Latest news with #KeithScholey
RNZ News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Keith Scholey: 44 years working with David Attenborough
Over the past 100 years, oceans have progressed from being a complete mystery to being regarded as vital for our survival, according to Sir David Attenborough. That's almost Sir David's lifetime. The 99-year-old's latest film Ocean with David Attenborough showcases the beauty, life and wonder of the ocean, as well as the increasing threats it faces. But the film also provides hope and a glimpse at what a revived ocean could look like in just 50 years. The film was released in cinemas to coincide with David Attenborough's 99th birthday. Keith Scholey is an Emmy and Bafta award-winning natural history and environmental filmmaker who has worked with Sir David for 44 years. Keith directed Ocean with David Attenborough and speaks with Susie. Keith Scholey and David Attenborough on location while filming 'Ocean with David Attenborough'. (PHOTO: Supplied/Keith Scholey © Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios) A baitball still from Ocean with David Attenborough. (PHOTO: Supplied/Keith Scholey © Silverback Films and Open Planet Studios) Film poster for Ocean with David Attenborough. (PHOTO: Supplied) A sheepshead wrasse in a kelp forest in California. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A blue whale mother and calf in the Gulf of California, Mexico. (PHOTO: Supplied/Olly Scholey) A pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swimming across the coral reefs of the Red Sea, Egypt. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A clown anemonefish on a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey) A clown anemonefish on a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. (PHOTO: Supplied / Olly Scholey)
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sir David Attenborough's new film Ocean earns a huge £2.5million at the global box office - becoming the highest grossing documentary of 2025 in landslide achievement
Ocean: With David Attenborough has grossed £2,526,000 at the global box office - the most of any documentary in 2025. The new production, which was released on the British icon's 99th birthday on May 8, has captivated audiences across the globe. Dubbed the 'greatest message he's ever told', the movie sees Sir David delve further than ever before into 'the most important place on earth' - its oceans. The environmentalist argues that our seas are at a crossroads after being damaged by pollution and bottom trawling, but Sir David affirms that 'they can bounce back'. And the film has been as popular as its producers anticipated, grossing £1.16million in the UK and Ireland and a staggering £2.5million globally. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The film has broken into the top 25 grossing theatrically released documentaries of all time. Following its success, directors Paul Newman, Keith Scholey and Colin Butfield said: 'We're incredible proud to see Ocean: With David Attenborough embraced by audiences worldwide and making box office history. 'This film was created for the big screen - to immerse viewers in the beauty and fragility of our ocean as never seen before seen - and its success shows this timely story resonates. 'As the UN Ocean Conference approaches, we hope the film and David Attenborough's powerful message continue to inspire global conversation and action for the ocean.' Produced by Silverback Films and Open Planet studios, the film displays never-seen-before footage of the damage that bottom trawling - a common fishing practice around the world - has done to the seabed. The footage shows how the chain that trawlers drag behind them scours the seafloor, forcing the creatures it disturbs into the net behind. The process also releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the sea, something which contributes to global warming. Sir David examined inspirational stories of ocean recovery in areas where destructive fishing is banned - such as the Isle of Arran, Scotland and Hawaii. The broadcasting icon contends that 'the ocean can recover faster than we can ever imagine'. But 'we are running out of time', he argues as he candidly admitted he may not be around to see our oceans saved as he 'nears the end of his life'. During the heartbreaking admission, he shared: 'When I first saw the sea as a young boy, it was thought of as a vast wilderness to be tamed and mastered for the benefit of humanity. 'Now, as I approach the end of my life, we know the opposite is true. After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.' 'Today, it is in such poor health I would find it hard not to lose hope were it not for the most remarkable discovery of all,' he continued. 'If we save the sea, we save our world. After a lifetime of filming our planet, I'm sure nothing is more important.' Sir David further made a reference to his years on Earth as he opened up about the extraordinary ocean discoveries from over the decades and how important it is to preserve the health of the oceans. He said: 'My lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Over the last hundred years, scientists and explorers have revealed remarkable new species, epic migrations and dazzling, complex ecosystems beyond anything I could have imagined as a young man. 'In this film, we share some of those wonderful discoveries, uncover why our ocean is in such poor health, and, perhaps most importantly, show how it can be restored to health. This could be the moment of change. 'Nearly every country on Earth has just agreed, on paper, to achieve this bare minimum and protect a third of the ocean. 'Together, we now face the challenge of making it happen.' The Discovery+ series also features historical footage, including scenes from back in 1957 when the animal lover first attempted scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.
