Tom Hugh-Jones Joins Passion Pictures

Passion Pictures has tapped wildlife filmmaker Tom Hugh-Jones to boost its natural history offering and open an office in Bristol.

Hugh-Jones joins from Plimsoll Productions, where he originated and directed Disney+’s new docuseries A Real Bug’s Life. Previously, he worked with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, where he developed, directed and produced many key titles, including Planet Earth, Human Planet and Life Story.

At Plimsoll, Hugh-Jones served as creative director for natural history. In addition to A Real Bug’s Life, he developed, wrote and produced numerous award-winning shows, including Tiny World for Apple TV+, Hostile Planet for National Geographic and Night on Earth for Netflix.

Now, at Passion Pictures, Hugh-Jones will work alongside David Allen, managing director of Passion Planet, to develop a portfolio of ambitious, genre-defining natural history projects.

Allen said: “It is very exciting to have such a huge talent join Passion Planet’s team. We both share a vision for pushing the envelope in the natural history genre, and, from development to directing, Tom’s impressive editorial skills provide a fantastic opportunity to work together on some really ambitious and innovative productions.”

Hugh-Jones commented, “For me, it is all in the name. Passion is a company that puts creative integrity first and enables the best filmmakers to do their best work. Passion’s track record in documentaries is unparalleled, and they’ve been behind some of the most original and admired wildlife films ever made. The opportunity to build on this pedigree in the premium natural history space is very compelling.”

Nick Southgate, CEO of Passion Pictures, said, “Planet Earth II and Tiny World are two of my favorite natural history series of all time. The chance to work with the showrunner of these extraordinary pieces of TV was a no-brainer. I can’t wait to dig in with Tom and Dave and create a new era of intelligent, big wildlife shows.”