Bridging the Gap Between Science & Wildlife Docs

Anne Olzmann, managing director of Albatross World Sales, on new productions that sit at the intersection of wildlife and science documentaries.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has reverberated throughout the factual-programming community. For Albatross World Sales, there has been a rise in demand for content, but the decision-making process is taking a lot more time with people working from home. “That also affects the administration and delays the cash workflow,” explains Anne Olzmann, managing director. “As many productions were stopped in their tracks, a large number of clients reached out to us in order to acquire additional programming. Our hearts go out to the producers though. They have been hit the hardest because of travel restrictions and general distancing. We therefore try to support them as well as we can.”

The company’s diverse roster of buyers around the world has many different programming demands, but Olzmann points to three key genres as being the most sought-after: science, wildlife and travel docs. “We noticed that positive, hopeful stories have an advantage,” she adds. “I guess these times are troublesome enough and therefore international audiences want to be reminded that there are uplifting and inspiring things happening as well.”

From a distributor’s point of view, “wildlife is a wonderful genre to work with,” Olzmann says. “The programs do not lose their relevance, and they do not age. Most titles are suited for all ages and audiences. They have the capacity to tell the most amazing stories of life and death, survival and hardship, community and competition. These are the stories that evoke emotion and are often even close to the human experience and therefore very relatable. And of course, rare animal behavior up close is simply fascinating and a good distraction from daily woes. As planes are grounded and borders closed, wildlife documentaries can still carry the viewer around the world, even to places very few people have ever been to. They show the incredible beauty of the planet we live on. And that is something to keep in mind as we are struggling with the magnitude of the current pandemic. Wildlife documentaries show the bigger picture and that we are all part of a fragile ecosystem.”

Regarding science docs, there’s an interest, “possibly even a sense of duty,” Olzmann says, from many broadcasters to educate their audiences, to offer reliable sources of information. From the viewer’s perspective, there is a need to understand and make sense of the world, “especially in this era of fake news, where even basic scientific principles are being questioned. The current pandemic has accelerated this and easy answers for complex global phenomena are not easily found. That’s why nowadays it is crucial to impart knowledge and information in a reliable way. And what would be better able to do that than a carefully researched science doc featuring expert knowledge and presenting facts in an understandable manner.”

There’s an intersection of these two popular genres, wildlife and science, that Albatross has tapped into. “While watching intriguing animal behavior shot in amazing pictures does have a great appeal and is in very high demand, the world has been changing,” says Olzmann. “Global issues like climate change, wildlife conservation and deforestation have become more pressing matters and impact animal populations around the world. We find it important to not close our eyes towards these issues and have been actively looking for documentaries that feature great footage of animal behavior, but with a scientific twist.”

Recent examples from the company’s catalog include Gorillas Under Stress, which raises questions about the limitations of wildlife conservation, and Darwin in Times Square, which investigates how animals adapt to living in urban environments. “We humans somehow affect most animal life on this planet, and these documentaries at the intersection of science and wildlife pay tribute to that.”