Keith Scholey

Keith Scholey (born 24 June 1957 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema, and a former television executive. He is the joint series producer of the Netflix original documentary series Our Planet, the joint director and executive producer of David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, and executive producer of Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. He is the executive producer of the 2021 BBC / Discovery series A Perfect Planet, The Mating Game and The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet. He also co-directed African Cats, Bears, and Dolphin Reef with Alastair Fothergill for Disneynature,[1] and is also the executive producer of the series North America for the Discovery Channel.

Career
Keith Scholey discussing Our Planet at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Scholey graduated from Bristol University with a degree in zoology in 1978 and subsequently completed a PhD in zoology at the same university.[2] In 1983, he began working as a researcher at the BBC Natural History Unit on David Attenborough's series The Living Planet. He rose to become a producer in this BBC department, making programmes for The Natural World and Wildlife on One series as well as for Attenborough's award-winning series The Private Life of Plants. He also created and produced the original series of Big Cat Diary, which has continued for over a decade, began and series produced the Wildlife Specials and became the series editor of Wildlife on One.

In 1998, Scholey became the Head of the Natural History Unit.[3] During his four and a half-year tenure, the NHU made the memorable David Attenborough series State of the Planet and The Life of Mammals, and also The Blue Planet, Andes to Amazon and Wild Africa. The department also reinvented its live broadcasting creating The Abyss - Live and Springwatch.

In 2002, Scholey became the Controller of Specialist Factual for the BBC's Factual and Learning division.[4] With responsibility for Science, Arts, Business, History, Religion as well as Natural History departments, he oversaw programmes with a range from landmark programming including, Auschwitz, Planet Earth, Egypt, Supervolcano and The Power of Art to the classic long-running series of Horizon, Timewatch, Natural World, and arena and live events including the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

In 2006, Scholey became the Controller of Factual Production for BBC Vision, with the responsibility for all BBC Factual in-house production.[5] During this time, he oversaw the creation of The One Show, the biggest factual commission in the organisation's history. He was also the Deputy Chief Creative Officer for BBC Vision Productions, with responsibilities across all in-house TV production. In 2008, he resigned from the BBC to pursue a career as an independent film director and television producer.

Scholey is currently a director of Silverback Films.[6] In recent years, he series produced Netflix's Our Planet, is an executive producer for the BBC / Discovery Channel series A Perfect Planet and The Mating Game, and is a director of David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet. He has also directed and produced three feature films for Disneynature, African Cats (2011), Bears (2014) and Dolphin Reef (2020).(6) He was also the executive producer on the Discovery Channel series North America (2013) and Deadly Islands. He is currently the joint director of Silverback Films with Alastair Fothergill. [6]

Scholey was made a Doctor of Science (DSc) in 2001, by the University of Bristol for his contribution to the public and to biological sciences. He is a trustee of Wildscreen. Scholey is a qualified SCUBA diver and pilot.

Programme Credits

Directing and producing

Executive producer

Producer

Series Editor

References
  1. Disney website: African Cats
  2. Keith Scholey, 'Climbing and Gliding in Mammals and Reptiles and the Flapping Flight of Birds', PhD thesis, (University of Bristol: 1982).
  3. 'A natural talent', Broadcast, 9 September 1998.
  4. BBC - Press Office - Keith Scholey appointment
  5. The Facts of Life, Broadcast, 4 August 2008.
  6. "Keith Scholey".
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