John Downer

Directing

John Downer

Known for

Directing

Credits

20 titles

A passionate zoologist, John has been making nature documentaries for the BBC for over 30 years. He made his name by abandoning the traditional style of nature documentaries and pioneering a highly inventive subjective approach using new technology and dramatic story-telling techniques His innovative approach to filmmaking has brought him numerous international awards for series such as Supersense, Weird Nature, Earthflight and Penguins – Spy in the Huddle. Never afraid to experiment, his first music video, for Peter Gabriel, even won a Grammy

Known for

Pride poster
6.1

The story of Suki, a lioness cub, who rebels against her mother and her Pride to mate with an unsuitable lion from the other side of the river.

Pride

2004

Spy in the Snow poster
6.5

The franchise returns with a brand new wintertime entry about animals that live in the coldest places in the world.

Spy in the Snow

2018

Earthflight poster
6.7

Nature documentary that takes a breathtaking flight on the wings of birds across six continents and experiences some of the world's greatest natural spectacles from a bird's-eye view.

Earthflight

2013

Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale poster
7.3

A chronicle of the birth and development of one penguin chick, born late and smaller than any of its fellow toddlers.

Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale

2015

Wings 3D poster
10.0

This feature-length RealD™ 3D experience was filmed with revolutionary aerial devices and techniques to fly right alongside birds. This breathtaking journey will take viewers across the world’s most iconic landscapes to the heart of the greatest animal spectacles on Earth: snow geese dash through Monument Valley and New York City, vultures ascend miles above the earth then dive down to huge wildebeest herds below, scarlet macaws race at breakneck speed through the rainforest. Using unique, state-of-the-art 3D cameras in barely accessible and highly dangerous places, the audience has never before been so close to the drama and beauty of nature until now.

Wings 3D

2014

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice poster
7.8

Shot mainly using spy cameras, this film gets closer than ever before to the world's greatest land predator. As the film captures its intimate portrait of polar bears' lives, it reveals how their intelligence and curiosity help them cope in a world of shrinking ice.

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice

2011

Behind the camera

Pride poster
6.1

The story of Suki, a lioness cub, who rebels against her mother and her Pride to mate with an unsuitable lion from the other side of the river.

Pride

2004

Pride poster
6.1

The story of Suki, a lioness cub, who rebels against her mother and her Pride to mate with an unsuitable lion from the other side of the river.

Pride

2004

Spy in the Snow poster
6.5

The franchise returns with a brand new wintertime entry about animals that live in the coldest places in the world.

Spy in the Snow

2018

Spy in the Snow poster
6.5

The franchise returns with a brand new wintertime entry about animals that live in the coldest places in the world.

Spy in the Snow

2018

Earthflight poster
6.7

Nature documentary that takes a breathtaking flight on the wings of birds across six continents and experiences some of the world's greatest natural spectacles from a bird's-eye view.

Earthflight

2013

Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale poster
7.3

A chronicle of the birth and development of one penguin chick, born late and smaller than any of its fellow toddlers.

Snow Chick - A Penguin's Tale

2015

Wings 3D poster
10.0

This feature-length RealD™ 3D experience was filmed with revolutionary aerial devices and techniques to fly right alongside birds. This breathtaking journey will take viewers across the world’s most iconic landscapes to the heart of the greatest animal spectacles on Earth: snow geese dash through Monument Valley and New York City, vultures ascend miles above the earth then dive down to huge wildebeest herds below, scarlet macaws race at breakneck speed through the rainforest. Using unique, state-of-the-art 3D cameras in barely accessible and highly dangerous places, the audience has never before been so close to the drama and beauty of nature until now.

Wings 3D

2014

Wings 3D poster
10.0

This feature-length RealD™ 3D experience was filmed with revolutionary aerial devices and techniques to fly right alongside birds. This breathtaking journey will take viewers across the world’s most iconic landscapes to the heart of the greatest animal spectacles on Earth: snow geese dash through Monument Valley and New York City, vultures ascend miles above the earth then dive down to huge wildebeest herds below, scarlet macaws race at breakneck speed through the rainforest. Using unique, state-of-the-art 3D cameras in barely accessible and highly dangerous places, the audience has never before been so close to the drama and beauty of nature until now.

