogwoof) and Boss Croc (Nat Geo).

Job Titles:

• Head of Post Production

As the Head of Post Production for WildBear, Ben manages the post production teams and processes for WildBear across Australia and New Zealand. Read more As the Head of Post Production for WildBear, Ben manages the post production teams and processes for WildBear across Australia and New Zealand. Ben's previous experiences in television and media have been as a Senior Online Editor/Colourist and Music Composer based in Sydney, NSW. Ben has worked in the Broadcast Television industry for over 12 years and in that time, worked at some of Australia and the United Kingdom's leading Production Companies and Post Production Houses to deliver high quality programs in a variety of genres to leading broadcasters. As a Colourist and Online Editor, he has worked on programs such as The Block and 60 Minutes for the Nine Network, Grand Designs and Location Location Location for Foxtel and Farmer Wants a Wife and My Kitchen Rules for the Seven Network. Ben has experience in grading Documentaries, Light Entertainment, Lifestyle, News & Current Affairs and Children's Television. Ben has extensive experience in technical management, software, hardware, deliverable and composes music for television, recently supplying music for The Amazing Race Australia. Ben has also gained experience in offline editing over the years.

Job Titles:

• Director
• Executive Producer
• Principal
• Producer
• Producers

Creating compelling content and telling stories that engage and inform is a passion. That it's also my job is the bonus! Read more Bettina Dalton is an Australian documentary producer and director, celebrated as one of the central women who have, and continue to, shape the face of natural history filmmaking in Australia. While her first passion is natural history, Bettina has produced and directed diverse genres of award-winning content for audiences around the world, including for theatrical release and for National Geographic, ZDF, ARTE, NDR, BBC, PBS and Discovery Channels internationally, amongst others, and Australian broadcasters including ABC, Seven Network, Nine Network, SBS, Foxtel. Some of Bettina's recent projects include Emmy-nominated feature documentary "Playing With Sharks" for Dogwoof and Madman Entertainment about the life and legacy of pioneering Australian underwater diver, filmmaker and shark advocate, Valerie Taylor, and feature documentary "Rachel's Farm" for Madman Entertainment about Rachel Ward's journey to regenerate her farm, and herself. Prior to her current role as Executive Producer and Principal of WildBear Entertainment, Bettina was a Managing Director of WildFury and owner of stock footage company Content Mint.

Job Titles:

• Development Executive

Working across such diverse content and with a broad range of stakeholders, every day is a "school day" and every project requires true collaboration. It's a privilege to contribute to the telling of such remarkable stories of our history, human experience and the natural world. Caroline works alongside WildBear's Executive Producers across the company's diverse development slate, to drive projects through to greenlight and beyond. Caroline joined WildBear in 2018, bringing with her combined experience in TV business affairs and human resources. Caroline was a key contributor in securing the financing of the Sundance-selected and Emmy-nominated feature documentary, "Playing With Sharks" (National Geographic Documentary Films/Disney+, together with Dogwoof) and "Rachel's Farm" (Madman Entertainment, together with New Town Films), which she was also a Line Producer on. Some recent projects that Caroline has guided through to production include official Australia-Canada Co-Production, "Stuff the British Stole" (for ABC TV and CBC, in partnership with Wooden Horse and Cream Productions), feature documentary "The Fastest Things on Wings" (in partnership with Dogwoof), wildlife special "The Platypus Guardian" (for ABC TV and The WNET Group, in partnership with Tetrapod Films) and Australian social history series, "Australia Come Fly With Me" (for SBS).

Job Titles:

• Chief Financial Officer

Caroline is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years experience in the accounting and finance industry. Read more Caroline is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years experience in the accounting and finance industry. She has previously worked as a Senior Manager at Maxim Chartered Accountants in the Business Services division, with a focus on the Property and Development Industry. Caroline has also worked as a Financial Controller for Ecowise Environmental, a national environmental solutions company. Caroline joined Wildbear in February 2016 and brings with her a wealth of knowledge and insight with regard to accounting, finance, risk and strategy which translates into delivering outstanding business outcomes. Caroline oversees the Corporate Finance and Legal team and is a member of the Wildbear Executive Management Team providing support and advice to the Board of Directors.

