Roger Horrocks - My Octopus Teacher, Cinematographer

At 36 years old Roger realized he no longer wanted to be a senior executive of a fortune 500 company so he resigned and pursued a career in wildlife filmmaking.

 

Roger Horrocks is a wildlife cinematographer with 15 years of experience filming behavioural sequences for the BBC, Netflix, Disney and National Geographic.

Roger has worked from the frozen poles to the tropical equator and is experienced in documenting both open-water and benthic-based stories and behaviours.

Roger developed his underwater field craft as a competitive spear fisherman while studying for an Honours Degree from the University of Natal in South Africa. He continued to dive while working in the digital and financial services sectors, and furthered his management training at the UCT Graduate School of Business and the London Business School. In 2007 he began working for the BBC Natural History on the Nature's Great Events series directed by Hugh Pearson, and began his apprenticeship under cameramen Didier Noirot and Doug Anderson. During this period he narrated and co-directed three documentaries with Craig and Damon Foster. The first of these "Into the Dragon's Lair", was nominated for an Emmy for best Cinematography in 2010, and the sequel, 'Touching the Dragon" was selected as one of the feature shows for National Geographic's 125th centenary year celebrations. Roger was also nominated for Best Narration at Jackson Hole . In 2011 he shot his first blue chip sequence for John Downer's "Earthflight", for producer Rob Pilley. This was followed by a long term assignment from John Downer to film bottle-nose dolphins for the "Spy in the Pod" series which aired on BBC One in 2013, and two sequences on the BBC Atlantic series for producer Ted Giffords 2010. In 2015 and 2016 he spent 110 days filming for Silverback Films on Disneynature's "Blue", for director Keith Scholey and worked as a second unit DOP on the National Geographic "Into the Okavango" feature directed by Neil Gelinas.

In 2017 Roger was appointed as the underwater DOP on the National Geographic Pristine Seas Expedition to Tristan da Cunha, led by Paul Rose, working for producer Alex Verville. For Blue Planet 2, released in October 2017, Horrocks received cinematography credits on four of the six main episodes, shooting for producers Jonathan Smith, Katheryn Jeffs and Joe Steven. For his contribution to the series has was awarded a BAFTA for Outstanding Cinematography in 2018. Between 2015 and 2018 Roger worked for producer Hugh Pearson on the Coastal Seas and High Seas episodes of the Netflix original series “Our Planet”, produced by Silverback Films. He won a nomination alongside cameraman Jamie McPherson for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program at the 2019 Prime Time Emmy Awards on Los Angeles. In 2019 Roger was one of two Underwater DOPs hired by Jonathan Smith of the BBC Natural History Unit to shoot underwater screensavers for Apple TV. He also began initial work on the oceans episode of Planet Earth 3, produced by BBC Studios. In 2020 Roger contributed two sequences to the Animal series on Netflix, produced by Plimsoll Productions., and worked on a sequence for Silverback TV for a new series to be released in 2023. In 2021 and 2022, Roger has been working exclusively on a new ocean series for Netflix, produced by Wildspace.

 

Join us on the Behind the Wild Lens Podcast as we uncover the mesmerizing secrets and captivating stories behind your beloved natural history TV shows. Immerse yourself in the thrilling journey from the lens to your screen, guided by the unsung heroes - camera wizards, insightful producers, charismatic TV hosts, brilliant composers, editing maestros, and visionary directors. Let us pull back the curtain for an exclusive insider's peek into the enchanting realm of wildlife filmmaking. Prepare to be awestruck by the magic that brings nature to life before your very eyes!

(Formerly the Master Wildlife Filmmaking Podcast)

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