MAY 2010 LION ARMY AND LAST LIONESS BOTH FINALISTS IN THE 33RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL The International Wildlife Film Festival, the first wildlife film festival in the world is one of the most important wildlife film events in the world. It is also a Community Festival for Missoula and all of Montana. Known worldwide, IWFF is a learning and networking opportunity for filmmakers, enabling conservation and film projects to flourish in a creative environment. This year Aquavision had two films nominated as finalists in the event, Last Lioness and Lion Army. Congratulations to the teams that worked on the productions.

MAY 2010 LION ARMY AND LAST LIONESS BOTH FINALISTS IN THE 33RD ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL The International Wildlife Film Festival, the first wildlife film festival in the world is one of the most important wildlife film events in the world. It is also a Community Festival for Missoula and all of Montana. Known worldwide, IWFF is a learning and networking opportunity for filmmakers, enabling conservation and film projects to flourish in a creative environment. This year Aquavision had two films nominated as finalists in the event, Last Lioness and Lion Army. Congratulations to the teams that worked on the productions.

APRIL 2010 DAVE KEET JOINS AQUAVISION AS NEW GENERAL MANAGER South African production company Aquavision has announced the appointment of 36 year long television industry veteran, Dave Keet as its new General Manager.   Dave has extensive experience in the television industry and was until recently the Managing Director of The Refinery Post Production Facilities Group - South Africa’s largest post-production house.  Over the past year he has been a senior executive at a branded entertainment production company.  Founder and CEO of Aquavision, Peter Lamberti, says Aquavision is fortunate to find someone of Dave’s experience and caliber to replace Hanke Sonnekus, who left Aquavision late last year. Peter says Dave’s experience in successfully running a large team of creative people will be of great value for Aquavision’s future.    “His knowledge of the top end post-production process will help us stay ahead of the curve in an ever evolving factual TV market. He is a great addition to the team,” says Peter.

APRIL 2010 DAVE KEET JOINS AQUAVISION AS NEW GENERAL MANAGER South African production company Aquavision has announced the appointment of 36 year long television industry veteran, Dave Keet as its new General Manager.   Dave has extensive experience in the television industry and was until recently the Managing Director of The Refinery Post Production Facilities Group - South Africa’s largest post-production house.  Over the past year he has been a senior executive at a branded entertainment production company.  Founder and CEO of Aquavision, Peter Lamberti, says Aquavision is fortunate to find someone of Dave’s experience and caliber to replace Hanke Sonnekus, who left Aquavision late last year. Peter says Dave’s experience in successfully running a large team of creative people will be of great value for Aquavision’s future.    “His knowledge of the top end post-production process will help us stay ahead of the curve in an ever evolving factual TV market. He is a great addition to the team,” says Peter.