My favourite part of being an editor is watching someone watch a story I've helped create. If they have an emotional response, whatever that is - excitement, empathy, anger, sadness - it means I've done my job. Read more Chris is an award-winning director and editor who joined WildBear in 1999 after studying Media and Communications at the University of Canberra. As director, Chris' work includes The Irish In Australia (History Channel) Power (Discovery Channel), Building to the Sky (Discovery Channel) and Hell on Earth (Histoire). As an editor, Chris's work includes Stranded (ABC), Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks (MIFF, Netflix) and RIDE (ABC) Chris' awards include best editing for the short drama Shockwaves at the 2008 St Kilda Film Festival.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer / General Manager WildBear Aotearoa ( New Zealand )

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. A Maori proverb that asks what is the most important thing in the world, and answers with "The people, the people, the people". Read more He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. A Maori proverb that asks what is the most important thing in the world, and answers with "The people, the people, the people". That's what gets me up in the morning. The super-smart people I get to work with, learn from, lead and support. The stories I can tell about people and the world they live in. And the amazing audience that listens to our stories with wrapt attention and wants to know more. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. Craig is an executive producer and writer of science and wildlife documentaries and factual television programs. He has earned three U.S. Emmy Award nominations and two Gold Medals at the New York Film and Television Festival for his documentaries. As a producer, director and writer he's made over 500 hours of international factual and documentary television. He's developed and sold an additional 300 hours of programming. As an executive producer and showrunner he has led more than 100 hours of successful productions for international broadcasters over the last ten years. Craig has been producing international science and nature television since 1995 when he was a field director on Discovery Channel's landmark series Beyond 2000. He has gone on to make films for Nat Geo, PBS, RTE, France 5, Arte, ZDF, NHK, CCTV, TVNZ and ABC Australia. His credits include Big Pacific for PBS/Arte/NHK/CCTV, Emmy nominated Saving Africa's Giants with Yao Ming for Animal Planet/CCTV, Wild 24 for National Geographic/FOX and Beyond 2000 for Discovery Channel. He also produced and directed House from Hell, which the Big Brother format was based on, Treasure Island, Temptation Island, The Mole and Survivor. His biggest production to date was Big Ice, a four-part series capturing the behavioral changes in polar wildlife in response to climate change. His teams recorded scientifically unique behaviors that are contributing to a new understanding of the adaptability of animals. Prior to Big Ice he wrote and produced the landmark PBS/CCTV/NHK/Arte blue chip nature series Big Pacific, which garnered an audience of half a billion people in its first four weeks of broadcast and raised average audiences by 40% for everybody that ran it. After hours he is a senior metropolitan firefighter and medical first responder for Fire Emergency New Zealand where he leads teams at structure fires, motor vehicle crashes and medical events to save lives and property. Craig holds US and Australian citizenship and descends from the Mayflower pilgrims on his Father's side and Irish convicts on his Mother's side. He completed his Bachelor of Applied Management last year majoring in innovation and entrepreneurship and is beginning a Masters Degree focusing on practices of leadership in creative industries.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer

Since I was young I've had burning desire to share my wonder of the natural world with others. At WildBear I get to express that passion through the most powerful medium on the planet-film and television. Dr. Chadden Hunter is an Australian wildlife biologist and filmmaker. After completing a PhD on gelada baboons in Ethiopia, Chadden worked with National Geographic and Discovery Channel, filming everything from tribal ceremonies in Africa to snow leopards in Pakistan. On the BBC series "Planet Earth" he became known as ‘the guy covered in bat poop', and whilst filming arctic wolves for "Frozen Planet" learnt that minus 40C was cold enough to freeze his eyes shut.

