David Hughes
A highly respected and experienced wildlife filmmaker, David Hughes started his career as a biologist. Keen to get involved in natural history photography, he submitted his amateur footage of Ridley's turtles during arribada to the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU). Immediately impressed, Chris Parsons promptly hired him and sent him back to Costa Rica to continue his filming. Early in 1975, The Great Turtle Mysteries aired on The World About Us strand, marking the start of David's long and successful career in the wildlife filmmaking industry.
Keen to nurture David's talent, but unable to fund his films through the NHU, Chris Parsons recommended David to Michael Rosenberg, founder of the award-winning production company, Partridge Films. Michael saw David's potential and in the June of 1975, his first film with Partridge, Okavango was released. This was quickly followed with the 1976 classic, Namib… Strange Creatures of the Skeleton Coast.
Over time, David developed a reputation for high-quality cinematography, contributing to a number of highly acclaimed films. His National Geographic production, Etosha – Place of Dry Water (1980), filmed together with his wife Carol, won the first ever Golden Panda at Wildscreen 1982.
Working as a team the pair released their feature length film Missing Link in 1988, employing actors and a powerful music score to examine the last of the ape-man species in Africa. The 1990s brought more success with the release of numerous African based wildlife films including, The Little Creatures of Africa's Hidden World (1995) and Last Feast of the Crocodiles (1996).
More recently the award-winning Snake Killers: The Honey Badgers of the Kalahari (2002) and Big Cat Predators: Cheetah Death Race (2005) have been released.
David passed away in Cape Town in March 2009 at the age of 71
The World About Us (1967 - 1987): Okavango (1975)