MARCH 2010 NHNZ SPREADS WINGS TO AFRICA New Zealand based production company NHNZ has expanded its presence to Africa following the acquisition of a stake in the award winning South African production company, Aquavision. NHNZ Managing Director, Michael Stedman says joining forces with the Johannesburg based company, the biggest production house in Southern Africa, will allow both companies to grow their presence internationally. “Put together two successful production companies, whose strengths are complimentary to each other and the opportunities for high quality factual programmes will increase accordingly,” he says. Two years ago NHNZ also bought into the Singapore production company Beach House Pictures to further strengthen its production capability in Asia after opening a production office in Beijing in 2002. NHNZ is also increasingly active in Australia. Mr Stedman says buying into Aquavision will significantly increase the South African company’s presence globally. “With Aquavision’s knowledge and tremendous experience in Africa, this development will boost both companies’ ability to generate new ideas that appeal to the international market. NHNZ is part way through a strategy to bring like-minded companies around the world on board to strengthen our global filmmaking capacity and giving us access to an enormous range of footage and production opportunities,” he says. Mr Stedman says Aquavision and NHNZ share an innovative approach to filmmaking and both companies are known as early adopters of new technologies. Aquavision Chief Executive Officer and founder Peter Lamberti is equally excited about the future of the relationship. "We have enjoyed working closely with NHNZ in the past and have an immense respect for their work so today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in the growth of our relationship. Joining forces with NHNZ gives us access to decades of filmmaking expertise and will raise our profile with their network of some of the world’s top broadcasters and networks,” he says. Despite the change in ownership, it will be business as usually for the 60-strong team of Aquavision who will continue to operate from the company’s base in Johannesburg. Aquavision was founded 20 years ago by Peter Lamberti and since then has developed into one of the world’s best producers of programmes exploring some of Africa’s most beautiful and remote locations. Internationally recognized for filming extraordinary animal behaviour both underwater and in the wild African bush, Aquavision enjoys privileged access to filmmaking hot spots and has a reputation for taking on interesting, challenging and often dangerous projects. NHNZ is one of the world’s largest producers of factual television creating over 60 hours of innovative programming for audiences around the globe. Highly regarded for their work in the natural world, NHNZ sets new standards with documentaries from the world of science, history, adventure and people. The company’s storytelling prowess spans three decades and has been recognized with more than 250 international awards including Emmy awards and a prestigious Wildscreen Panda. In addition to its base in Dunedin, New Zealand, NHNZ has offices in Beijing and Washington DC, and has a major stake in Singapore production company Beach House Pictures.

MARCH 2010 NHNZ SPREADS WINGS TO AFRICA New Zealand based production company NHNZ has expanded its presence to Africa following the acquisition of a stake in the award winning South African production company, Aquavision. NHNZ Managing Director, Michael Stedman says joining forces with the Johannesburg based company, the biggest production house in Southern Africa, will allow both companies to grow their presence internationally. “Put together two successful production companies, whose strengths are complimentary to each other and the opportunities for high quality factual programmes will increase accordingly,” he says. Two years ago NHNZ also bought into the Singapore production company Beach House Pictures to further strengthen its production capability in Asia after opening a production office in Beijing in 2002. NHNZ is also increasingly active in Australia. Mr Stedman says buying into Aquavision will significantly increase the South African company’s presence globally. “With Aquavision’s knowledge and tremendous experience in Africa, this development will boost both companies’ ability to generate new ideas that appeal to the international market. NHNZ is part way through a strategy to bring like-minded companies around the world on board to strengthen our global filmmaking capacity and giving us access to an enormous range of footage and production opportunities,” he says. Mr Stedman says Aquavision and NHNZ share an innovative approach to filmmaking and both companies are known as early adopters of new technologies. Aquavision Chief Executive Officer and founder Peter Lamberti is equally excited about the future of the relationship. "We have enjoyed working closely with NHNZ in the past and have an immense respect for their work so today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in the growth of our relationship. Joining forces with NHNZ gives us access to decades of filmmaking expertise and will raise our profile with their network of some of the world’s top broadcasters and networks,” he says. Despite the change in ownership, it will be business as usually for the 60-strong team of Aquavision who will continue to operate from the company’s base in Johannesburg. Aquavision was founded 20 years ago by Peter Lamberti and since then has developed into one of the world’s best producers of programmes exploring some of Africa’s most beautiful and remote locations. Internationally recognized for filming extraordinary animal behaviour both underwater and in the wild African bush, Aquavision enjoys privileged access to filmmaking hot spots and has a reputation for taking on interesting, challenging and often dangerous projects. NHNZ is one of the world’s largest producers of factual television creating over 60 hours of innovative programming for audiences around the globe. Highly regarded for their work in the natural world, NHNZ sets new standards with documentaries from the world of science, history, adventure and people. The company’s storytelling prowess spans three decades and has been recognized with more than 250 international awards including Emmy awards and a prestigious Wildscreen Panda. In addition to its base in Dunedin, New Zealand, NHNZ has offices in Beijing and Washington DC, and has a major stake in Singapore production company Beach House Pictures.