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer
• Member of the ScreenACT Advisory Board and Former Member of QL2 Dance Inc - One of Australia

I love the dynamism of this industry, the people you meet and relationships you form in the process of telling stories. Read more Harriet joined the Company in 2011 following on from five years experience working as a distributor and producer at Ronin Films. Whilst currently overseeing development and operational activity at WildBear, her producer credits include Building to the Sky (AB Droits France), Changed Forever (History Channel), Who We Are In Sport (Bio Channel), Building Australia (History Channel), The Boffin, the Builder and the Bombardier (ABC) and feature documentary When the Queen Came to Town. Harriet is a previous member of the ScreenACT advisory board and former member of QL2 Dance Inc - one of Australia's premiere youth dance organisations. In 2013 Harriet was awarded the prestigious Natalie Miller Fellowship, which enabled her attendance at the University of Oxford, Said Business School, High Performance Leadership Programme. Harriet has a Bachelor of Business from Griffith University and a Masters of Liberal Arts from the Australian National University.

Job Titles:

• Commercial Manager of WildBear Digital
• Journalist

I'm a guy from a small bush town. When you do a job for someone, you do what you say you can do and you do it to the utmost highest level of quality. Your reputation hangs off it and it's what the people at WildBear do so well. Read more Commercial Manager, Jeremy Flynn, is a qualified journalist by trade whose media career now spans more than 30 years. Jeremy worked in print and television newsrooms writing and reporting all genres of news, sport and feature content, including presenting content live to air both in the field and from the desk. He had experience leading the conform of print and broadcast publications including BBC News 24 bulletins in the UK. Jeremy then moved into both building and managing substantial TV news operations including roles as a Chief of Staff and Director of News and Current Affairs. Jeremy stepped into commercial media business operations management some 15+ years ago, leading large scale multi-media business units. He was a national head of television and radio commercial content and production for several years before holding the chief operating role of a multi-department television network for 8 years. Here, he was primarily responsible for the corporate governance and management of commercial relationships and contracts, program and client content deals and output. Jeremy has also sat as a director on five different media content business boards.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer

I have always been fascinated by the wondrous absurdity of life in all its forms - from humans to the animals and plants we live alongside. Having a platform to illuminate and share these wonders is a privilege. Read more Kate is an Executive Producer at WildBear Entertainment, Co-chair of AIDC and on the Management Committee for SSA. She has built a successful career producing close to 60 hrs of internationally recognised science, wildlife and history documentaries. She cut her teeth in London in the wonderful world of kids' science and has since worked across a diverse and award-winning documentary slate. Recent credits include factual series Wildlifers! (ABC Kids!), Stuff the British Stole (ABC/CBC), A Dog's World with Tony Armstrong (ABC), feature docs Playing With Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story (Disney+/NatGeo), Carbon: An Unauthorised Biography (ABC/CBC), Westwind: Djalu's Legacy (NiTV/MIFF) and animated short Love Letters To Our Trees. Kate is a passionate advocate for a planet-first approach to making content.

Job Titles:

• Head of Production

The measure of success of a team is how well they work together, and the collaborative nature of our post production team allows for some great relationships to be formed, and great work to be produced. I love working in the film industry - the collaborative nature of our work allows for some great team relationships to be formed, and some great stories to be told.

Job Titles:

• WRITER

I enjoy lots of things about writing, but mostly I like being a part of it. Read more Michael, a fulltime scriptwriter since 1974, joined WildBear over twenty years ago. Michael's work for television has been recognised with a Penguin Award for best episode script and Logie for best script for the original series ‘A Place in the World '. Other awards include Gold and Silver Awgies for radio drama, a Screenwriter's Fellowship from the Australian Film Commission, a Creative Arts Fellowship from artsACT, three fellowships from the Literature Board of The Australia Council and Best Documentary Script at the Shenzhen International Documentary Festival. Michael's recent work for WildBear has chiefly been in history programming, including the series Price of Empire, Impossible Peace and Adolf Hitler's War.

