Chris Palmer

Chris Palmer (born on 25 August 1947) is a Hong Kong-born English environmental and wildlife film producer and director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University. He was executive producer for the Oscar nominated film Dolphins. He is author of Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom , Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker: The Challenges of Staying Honest in an Industry Where Ratings Are King , and Now What Grad: Your Path to Success After College .

Early life Born in Hong Kong, Palmer grew up in England, served as an officer in the Royal Navy for seven years, and immigrated to the United States in 1972. He holds a B.S. with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from University College London and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University where he was a Kennedy Scholar and received a Harkness Fellowship.

Career After his immigration to the United States in 1972, he worked as chief energy advisor to Senator Charles H. Percy. He then served as a political appointee in the Environmental Protection Agency under President Jimmy Carter. In 1983, he founded National Audubon Society Productions, where he served as president and CEO for 11 years. In 1994, he founded the nonprofit National Wildlife Productions (part of the National Wildlife Federation, the largest conservation organization in the United States) which he managed as president and CEO for 10 years, directing NWF's launch into broadcast, cable, IMAX, and other media markets. He is a professor in the American University School of Communication. He publishes articles regularly (including a bimonthly column for Realscreen Magazine) and currently serves on the boards of fourteen non-profits.

Film and television production Since the early 1980s, Palmer has been actively involved in film and television production, specializing in environmental and wildlife filmmaking. His films have been broadcast on the Disney Channel, TBS, PBS, Animal Planet, and other channels. Palmer has executive produced several IMAX films with MacGillivray Freeman Films, including Coral Reef Adventure and Dolphins. Dolphins was nominated for the 2000 Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary. His other IMAX film include Bears, Wolves, and Whales, "To The Arctic 3D", and "Journey to the South Pacific 3D". He Also Worked on RSPCA's My Little Puppy PSA. In 2004, Palmer was named president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation, which produces and funds IMAX films and companion educational outreach materials and programs.

Teaching In August 2004, Palmer joined the full-time faculty of American University as Distinguished Film Producer in Residence. At American, he founded the Center for Environmental Filmmaking. He continues to serve as director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking while also teaching classes in the School of Communication.

Palmer is a frequent speaker at conferences and film festivals and gives workshops on such subjects as effective networking and giving effective presentations. In 2010, he was a featured speaker at the Environmental Film Festival in Washington, DC as well as at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He has been interviewed on The Today Show and The Fox News Channel and in May, 2010, appeared on the Diane Rehm Show as a guest panelist. His book, Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom was published in 2010 by Sierra Club Books and has received critical acclaim for being "a sharp and searching assessment of the contemporary wildlife media universe from someone who loves the field and wants to see it live up to its promise." On 1 March 2012. In the book Palmer said, "You have to send your kids to college, you want to retire with some money. You cannot go back with dull footage. When you're under that pressure, and the weather is closing in, ethics is the last thing in your mind." His book was recently made into a public television documentary entitled "Shooting in the Wild", and was narrated by Alexandra Cousteau. Palmer was a guest panelist on the Kojo Nnamdi Show.

Awards In 1994, Palmer received the Frank G. Wells Award for ongoing commitment to environmental protection from the Environmental Media Association. In 2009, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media at the International Wildlife Film Festival. Palmer was recognized in 2010 as the "Environmental Film Educator of the Decade" at the Green Globe Film Awards. Palmer received the International Wildlife Film Festival's first-ever "IWFF Wildlife Hero of the Year Award" on 13 May 2011 in Missoula, Montana at the 34th annual award ceremony. In 2012, he was named the recipient of the Ronald B. Tobias Award for Achievement in Science and Natural History Filmmaking Education. In 2015, Palmer received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

Personal life Palmer lives in Bethesda, Maryland. He is married to Gail Shearer and is father to three grown daughters: Kimberly, Christina, and Jennifer. In his free time, he performs stand-up comedy in DC area comedy clubs.

Filmography

Executive producer Year Film Notes 1986 Condor TV documentary The Mysterious Black-Footed Ferret TV documentary 1987 On the Edge of Extinction: Panthers and Cheetahs TV documentary Common Ground: Farming and Wildlife TV documentary Ducks Under Siege TV documentary Woodstork: Barometer of the Everglades TV documentary Whales! TV documentary 1988 Grizzly & Man: Uneasy Truce TV documentary Messages from the Birds TV documentary Sea Turtles: Ancient Nomads TV documentary World of Audubon: Sharks! TV documentary 1989 Greed and Wildlife: Poaching in America Video documentary Crane River TV documentary Ancient Forests: Rage Over Trees TV documentary Wolves TV documentary 1990 If Dolphins Could Talk TV documentary Arctic Refuge: A Vanishing Wilderness? TV documentary Ivory Hunters TV movie Danger at the Beach TV documentary Wildfire TV documentary 1991 Hope for the Tropics TV documentary The New Range Wars TV documentary Great Lakes, Bitter Legacy TV documentary Caribbean Cool TV documentary Mysterious Elephants of the Congo TV documentary 1992 This Island Earth TV documentary Battle for the Great Plains TV documentary The Environmental Tourist TV documentary Greenhouse Gamble TV documentary Sex, Lies and Holes in the Skies TV documentary 1993 Hawaii: Paradise in Peril Galapagos: My Fragile World TV documentary Backlash in the Wild TV documentary Cathedrals in the Sea TV documentary 1994 Desperately Seeking Sanctuary TV documentary Hunt for the Giant Bluefin TV documentary The World of Audubon 10th Anniversary Special TV movie 1996 An African Love Story TV documentary Dolphins in Danger TV documentary Survival of the Yellowstone Wolves TV documentary The Last Great American Gold Heist TV documentary Wild Life Adventures TV series - 8 episodes (1996–2000) 1997 Tiger! Documentary Wildlife Encounters: Alaska TV documentary BirdWatch TV series documentary 1998 Whales: An Unforgettable Journey Documentary shortProducer - as Christopher Palmer Nature Episode: "American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation" Wildlife Wars TV documentary Wildlife Emergency TV series documentary 1999 Return of the Eagle TV movie Wolves IMAX documentary short Wild City TV documentary 2000 Tracks: Tracking with the San People of the Kalahari TV documentary Dolphins IMAX documentary short Troubled Waters TV documentary 2002 India: Kingdom of the Tiger IMAX documentary short 2003 Coral Reef Adventure IMAX documentary short - as Christopher Palmer 2004 Bears IMAX documentary short 2008 Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk Documentary short - Senior coordinating producer 2009 Ocean for Life: Ocean Melody IMAX documentary short 2011 Working with Fire Documentary short 2012 True Wolf Theatrical documentary To the Arctic 3D IMAX documentary short Safe Haven: The Delmarva Fox Squirrel and Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Documentary short 2013 Journey to the South Pacific IMAX documentary short Shooting in the Wild TV documentary - author2015Fifty Years of FarmingTV documentary 2016The Culture of CollardsTV documentaryWhen Mickey Came to TownTV documentary

Director Year Television Notes 2006 The Simpsons Episode: "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" (uncredited); The Live action opening sequence