MARCH 2010 MOTHER WARTHOG PREMIERS ON NAT GEO WILD WITH RECORD BREAKING VIEWERSHIP.  READ INTERVIEW WITH PRODUCER. On Saturday 13 March 2010 Aquavision's film Mother Warthog premiered on Nat Geo Wild. The show had a three hundred percent higher than average viewership making it the top show of the evening. Well done to the entire team who worked on the film! The producer of the film, Billi Jean Parker was interviewed by the e-newsletter of National Geographic International. Read the interview below or check it out on http://www.natgeotv-int.com/pages/newsletter/012010/featured/motherwathog BEHIND THE SCENES WITH PRODUCER BILLI-JEAN PARKER 1. Why did you choose to make a film focusing on warthogs? Over the years of filming in Africa, Peter Lamberti and the other cameramen at Aquavision TV Productions would come back with amazing stories about these feisty animals; so small, yet prepared to go up against a cheetah, lion or leopard. Warthogs were always filmed as part of the African landscape, yet had never featured in their own right. We weren’t aware of any other films that had been made on warthogs so it was also the right time for the film. 2. What were the major challenges in making this film? Most people think of warthogs as a comical, ugly, prey species so our first challenge was to turn the ‘clown’ into a believable ‘hero’. Then, secondly, we wanted to tell the story of a real character so we tried hard to stay away from just going from predation scene to predation scene. 3. What is your favourite part of the programme? My favourite part was watching Baby grow up. We can all remember how awful it was to HAVE to eat vegetables for supper when we were little. In the same way you can feel Baby’s discomfort when he has to start eating grass instead of delicious milk! 4. Were there any particularly memorable moments when you were out on location? Warthogs routinely swap burrows so it was always a challenge to find Half-Tusk and her family when the camera crew returned to Botswana after a break. One of the cameramen, Riaan Venter, had to be very careful on the clearing one day when a grumpy warthog boar started chasing everything in his path. Riaan managed to film a great sequence of the boar chasing Half-Tusk and her family and then had to quickly clearout of the area himself to keep the boar happy! 5. What are you most proud of with regard to this film? I am proud that we were able to tell the story of an underdog. It was wonderful to spend time with our character, Half-Tusk, and watch her interact with her family and go about her daily life. In the edit suit it meant that we could watch her reactions and her challenges to inform the way we told her story. I think that’s why it feels so authentic.

MARCH 2010 MOTHER WARTHOG PREMIERS ON NAT GEO WILD WITH RECORD BREAKING VIEWERSHIP.  READ INTERVIEW WITH PRODUCER. On Saturday 13 March 2010 Aquavision's film Mother Warthog premiered on Nat Geo Wild. The show had a three hundred percent higher than average viewership making it the top show of the evening. Well done to the entire team who worked on the film! The producer of the film, Billi Jean Parker was interviewed by the e-newsletter of National Geographic International. Read the interview below or check it out on http://www.natgeotv-int.com/pages/newsletter/012010/featured/motherwathog BEHIND THE SCENES WITH PRODUCER BILLI-JEAN PARKER 1. Why did you choose to make a film focusing on warthogs? Over the years of filming in Africa, Peter Lamberti and the other cameramen at Aquavision TV Productions would come back with amazing stories about these feisty animals; so small, yet prepared to go up against a cheetah, lion or leopard. Warthogs were always filmed as part of the African landscape, yet had never featured in their own right. We weren’t aware of any other films that had been made on warthogs so it was also the right time for the film. 2. What were the major challenges in making this film? Most people think of warthogs as a comical, ugly, prey species so our first challenge was to turn the ‘clown’ into a believable ‘hero’. Then, secondly, we wanted to tell the story of a real character so we tried hard to stay away from just going from predation scene to predation scene. 3. What is your favourite part of the programme? My favourite part was watching Baby grow up. We can all remember how awful it was to HAVE to eat vegetables for supper when we were little. In the same way you can feel Baby’s discomfort when he has to start eating grass instead of delicious milk! 4. Were there any particularly memorable moments when you were out on location? Warthogs routinely swap burrows so it was always a challenge to find Half-Tusk and her family when the camera crew returned to Botswana after a break. One of the cameramen, Riaan Venter, had to be very careful on the clearing one day when a grumpy warthog boar started chasing everything in his path. Riaan managed to film a great sequence of the boar chasing Half-Tusk and her family and then had to quickly clearout of the area himself to keep the boar happy! 5. What are you most proud of with regard to this film? I am proud that we were able to tell the story of an underdog. It was wonderful to spend time with our character, Half-Tusk, and watch her interact with her family and go about her daily life. In the edit suit it meant that we could watch her reactions and her challenges to inform the way we told her story. I think that’s why it feels so authentic.