Job Titles:

• CEO

The legacy of a company that can prosper in this business is important to me. I want to build a growing, sustainable company. Michael was Managing Director and co-founder of Bearcage before becoming CEO of WildBear. As Producer and Executive Producer, Michael's career spans award-winning feature films, television, government and commercial productions. Michael has been a Producer or Executive Producer of over 250 hours of film and television. His recent productions include commissions for Netflix, ABC, History, Nine Network, Discovery, Arte, ZDF, Prime NZ, National Geographic, CCTV, and Beijing TV. Michael was also an Executive Producer on the feature film The Babadook.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer

Mike is a director and executive producer who has been working in television and video production for over fourteen years. Read more Mike is a director and executive producer who has been working in television and video production for over fourteen years. Mike is a director and executive producer who has been working in television and video production for over fourteen years. Starting at WildBear in 2015, Mike tapped into his passion for storytelling in his role as lead editor on the factual documentary series M.A.D. World (History Channel) and The War that Changed The World (CCTV & Foxtel History). He has since turned his eye for detail to his role as a director and producer on history and engineering programming on series such as The 101 Who Made the 20th Century (MTG/Viasat/History Channel), Hitler's Propaganda Machine (AB Droits/DRG), A Royal Tour of the 20th Century (Mediawan/DRG) and Adolf Hitler's War (eOne). As a producer, Mike has worked on titles including Rise and Fall: The Turning Points of WWII (Viasat), Weeks of War (A&E UK), Inside Japan's War (ZDFE) and History's Greatest Myths (A&E UK).

Job Titles:

• Finance
• Head of Production

Miranda started as the Head of Finance for Wild Fury in 2011 before the merger took place to become WildBear Entertainment in 2014. Read more Miranda started as the Head of Finance for Wild Fury in 2011 before the merger took place to become WildBear Entertainment in 2014. Prior to that, Miranda was the Senior Production Accountant for Southern Star Entertainment, working on some of Australia's biggest television dramas including Water Rats (1999-2002, Nine Network), Rescue Special Ops (2009-2010, Nine Network), Love my Way (2004 and 2007, Showtime), Spirited (2011-2013, Showcase) and Cleo (2011, ABC). At WildBear Entertainment, Miranda is responsible for the finance and accounting on all productions including Producer Offset requirements, drawdowns and cashflow.

Colour, light, movement and sound; each can engage viewers on such an emotional level. Every day we employ all those elements to tell a new story and I love it. Read more Nik Wansbrough is an Australian filmmaker, living and working in Canberra. As a director, Nik has worked with a diverse range of clients, bringing engaging stories to a variety of screen-based mediums. Nik lives to create unique experiences for his audience. He believes in a holistic approach to filmmaking; utilising all the elements of the medium to maximise production-value, whilst creating the greatest emotional impact. Having worked in the industry for over 12 years, Nik started out in animation, special effects and broadcast design, before laying a foundation as a director on countless corporate videos, television commercials and short films. Since 2013, Nik's primary focus has been directing documentary series for international broadcast, beginning with Monsters in the Outback (XiveTV). The program told the story of Australia's dinosaurs, incorporating live-action photography and computer-generated animation. In 2015, Nik directed and co-wrote Australia Doesn't Just Want to Kill You (Discovery Channel), a three-part series examining Australia's deadliest creatures, and how their unique adaptations can be harnessed by scientists to improve lives across the globe. From 2016 to 2018, Nik directed over 30 hours of internationally broadcast documentaries, covering science, history and natural history.

Job Titles:

• Business Affairs / Legal Counsel

Paul is a lawyer with over 6 years combined experience in financial and legal services. Read more Paul is a lawyer with over 6 years combined experience in financial and legal services. Completing his double degrees in Commerce and Law in 2013, Paul was admitted to the ACT Supreme Court in 2016. Prior to joining WildBear in 2020, Paul has worked in the private sector in both of his fields of study - as an accountant at a boutique corporate advisory firm specialising in government advisory and insolvency; and as a managing lawyer at an established law firm conducting property and commercial transactions. In these roles, Paul has provided solution-driven approaches to business performance management, expert advice on legal matters, client liaison for both private and public sector clients, and brings this experience to his role as WildBear's in-house business affairs and legal counsel.

Job Titles:

• ICT Manager

Working in the Media & Entertainment industry provides new and exciting challenges almost daily and it's solving these puzzles that I find the most rewarding. Peter graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol in 2007 with a degree in Computing for Real-Time Systems and has over a decade of experience in Information Communications Technology. Originally from England, Peter emigrated to Australia with his wife in 2012 and settled in Canberra. Having worked in many and varied industries Peter has wide-ranging experience in meeting the technology needs of small businesses all the way up to large multinational corporations. Peter oversees the entirety of WildBear's ICT infrastructure as well as planning and implementing forward-looking ideas to keep WildBear on the cutting edge.

