Oh Jackson Wild… you took my hand and led me through a labyrinth of feelings and experiences. You showed me breathtaking landscapes and introduced me to some truly memorable people. Thank you. And thanks to all the amazing volunteers who made this week work seamlessly!

Super stoked to have been picked to be a preliminary judge for this year’s Jackson Wild festival, the other Oscars of Natural History documentary film-making (the other being Bristol’s very own Wildscreen). I’ve had to watch 25 hours of documentaries in the People and Nature Long form category and I can honestly say that there are some truly outstanding films coming your way from such diverse production companies as Terra Mater, Plimsoll, National Geographic, Smithsonian, amongst many others. It’s been an incredible experience to watch these films, and two themes really stood out as running through them all in one way or another; conservation of our planet and it’s ecosystems, and how interconnected and intertwined ecosystems are (termites being the backbone of the Okavango Delta, forests affecting the oyster population downstream in the bays of Northeast Japan…). Stay tuned!

I’m back in the States for some meetings and stuff, and have been offered the chance to work with Emma Rigney again on an awesome looking Nat Geo special called “The Whale that ate Jaws”. It was the highest rated show for Nat Geo’s ‘Shark Week’ and it’s getting a CSI-type revamp, and I’m super stoked to be involved in re-orchestrating the music. Will let y’all know transmission dates!

Happy New Year to all of you! To kick the year off I’ve uploaded a couple of new clips (a snippet from Nat Geo’s “Clash of Tigers” and a clip for a Hewlett Packard ad I did in October) and a couple of old clips (short animation by Sasha Zikvovic and a bit of Wildlife on One’s Cane Toads episode). Hope you enjoy them! I’ve been working on getting my music library online recently for Off The Fence as they want to use it for this 5-part co-pro with France 5. Can’t talk too much about it but it’s a real eye-opener. Will give more details when I can.

So I’m sweating, in Providence, Rhode Island.. I’m there for my bro’s 40th birthday (which was amazing by the way, thanks, bro!) but only have a couple of days left and it is HOT. So muggy, too, so I’m trying to find a way to cool down, so I sit down next to the air-con in the place I’m staying at. Anyway, I get this email out of the blue from this lovely lady I collaborated with AEONS ago, when she was still at the BBC NHU in Bristol. She’s this great director from Australia called Emma Rigney, who has been living in DC for years and working for Nat Geo; we worked on a Wildlife on One together (Citizen Cane Toad) and a great series called Great British Eccentrics which was really fun. She’s working on this one hour show about Tigers, a really REALLY cool story, with a total twist to it.. several, in fact. And she’d like me to write the score. AWESOME! So that’s happening right now, but all the music has to be done by the end of the month (and we’re looking at 38 minutes of music…). Good luck, yo!

The lovely folk at BBC Publishing invited me to join them at the 63rd edition of the Ivor Novello Awards in the Big Smoke (AKA London). I bumped into some old faces and made some new acquaintances, as well as hanging out with some friends and quaffing much wine. What an amazing event to have been invited to! The speeches were incredibly touching, particularly Billy Bragg’s and Lionel Ritchie’s, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house for Billy Ocean’s speech who was recognised for the International Achievement Award. All in all a fantastic day out, thanks again BBC for having invited me, you guys rock.