Irish Examiner
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Ocean with David Attenborough: 'There's a clear process where we can reach recovery'
Now in his 100th year, legendary broadcaster David Attenborough is bringing audiences one of his most groundbreaking projects yet. Released in cinemas this week to coincide with his 99th birthday, Ocean with David Attenborough takes viewers on a breathtaking journey across the world's oceans - including places and creatures which have never been so intimately captured on screen. It also serves as a rallying call that the oceans can return to their greatest glories and this will be of huge benefit to mankind. Keith Scholey and Toby Nowlan co-directed Ocean with fellow filmmaker Colin Butfield. They embraced the opportunity to work with the broadcasting legend on what he has described as one of the most important projects of his life. The film shows how the ocean has a remarkable ability to recover when protected. 'What really struck me when Keith first described the project to me, is the hope there is and the process of spillover — that tangible solution and that feeling of recovery,' says Nowlan. 'That process whereby, if you protect a slice of ocean, it fills up with life and fills up the surrounding areas, and it happens so quick, and it's already happening in many parts of the world. 'There's a clear solution here. There's a clear process where we can reach recovery. That really struck a chord with me - that and the sentiment that the ocean does not belong to one set of companies or individuals or governments. It belongs to everyone on Earth. It's our greatest shared asset.' Keith Scholey and Toby Nowlan on location while filming Ocean with David Attenborough. Ocean outlines the beauty of our underwater worlds but also some shocking footage of the impacts of overfishing and the process of trawling the seafloor and the damage it leaves in its wake. The feature-length documentary film shows in rich detail how oceans quickly return to their former glory in places where they are protected. It shares the remarkable story of the recovery of Papahanaumokuakea, north of Hawaii, as the largest fully protected area on the planet. Footage depicts an abundance of life above and below the waves, from whale sharks to the mōlī seabird, which went from near-extinction to being the largest albatross colony in the world. The filmmaking team first mooted the Ocean project a number of years ago, amid plans for a worldwide initiative for governments to designate 30% of our oceans as protected areas by 2030. 'I was having a meeting with our cinematographer Doug Anderson, catching up on another film,' recalls Scholey. 'We were talking about this big issue coming up in 2025 which then seemed a long way off, that the UN were going to have this very important conference to decide whether or not to preserve 30% of the ocean. 'We thought: 'This is such an important meeting for humanity, but no one knows about it'. I went and asked David, and he said: 'Yes, I'd love to'. It's always been mission based - we see this huge opportunity to explain to the public why protection is needed, and actually, the results from it are going to be so beneficial for all of us.' A still from Ocean With David Attenborough. The film journeys to some of the most remote waters on earth, bringing audiences many ground-breaking onscreen experiences as it does so. In a filming first, powerful footage reveals the sheer destruction of the seabed by bottom trawling and the sea life wasted as an unwanted bycatch. Elsewhere, innovative underwater filming techniques allow us to travel with open-ocean voyagers like dolphins and tuna, closer and in greater detail than ever. 'There was one incredible shot that Doug Anderson, our cinematographer got,' says Nowlan. 'It's about 40 seconds, which is amazing, because you never see that in a TV episode in wildlife. This feature film gave us the place to do these big, long, epic shots - this 40-second shot of a sei whale coming straight past camera, and as it clears, you go through this shoal of fish, and then into these bluefin tuna coming up.' Filmmakers worked at the mercy of the elements for sometimes weeks at a time, often unable to film a single thing due to wind and waves and terrible conditions. In such weather, they would see barely an animal for weeks at a time. 'We often say when you go on a filming trip of four weeks to the ocean, you'll probably get three good days,' says Scholey. 'But in those three good days you get a huge amount. What you don't want is to be in port when the good day happens.' For Scholey, it was a joy to work again with Attenborough after many collaborations spanning more than 40 years. 'When I first met him, I was a 22-year-old postgraduate student, and he had just come out of the BBC, as he had been director of programmes. David is a big character, anyway. He's a lovely guy, but he's a very powerful character. I think everyone always remembers the first time you meet David Attenborough. He doesn't want to waste time so around him, you always have to be on your mettle. But when you go on trips with him, he's a really funny guy, he's an incredibly collaborative man. I know I'll never, ever meet anyone like him. He's quite unique.' Ocean With David Attenborough is now in cinemas. See Drones, towcams and other tech used to film Ocean The latest filmmaking technology allowed the directors of Ocean with Richard Attenborough to bring our sea life to screens in more immersive and vivid detail. 'We use some quite exciting tech,' says co-director Toby Nowlan. 'Drones have been extremely useful in our industry, and it completely transformed the way we work in wildlife filmmaking and the way we see the planet now. We can see so many areas quickly in such intimate detail from the air. We had the first permissions for a commercial production to film in Midway Atoll in Papahanaumokuakea, to film albatross colonies from the air - in fact, to use drones at all in the monument. A drone being launched during the filming of Ocean With David Attenborough. Picture: Silverback Films 'We developed some really interesting rigs on this production, one of which was this wonderful thing called a towcam, this specially built rig. It's torpedo-shaped with all these little minicams in the back. That transformed the way we filmed the open ocean. The spotted dolphins in the Atlantic absolutely loved this towcam, and they headed straight for the lenses at the back and we got those very cool shots of them coming straight at the camera.' 'Another huge transformation we've had recently is that we had to always use scuba for diving underwater,' adds Scholey. 'On scuba, you're limited, really, to an hour one way or the other. But now most people use what they call closed circuit systems. They're pretty complicated, but cinematographers can spend four or five, maybe six hours underwater, and that means that they can now just sit on the sea bed and watch natural behaviour in the same way that we do on land. They also don't give off any bubbles, so you're not making this terrible racket wherever you go.'
