Aishwarya Sridhar is a National Geographic Explorer, wildlife filmmaker, award-winning photographer, presenter, and passionate conservationist. I first met Aishwarya during my time at National Geographic and have since come to admire her not only as a trailblazing talent but also as a friend.

I came across Aishwarya when we acquired her groundbreaking film “Queen of Taru” for National Geographic’s Big Cat Week. In a male-dominated field like wildlife filmmaking, it was both surprising and inspiring to learn that the film’s director was a 22-year-old woman.

If you are looking to be inspired by daring, flamboyant & exquisite wallpaper & fabrics then Divine Savages has what you are looking for. Formed in 2017 by husbands Jamie Watkins & Tom Kennedy they have in 5 years built up a great reputation & following in the interiors world & also collaborated with the Natural History Museum & Heals.

Shannon is an award winning wildlife photographer & cinematographer & passionate conservationist who I had the pleasure meeting in India a few years ago. Better known under her brand name Shannon Wild she has had a fascinating wildlife journey which we explore in my interview with her. It’s not always been smooth sailing as you will hear, but Shannon has shown plenty of Aussie grit to overcome the challenges that have been thrown her way over the years.

Beverly & Dereck Joubert are two of my wildlife heroes & have had the pleasure to get to know them & work with them over the last few years. I sat down with them recently over zoom in between their edit for an upcoming series for National Geographic, where they are busy updating & remastering some of their classic films.

I think Shaaz is one of the most creative & poetic photographers around at the moment & I am constantly in awe of the images he creates whether from the forests of Kabini or the Serengeti plains. It’s been wonderful to get to know & work him over the last few years, especially on “The Real Black Leopard” project for National Geographic.

Federico Veronesi is in my opinion one of the best wildlife photographers specializing in East Africa at the moment. If you are not aware of his work please check out his book “Light and Dust” & his most recent release “One Life” where his storytelling & photographs weave a compelling & stunning narrative.

Russell MacLaughlin is a world-renowned & in-demand wildlife cinematographer whose recent credits include “Growing Up Animal” for Disney + & “The Year Earth Changed” for Apple +. However, we first In India when he was filming “The Real Black Panther” with his wife Shannon Benson for National Geographic & we became firm friends.

I got to know Alex Braczkowski when he was pitching a film to the Nat Geo Wild team about a project he was working on for National Geographic focused on the unique behavior of a pride of tree climbing lions in QEP, Uganda & the challenges they face. It’s always great to support a first-time filmmaker & his film premiered in 2018 & continues to be aired on Nat Geo Wild & on Disney +

When I was researching doing my first trip to Alaska in 2014 to photograph Brown Bears one of the companies that I contacted was ‘Expeditions Alaska’ run by Carl Donahue. That was such as success I have now done 5 trips with Carl to photograph not only Brown Bears in Kodiak but also Polar Bears in Kaktovik which can be challenging but the results can be amazing.