FEBRUARY 2010 TORNADO AND THE KALAHARI HORSE WHISPERER TO BE SCREENED AT BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL AND IS NOMINATED FOR BEST DRAMATIC FEATURE Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer has once again been nominated for an award. This time at the prestigious Byron Bay International Film Festival for Best Dramatic Feature. The film will also been screened at the festival. Originally the Byron Bay Film Festival, which began in 2006, focused solely on Australian films and the local film makers of the northern NSW region of Australia. The festival metamophosed into an international festival in its second year.

FEBRUARY 2010 TORNADO AND THE KALAHARI HORSE WHISPERER TO BE SCREENED AT BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL AND IS NOMINATED FOR BEST DRAMATIC FEATURE Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer has once again been nominated for an award. This time at the prestigious Byron Bay International Film Festival for Best Dramatic Feature. The film will also been screened at the festival. Originally the Byron Bay Film Festival, which began in 2006, focused solely on Australian films and the local film makers of the northern NSW region of Australia. The festival metamophosed into an international festival in its second year.

FEBRUARY 2010   GOLDEN HORN 2010 SAFTA AWARDS   Aquavision is proud to announce that their film Dolphin Army has scooped four awards at the SAFTA Awards this year, including the prestigious Golden Horn Best TV Wildlife Programme. The other awards the team walked away with at the ceremony were Best Editor in a TV Wildlife Programme, Best Cinematographer in a TV Wildlife Programme and Best Director in a TV Wildlife Programme. Other films nominated included Bonecrusher Queens and Lion Army, both of which were produced by Aquavision as well. We are immensely proud of our team as no other production company had a film nominated in the TV Wildlife Programme category.   In the Golden Horn Feature Film Nominations 2010, our first feature length film, Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer, hadalso been nominated for Best Cinematographer, Best Editor in Feature Film, Best Production Designer, Best Music Composition, and Best Sound Designer.

FEBRUARY 2010   GOLDEN HORN 2010 SAFTA AWARDS   Aquavision is proud to announce that their film Dolphin Army has scooped four awards at the SAFTA Awards this year, including the prestigious Golden Horn Best TV Wildlife Programme. The other awards the team walked away with at the ceremony were Best Editor in a TV Wildlife Programme, Best Cinematographer in a TV Wildlife Programme and Best Director in a TV Wildlife Programme. Other films nominated included Bonecrusher Queens and Lion Army, both of which were produced by Aquavision as well. We are immensely proud of our team as no other production company had a film nominated in the TV Wildlife Programme category.   In the Golden Horn Feature Film Nominations 2010, our first feature length film, Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer, hadalso been nominated for Best Cinematographer, Best Editor in Feature Film, Best Production Designer, Best Music Composition, and Best Sound Designer.