Job Titles:

• Associate Development Producer

I have a passion for telling real stories for broad audiences. Read more Coming from commercial TVC advertising, Portia joined WildBear in September 2021. Portia works closely with the wider WildBear development team across a broad slate of projects by overseeing development packages for market pitching, producing development shoots and collaborating on program financing.

My favourite thing about my job is finding a narrative in the footage - reframing and jigsawing pieces together to follow unexpected stories down the rabbit hole. Read more Having studied Media production at both the Canberra Institute of Technology and the University of Canberra, Rob joined WildBear in 2013. During his time at WildBear, Rob has filled a variety of roles from Editor, Director and more recently as a Post Supervisor. As a Post Supervisor, Director and Editor, Rob's work includes Stuff The British Stole (ABC, Post Production Supervisor), Yakka: Australia At Work (ABC, Post Director), Behind History (Proseiben, Red Arrow, FOXTEL, Director) Two Scottish Vets (BBC, Editor), Bridging The Expanse (Proseiben, Director), Code Red (Red Arrow, Discovery, Director), Titans of the 20th Century (NTV, DRG, MediaWan, Director), Impossible Peace (DRG, Post Director). Rob is an Australian Screen Editors Guild Awards nominee for his work on the Sir John Monash Museum Immersive Experience (Sir John Monash Centre Villers-Bretonneux Exhibition, Editor).

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer
• Principal

Collaboration is fundamental to my work. I have to think laterally about the best way to approach a job, not how I can implant myself into it. Read more Serge's directorial experience spans drama, documentary, and commercial productions. Across a broad range of genres, he has directed more than 150 hours of broadcast and theatrical content for the domestic and international film and television markets. As an Executive Producer, Serge has overseen more than 200 hrs of programming distributed internationally.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer
• TV Producer

I love telling the authentic stories of the people that work and live in places and worlds that audiences wouldn't normally have the opportunity to experience. Read more Stephen is a highly accomplished TV Producer with 20 years' experience in broadcast television with the Nine Network and Network Ten in Brisbane. During his time at TEN he produced children's TV, documentaries and general entertainment shows. He was a part of the Totally Australia documentary unit, traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand producing 11 documentaries covering such diverse subjects as childhood obesity, venomous marine animals and the plight of the highly endangered Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. He also produced the award-winning children's science show Scope and Totally Wild. Stephen's talent ensures quality production values, engaging storytelling, and new and creative formats. In 2016 he moved to the Nine Network to help reestablish their children's TV unit, co-creating the children's science program BrainBuzz and working as the Supervising Producer on Smashdown! Since joining WildBear in October 2019 as Supervising Producer, Stephen has already worked on a number of productions including Demolition Down Under Series 1-4, Aussie Mega Mechanics Series 2, Gem Hunters Down Under and Wildlife ER.

Job Titles:

• Executive Producer
• Principal

Working with such a vibrant, dynamic team to tell a broad range of amazing stories is a dream come true. Veronica Fury's award-winning screen content has reached audiences around the world. With over 85 commissioned television series and feature documentaries to her name, Veronica works with the major television Australian broadcasters as well as key international broadcasters/streamers including ZDF, Nat Geo, Disney +, Netflix, BBC, TG4, France 5, and Arte. Her work is represented globally via a broad range of leading distributors.

Job Titles:

• Producer

I have always loved the combined creative process to build a story that will engage, challenge and delight an audience. Read more Before stepping into Producing, William Ward was a multi-award-winning Sound Designer and Post Production Supervisor with 25 years' experience in film and television. Will has worked on a wide range of film and TV content including animations for Netflix, films such as Red Dog, The Sapphires, The Great Gatsby and Tomorrow When the War Began. William was previously the Head of Sound at Spectrum Films and Deluxe Stage One before taking on Post Supervision roles at Beyond and more recently WildBear Entertainment. He produced feature documentary - RIDE: A Brutal Fairytale for the ABC in 2022 and is currently working in a producer role across a slate of projects for WildBear Entertainment.