Wings 3D

2014

Wings 3D poster
10.0

This feature-length RealD™ 3D experience was filmed with revolutionary aerial devices and techniques to fly right alongside birds. This breathtaking journey will take viewers across the world’s most iconic landscapes to the heart of the greatest animal spectacles on Earth: snow geese dash through Monument Valley and New York City, vultures ascend miles above the earth then dive down to huge wildebeest herds below, scarlet macaws race at breakneck speed through the rainforest. Using unique, state-of-the-art 3D cameras in barely accessible and highly dangerous places, the audience has never before been so close to the drama and beauty of nature until now.

Wings 3D

2014

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice poster
7.8

Shot mainly using spy cameras, this film gets closer than ever before to the world's greatest land predator. As the film captures its intimate portrait of polar bears' lives, it reveals how their intelligence and curiosity help them cope in a world of shrinking ice.

Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice

2011

The Gathering Swarms poster
6.5

A look at some of the planet's great gatherings, creatures that come together in inconceivable numbers - sometimes in millions, billions, and even trillions. Included are bats and bees, locust and ants, monarch butterflies in Mexico, 17-year cicada hatches, grunion in the Sea of Cortez and carp in the Mississippi River, sardine runs off the coast of South Africa, super flocks of parakeets in the Australian Outback, mayflies on the 4th of July, and even penguins and wildebeest. Some gather to breed or to migrate, some for protection, some simply to keep warm in the cold. But in the process, a kind of super-organism is created in which individual intelligence is superseded by a collective consciousness that shares information and moves with a single purpose for the benefit of all. Check out swarm intelligence, essentially a living embodiment of social media in the natural world.

The Gathering Swarms

2014

Winged Planet poster
9.0

More than three years in the making, Earthflight uses state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated camera techniques to bring the world to us as seen by birds. Prepare to embark on an amazing voyage, as they migrate; crossing continents; interacting with wildlife phenomena and other natural wonders from their uniquely privileged position.

Winged Planet

2012

Trek - Spy on the Wildebeest poster
7.0

Each year over 1.2 million wildebeest travel across the vast Serengeti plains and Kenya's Masai Mara on a 1,800 kilometer circular journey, relentlessly followed by every big African predator. Revolutionary spy cams - airborne, swimming or disguised as rocks, skulls or dung - reveal the Great Wildebeest Migration from entirely new perspectives. This 2-part series focuses on the growing-up of a calf as he takes his first steps, faces his first deadly perils and tries to cross crocodile-infested rivers. It combines natural humor with exciting drama and gripping music.

Trek - Spy on the Wildebeest

2007

Bears: Spy in the Woods poster
8.3

Attenborough's team travels the globe for up-close looks at polar bears, grizzlies, pandas and other fascinating bear species.

Bears: Spy in the Woods

2004

Supersense poster
NR

Smell your way across an ocean as a salmon does. See, through the multi-aspected eye of a fly, what a human hand looks like when it is about to strike. Amazing effects reveal the secrets of animal perception.

Supersense

1988

Caméras-espions au pays du froid poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Caméras-espions au pays du froid

2018

No artwork available
NR

Serengeti River Crossing is a stunningly immersive experience that takes the viewer to the heart of Africa to witness an epic natural drama from a new perspective.

Serengeti River Crossing

2021

The Galactic Garden poster
8.0

A pair of space travellers arrive on Earth to study the planet's lifeforms, landing in an English garden. However, on Earth they are about three quarters of an inch tall and therefore find themselves encountering its natural and giant indigenous life, such as worms, spiders, goldfish and a tortoise. A drama documentary on natural history with a science fiction twist.

The Galactic Garden

1985

The Galactic Garden poster
8.0

A pair of space travellers arrive on Earth to study the planet's lifeforms, landing in an English garden. However, on Earth they are about three quarters of an inch tall and therefore find themselves encountering its natural and giant indigenous life, such as worms, spiders, goldfish and a tortoise. A drama documentary on natural history with a science fiction twist.

The Galactic Garden

1985

The Galactic Garden poster
8.0

A pair of space travellers arrive on Earth to study the planet's lifeforms, landing in an English garden. However, on Earth they are about three quarters of an inch tall and therefore find themselves encountering its natural and giant indigenous life, such as worms, spiders, goldfish and a tortoise. A drama documentary on natural history with a science fiction twist.

The Galactic Garden

1985