DECEMBER 2009 TORNADO AND THE KALAHARI HORSE WHISPERER GETS FISTFUL OF AWARDS AT THE MONACO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  - THE ANGEL AWARDS. Within the space of one month ‘Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ (Aquavision TV Productions in association with Everland Productions) has been nominated for and garnered a fist full of awards both locally (see SAFTA Golden Horn Press Release)  and internationally. Since the creation of 'THE ANGEL FILM AWARDS' - Monaco International Film Festival Awards in 2003, the Festival has received immense media attention throughout the world, creating a glamorous, prestigious and important International Film Festival for new art form in terms of non-violent, family quality entertainment. ‘Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ swept the floor at the art house film festival garnering six awards in total; Best Script, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Male Actor, Best Music and the Angel Humanitarian Award. The Angel Film Awards is well-established as an Independent Art House Cinema Event, where numerous winners have gained major global distribution deals. The festival is highly respected within the entertainment industry. It is the only Awards Festival in the world that strives for quality entertainment focusing on non-violent film, celebrating films that impart love, peace, and oneness in their creative spirit for humankind. The AFA jury of international industry professionals has a keen sense of altruism and is made up of directors, producers, cinematographers, screenplay writers, film journalists, actors, professors of film and the AFA founders who, between them, chose the winners from films submitted from the four corners of the globe. Both screening and the award ceremony took place at the Princess Grace Theatre, Monaco. The event was attended by a impressive line-up of seasoned industry professionals and distinguished guests. 'Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ is a true life film of patience, endurance and passion. Directed by Regardt van den Bergh, the picture tells the story of two damaged souls: Pierre, a depressed and damaged young man and Tornado, an emotionally tormented horse. Sensing Tornado’s potential, Pierre travels to Noenieput, in the Groen Kalahari, to find Barrie Burger, a horse whisperer. With Barrie’s advice, Pierre and Tornado embark on a journey of healing and self discovery, one that will change their lives forever. “This film is about broken people,” says director Regard van den Bergh. “I believe we are all broken and we could all do with some healing.”

DECEMBER 2009 TORNADO AND THE KALAHARI HORSE WHISPERER GETS FISTFUL OF AWARDS AT THE MONACO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL  - THE ANGEL AWARDS. Within the space of one month ‘Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ (Aquavision TV Productions in association with Everland Productions) has been nominated for and garnered a fist full of awards both locally (see SAFTA Golden Horn Press Release)  and internationally. Since the creation of 'THE ANGEL FILM AWARDS' - Monaco International Film Festival Awards in 2003, the Festival has received immense media attention throughout the world, creating a glamorous, prestigious and important International Film Festival for new art form in terms of non-violent, family quality entertainment. ‘Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ swept the floor at the art house film festival garnering six awards in total; Best Script, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Male Actor, Best Music and the Angel Humanitarian Award. The Angel Film Awards is well-established as an Independent Art House Cinema Event, where numerous winners have gained major global distribution deals. The festival is highly respected within the entertainment industry. It is the only Awards Festival in the world that strives for quality entertainment focusing on non-violent film, celebrating films that impart love, peace, and oneness in their creative spirit for humankind. The AFA jury of international industry professionals has a keen sense of altruism and is made up of directors, producers, cinematographers, screenplay writers, film journalists, actors, professors of film and the AFA founders who, between them, chose the winners from films submitted from the four corners of the globe. Both screening and the award ceremony took place at the Princess Grace Theatre, Monaco. The event was attended by a impressive line-up of seasoned industry professionals and distinguished guests. 'Tornado and the Kalahari Horse Whisperer’ is a true life film of patience, endurance and passion. Directed by Regardt van den Bergh, the picture tells the story of two damaged souls: Pierre, a depressed and damaged young man and Tornado, an emotionally tormented horse. Sensing Tornado’s potential, Pierre travels to Noenieput, in the Groen Kalahari, to find Barrie Burger, a horse whisperer. With Barrie’s advice, Pierre and Tornado embark on a journey of healing and self discovery, one that will change their lives forever. “This film is about broken people,” says director Regard van den Bergh. “I believe we are all broken and we could all do with some healing.”

