BTS: The Wild Ones - Offspring Films for Apple TV+

Alex Williamson, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Offspring Films, on what it took to film new wildlife show The Wild Ones for Apple TV+, “that flips the natural history genre on its head”

When did the idea for The Wild Ones come about?

As filmmakers we’re always trying to experiment and mix things up, especially in a genre like wildlife which can sometimes feel familiar and predictable. So, we asked – what would a wildlife show look like flipped on its head?

People often say they love the ‘behind the scenes’ sections at the end of natural history shows – the stories about how teams got the shot. So, we started to think, what if we take that section and put it front-and-centre in a series – what would that look like? An actuality-driven, jeopardy-filled documentary, underpinned with sumptuous wildlife footage. It was a great starting point – but it still felt a little soft.

So to up the ante, we asked…what if we make things much tougher and only set out to film impossibly difficult animals – those usually way too risky to go for? The rarest, most elusive, shyest creatures – hidden in parts of the world rarely explored. What if we take away the safety net – and go for broke. That suddenly felt like a story worth telling. The stakes would be through the roof – the jeopardy maxed out – high-risk film-making that tells stories we’ve never heard before. A team of hardcore wildlife explorers taking cameras into places on the planet that have never truly been captured on film before, to film animals so rare, they’ve never been seen on our screens before.

It felt exciting, but it also felt important and urgent. When we started to explore why these animals are so rare it became obvious that each had a compelling backstory. Working with scientists on the frontline of conservation we explored ways that our cameras could not only document the animals’ plight but also help their vital conservation efforts to protect and possibly even help save species on the brink. It felt packed with purpose, as well as lots of action-packed fun.

And this is how the idea for THE WILD ONES was born.

What was the development process?

The Wild Ones went through many iterations in development because it was a mash up of genres and didn’t neatly fit into any preconceived box. We weren’t following a predesignated blueprint so had to make up the grammar, the tone and the style every step of the way. We explored dozens of different casting models; target animals; series metaphors; and grammar. But throughout the whole process, all the development retained the central idea of clashing an adventure show with super-rare wildlife footage to tell the story of biodiversity loss around the world.

When was it commissioned?

The Wild Ones was commissioned in summer 2021! These ambitious wildlife projects take years to make and this one was particularly challenging. Getting access to rarely visited parts of the world and to scientists working with the most endangered animals on the planet took years of negotiation. Then we had to figure out how to capture the most elusive animals on the planet on camera which was a huge and lengthy undertaking. A project this ambitious has never been attempted before and at the point of greenlight we had multiple conversations about the risk associated with the series. As we were trying something totally untested, we couldn’t guarantee that we’d succeed in filming all our six target animals so we all went into it with our eyes open that failure was a very real possibility. But as a wise man once said ‘if it’s easy, it’s not worth doing’…and this soon became our series mantra.

What is the central message of the series?

The natural world is a beautiful place, but it’s also a delicate place that’s under threat like never before. We wanted to champion the natural world and to raise awareness about the biodiversity crisis which is taking place around the world.

Crucially, we also wanted the series to be about hope. So many conservation films feel like they preach to the converted, but are inaccessible to the majority. We wanted to make something fun, engaging, laugh out loud, entertaining – that draws you in – but doesn’t shy away from our central message that the natural world needs our help. If we could get a different audience to think about nature – that would be a huge win.

How do you interweave environmental messaging and entertainment? How do you get that balance right?

That was a constant conversation throughout shoot prep, scripting, filming and the edit. Like any new idea, there was no blueprint to follow. It’s dangerous and it’s unknown. Given how loose the brief was – we ended up shooting the series in multiple ways with enough elasticity in our rushes to allow us flex in the edits where we knew we’d need it. We experimented with premium visuals and thought track; gritty immediate actuality; talking head interviews – we covered it all so we could cherry pick in the edit.

We made the decision pretty early in the process that the more fun and levity we had, the grittier we could go with the conservation messaging but getting that balance right between entertainment and environmental messaging was one of the hardest parts of the entire project.

Why were these particular presenters/filmmakers chosen?

Ultimately, we wanted a cast of characters that felt relatable and fun. People you’d want to go on a journey with and whose gang you wanted to be a part of. They also had to be authentic. We wanted experts who really knew their stuff. We also liked the idea of casting them so that each specialised in a different skillset. We worked hard to gather options and ultimately brainstormed with the commissioning team until we landed on our trio of Aldo, Vianet and Declan.

