Mark Linfield
Co-Founder / Chief Creative Officer
Mark co-founded Wildstar Films in 2018 after nearly 30 years of directing and producing award winning wildlife films both for TV and theatric release.
After studying Biology at Oxford University, Mark began his career with a long expedition to the Congo for the first full length documentary about lowland gorillas, which aired on the BBC. Mark then joined an independent production company, Green Umbrella, where he produced and directed many films for BBC’s The Natural World and Wildlife on One strands, including The Temple Troop; Gelada Baboons - The Battles of Braveheart; Orangutans - The High Society; and Capuchins - The Monkey Puzzle.
Mark returned to the BBC in 2000 to produce and direct two episodes for Life of Mammals, on which he travelled the world with Sir David Attenborough filming the weird and the wonderful. Mark went on to direct two episodes of the hit TV series Planet Earth, winning a Primetime EMMY for his opening show Pole to Pole. Mark followed this as Producer/Director and Series Writer for Frozen Planet.
Mark broadened into directing feature-length documentaries with the theatric movie Earth which remains one of the most successful wildlife feature films of all time. His director credits for Disneynature include Chimpanzee, Monkey Kingdom, Elephant and co-director for Penguin. His films have gained many awards including EMMYs, BAFTAs, RTS’s, TCA’s, Jackson Wild awards and Wildscreen pandas.
As a key member of Wildstar’s senior creative team, Mark worked with the teams to help deliver 5 series for National Geographic and Disney + - Queens, America the Beautiful, America’s National Parks, Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory and Animals up Close., which has just had another season commissioned. He also co-developed and directed the jet photography for America the Beautiful which won a Broadcast award for Innovative Use of Technology in Storytelling.
Mark is currently working on two major landmark series for National Geographic - Underdogs with Ryan Reynolds and Maximum Effort, and Sentient with Darren Aronofsky of Protozoa Films. Mark has recently directed and produced Tiger for Disneynature as well as co-producing an environmental companion documentary, Tigers on the Rise, both of which release on Disney+ on Earth Day 2024. He has just begun directing a new feature-length film for Disneynature.
Mark has been at the forefront of innovation in wildlife storytelling throughout his career and continues to work closely with camera and technology companies to develop new ways of filming the natural world. He is committed to help train the next generation of cinematographers, including through National Geographic’s Field Ready Program and his ongoing support for Wildstar’s Academy which he is co-funding with Vanessa.
