Executive producer Mike Gunton talks location, “box office stars” and jaw dropping moments.
When it comes to wildlife shows, BBC Earth has introduced some of the most compelling, character-driven offerings.
And executive producer Mike Gunton has had a hand in the success of several of the series like “Dynasties”, “Big Cats”, “Planet Earth II”.
And he’s returned with “Primate”, which was shot in Morocco, Brazil, Madagascar, Borneo, Uganda, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Tanzania, Thailand, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Nepal, Sumatra, Brazil, Bioko and Zambia.
With over half the world’s primates facing the threat of extinction; scientists, conservationists and volunteers across the world have dedicated their lives to protecting them.
Through this series, viewers get to understand the danger primates face while also learning more about their behavioural patterns and uniqueness.
On prepping for the shoot, Gunton shared: “You think about locations but what comes first is the animals. Especially with primates: part of what we’re trying to do is paint a portrait of a group that people think they might know, but there are actually nearly 500 species of which some are really weird and wonderful.
“You need a combination of box office stars, and some real surprises. A lot of the work in pre-planning is finding new stories for the box office stars like chimpanzees and capuchins and gorillas, which people want to see, and put them alongside species where people say, ‘I didn’t even know that existed!’
“You want some oddity and some jaw-dropping moments in that mix.
So that’s what comes first but inevitably there is a logistical element to this which is that you can’t go everywhere. Some places are really difficult to get to, or expensive, or dangerous. It’s like a matrix, trying to work out what you want and what’s feasible.”
Of course, filming wasn’t without its fair share of challenges, too.
Gunton added: “(Series producer) Gavin Boyland went to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the mountain gorillas. That’s a very dangerous place to go. It’s probably the most nerve-wracking trip I’ve ever been responsible for in terms of safety in 30 years of filming. It’s a volatile area and things like hostage-taking do go through your mind. But although the risks were large, we had all sorts of protocols like phoning in regularly. I was very happy when they got home, but it was an amazing sequence and a very important story to tell, too.”
“Primates are our cousins and biologically very close to us but also when you observe them, you can’t help but see parallels in their lives. You can’t watch them without making connections with yourself. There’s an insight there: we’re not so very different,” he continued.
“The sequence with the Nepalese macaques is one of my favourites because it’s so bonkers. The Nepalese have actually built a swimming pool for them. When you see them in that pool, you don’t have to say much.
“It just does look like granny taking her granddaughter for a swim, and the grandson dive-bombs them. You don’t have to say it loud for people to make those connections to their own lives.”
In the series, they don’t shy away from the difficult realities faced by the primates. But that isn’t the focus of the narrative. It is more a celebration of them.
In the first episode, viewers will be introduced to white-cheeked spider monkeys as the camera follows them through several countries. The third episode zooms in on the conservation work to protect this species.
“Primates” airs on BBC Earth (DStv channel 184) on Sunday, August 16, at 4pm.