We did a chemistry test with the trio in a park in Bristol doing a series of increasingly ridiculous little tasks – rigging a hammock; throwing a medicine ball; setting up a camera trap – to see how they interacted. It was amazing. From the very first frame they were naturally compatible. They felt like a perfect mix.

Why do you put the filmmakers in front of the camera as opposed to a traditional natural history format?

Natural history is often accused of being genteel and familiar. We wanted to shake it up a bit – try something a little fresher by putting real people in front of the camera. This meant we could mash up different genres – a survival show meets wildlife – to make something new and hopefully help the evolution of the genre.

How did you decide on what environments and animals to film?

Casting the animals and environments was a massive job. We needed to find the rarest of the rare. We also needed each species to have an urgent and engaging backstory, but we didn’t want six identical stories about one issue, say, poaching. We dug deep to find animals that faced different issues so across the series we could offer a full 360 perspective on extinction in the natural world. We ended up casting six animals that each faced a different key threat…poaching to climate change; deforestation to overfishing; genetic bottle neck to war zones. Through our critically endangered ambassador animals and the quest to find and film them we could then explore deeper content about the main threats to species globally. We also needed to cast animals that the audience would connect with. We settled on two big cats; a bear; a rhino; a whale; an ape. On top of that we also wanted a mix of different landscapes – deserts, jungles, oceans, mountains. We ended up with a diverse range of habitats, species and issues – hopefully taking the audience on a white-knuckle ride to different wild worlds across the six eps.

Who helped you on the ground in the different locations?

Across the board we worked with amazing NGOs and heroic teams of scientists on the front line of conservation. Getting access to their cutting-edge research and projects took up to 2 years and required lengthy negotiations. In each country we had teams of fixers to help us get in and out safely. We were working in some of the most dangerous and remote locations on the planet – getting 40 people 1,000 miles into Gobi desert and back out safely was a huge undertaking – likewise hauling tons of camera kit miles up white water in Canadian canoes was a health and safety nightmare!

How long was the production process?

The whole production was about three and a half years. Securing access to the scientists and the animals took a long time. We then spent 18 months filming multiple expeditions in quick succession, often leapfrogging different production teams from one expedition on to the next before heading into the edit to piece it all together.

What filming techniques and equipment (picture and sound) did you employ to film the animals?

Many of these are animals that have never been filmed for TV before. They are terrifyingly tricky to capture on camera and definitely the shyest animals in the world. We couldn’t use the usual filming techniques for wildlife filming. Instead, we had to design and deploy brand-new systems. We used a network of over 350 remote camera traps – that we rigged in the wild and left to film any animal that walked in front of their sensors to build a tapestry of shots – an intimate peek into the lives of the rarest animals on Earth. It was a truly pioneering way to film wildlife and gave us a unique perspective into these creatures on the brink of extinction. Nothing like this had ever been attempted on this scale before and (to our massive relief) we managed to film all the critically endangered animals we set out to capture on camera.

Did you employ completely new techniques and technologies?

In addition to the camera traps, the teams also used a plethora of new technologies to film where no one else had tried before. Thermal drones allowed us to film gorilla troops from above in the depths of night. We also had night vision cameras capture breaching North Atlantic Right whales in the ocean, which was a world first. In the mountains of Armenia we built and pioneered brand-new night filming techniques to capture revolutionary colour footage of the incredibly elusive Caucasian Leopard – fewer than nine are thought to live in the whole country and seeing their nocturnal world come to life in full colour was mind-blowing.

We also collaborated with leading tech companies to take out prototype camera traps that beamed live footage back to our phones in the fields. So, if a gorilla troop walked past a camera, we’d get a live alert, allowing us to scramble to film them. Truly ground-breaking field work.

What challenges did the production face and how were they overcome?

Blood-sucking leeches; malaria; ticks; camel spiders; capsizing in white water; monsoons; falling trees; crocodiles; landmines; seasickness; charging elephants; heavily armed border guards…the list is endless.

This was the toughest project we have ever worked on hands-down. Every step of the way needed trouble shooting because we were constantly breaking new ground, figuring out how to do things differently. The team was incredible from start to finish. Working out how to get access to countries where few people have ever filmed; finding how to get a small army of people into and out of the most hazardous landscapes on Earth – often days from medical help; figuring out how to film the most elusive creatures on the planet – many never filmed before; working with local scientists to help push their work forward; and battling in the edit to craft the remarkable material that we had managed to painstakingly capture from around the world over four years! It’s been one hell of an adventure for us all.