_________________________________________________________________________________   SEPTEMBER 2009   JACKSON HOLE FILM FESTIVAL 2009 – BILLI JEAN PARKER, SENIOR PRODUCER & WRITER     What a gorgeous location for a Wildlife Film Festival! All meetings took place in the Jackson Lake Lodge lounge which has an enormous window framing a spectacular view of the Teton Mountain Range – a consistent visual reminder to us all that our mission as wildlife filmmakers must be to bring the beauty of nature to everyone.   It was a successful year for Aquavision. Everyone was excited to meet and talk to Peter Lamberti. Aquavision’s reputation is solid as a reliable production company delivering quality programming. All the broadcasters we met (NGC, Discovery, PBS etc.) encouraged us to pitch programmes and gave very clear guidelines for their specific mandates, as well as a better idea of what their audiences are looking for. This was a real market with genuine buyers ready to pay for the next good story.   The workshops and seminars did not disappoint. They were not designed as lectures but rather as spaces for diverse players to share their experiences with the audience.    A highlight for me was the Keynote Event presented each evening.    These keynote discussions highlighted the plight of our natural world and asked all filmmakers to do their part in conserving the natural resources that provide our livelihood.   Finding a balance between the business demands of documentary filmmaking and the natural world remains our challenge.    ________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________   SEPTEMBER 2009   JACKSON HOLE FILM FESTIVAL 2009 – BILLI JEAN PARKER, SENIOR PRODUCER & WRITER     What a gorgeous location for a Wildlife Film Festival! All meetings took place in the Jackson Lake Lodge lounge which has an enormous window framing a spectacular view of the Teton Mountain Range – a consistent visual reminder to us all that our mission as wildlife filmmakers must be to bring the beauty of nature to everyone.   It was a successful year for Aquavision. Everyone was excited to meet and talk to Peter Lamberti. Aquavision’s reputation is solid as a reliable production company delivering quality programming. All the broadcasters we met (NGC, Discovery, PBS etc.) encouraged us to pitch programmes and gave very clear guidelines for their specific mandates, as well as a better idea of what their audiences are looking for. This was a real market with genuine buyers ready to pay for the next good story.   The workshops and seminars did not disappoint. They were not designed as lectures but rather as spaces for diverse players to share their experiences with the audience.    A highlight for me was the Keynote Event presented each evening.    These keynote discussions highlighted the plight of our natural world and asked all filmmakers to do their part in conserving the natural resources that provide our livelihood.   Finding a balance between the business demands of documentary filmmaking and the natural world remains our challenge.    ________________________________________________________________________________

AUGUST 2009   LION ARMY – NO. 1 VIEWERS FAVOURITE ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC   LION ARMY is the gripping story of a twenty eight-strong mega pride of lions living in South Africa and has achieved the number one spot as Viewers’ Favourite on National Geographic! Once again, Aquavision has proven that in the wildlife documentary genre of filmmaking, they are capable of the highest accolades – not only from their peers, but also from the viewing public. Filmed in Kruger National Park with breathtaking cinematography, Lion Army recounts the intensity of this pride’s epic struggles. With more than three times the average number of lionesses in the pride, this Lion Army should be a formidable force that dominates Kruger. However, listless, adolescent male lions that have yet to learn hunting techniques, but are adept at claiming the lion’s share of a kill threatens the pride’s survival. After two leading lionesses and their adult daughters abandon the pride to fend for themselves, matriarch Whitehead must restore order to the pride and teach the juvenile males how to earn their keep.

AUGUST 2009   LION ARMY – NO. 1 VIEWERS FAVOURITE ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC   LION ARMY is the gripping story of a twenty eight-strong mega pride of lions living in South Africa and has achieved the number one spot as Viewers’ Favourite on National Geographic! Once again, Aquavision has proven that in the wildlife documentary genre of filmmaking, they are capable of the highest accolades – not only from their peers, but also from the viewing public. Filmed in Kruger National Park with breathtaking cinematography, Lion Army recounts the intensity of this pride’s epic struggles. With more than three times the average number of lionesses in the pride, this Lion Army should be a formidable force that dominates Kruger. However, listless, adolescent male lions that have yet to learn hunting techniques, but are adept at claiming the lion’s share of a kill threatens the pride’s survival. After two leading lionesses and their adult daughters abandon the pride to fend for themselves, matriarch Whitehead must restore order to the pride and teach the juvenile males how to earn their keep.