NHU's Mackay-Hope joins Bristol's Wildstar

Bristol-based natural history producer Wildstar Films has hired Doug Mackay-Hope as SVP Development and Production.

The new hire follows the recent appointments of Juli Porter as COO and Staff Executive Producer Anwar Mamon, as the company “positions itself for further growth following multiple greenlights from global streamers and broadcasters.”

Doug Mackay-Hope was previously Head of Development for the BBC Natural History Unit, where during eight years he oversaw series including Big Blue Live, Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur and Endangered for Discovery, alongside Blue Planet II and Seven Worlds. Before joining the BBC, Mackay-Hope worked for indies including Icon Films and Tigress, creating the multi-award-winning Deadly 60 and helping shape River Monsters with Jeremy Wade for Discovery.

Juli Porter joined Wildstar from her previous position as COO of Whisper, where over the course of 10 years she grew the company from start-up into an award-winning group of six companies producing award winning sport, entertainment and documentary output for platforms and broadcasters worldwide. Anwar Mamon joined Wildstar from the BBC Natural History Unit, where his credits included Life at the Waterhole(BBC and PBS), Grizzly Bear Cubs & Me (BBC), and Primal Survivor (National Geographic).

Wildstar’s new six-part series America the Beautiful for National Geographic has just launched on Disney+, and the company is currently in production on a feature-length film for Disney Studios and multiple premium wildlife series for Disney+ and National Geographic Channel, including Sentient, in partnership with Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, The Epic Adventures of Bertie Gregory, and further series in partnership with high-profile Hollywood talent.

Vanessa Berlowitz and Mark Linfield, co-Founders of Wildstar Films said: “Wildstar has enjoyed a period of rapid growth over the past year. We’ve expanded our business with clients across streamers and broadcasters and we are now in production on a wide range of exciting series with high profile talent attached. Doug, Juli and Anwar joining our leadership team will help us build on this success and continue to broaden Wildstar’s slate and clients.”

Doug Mackay-Hope added: “I’m super excited to be joining the creative powerhouse that is Mark, Vanessa and team Wildstar – they have already come so far so quickly and it’s only just the beginning. And as a person that likes to push boundaries and parameters – Wildstar is definitely the right place to be able to do that.”