We're thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2023 Legacy Award, as well as the recipient of our 2023 Rising Star Award. These three individuals have made outstanding contributions to the field of nature, science, and conservation storytelling.
This year’s award recipients share Jackson Wild’s commitment to building an impact-driven community of filmmakers, creators, and conservationists, and have demonstrated a dedication to accelerating conservation practices through their media. They have been nominated by their peers and selected by the Jackson Wild Board of Directors.
Thank you to The WNET Group’s Nature Series for sponsoring the Legacy Award, and to Wildstar Films for sponsoring our Rising Star Award. We are delighted to have your !
Legacy Award 3y4d45
Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble are this year’s recipients of the Legacy Award. They are known for their independent story-driven films championing the importance of biodiversity and the interconnectivity of the natural world. For each film, they spend a minimum of 2 years camped in the wilderness with a small team. Their films are based on keen observation, and a deep understanding of natural ecosystems. They have won over 100 international awards in recognition of their artistry and wildlife storytelling. Throughout their careers they have used their films to conservation. Following the launch of
The Elephant Queen, a decade-long project and Apple’s first feature film acquisition for Apple TV+, they launched, with long-term Assistant Director Etienne Oliff,
The Elephant Queen Outreach and Mobile Cinema and Theatre in Kenya. The film, translated into Swahili and Maa has been shown to over 120,000 people living in areas of high human-wildlife conflict.
The couple began their careers as underwater wildlife filmmakers filming around the world for Survival Anglia, the BBC and National Geographic. In 1987, they were invited to Serengeti by Alan Root. Their first East African film,
Here Be Dragons, revealed the dramatic new behavior of giant Grumeti crocodiles leaping from the water to grab drinking wildebeest. Since then, they have worked in East Africa telling wildlife stories that have been shown in more than 140 countries with audiences estimated in excess of a billion. Sir David Attenborough called
The Queen of Trees “A masterpiece!” Amongst its many awards are a Peabody and a Grierson. It followed Peabody and Emmy®-winning
Mzima to a filmography which includes
Once Upon a Time in Tsavo,
The Elephant & the Termite,
The Elephant Queen,
A Little Fish in Deep Water,
Tale of the Tides,
The Tides of Kirawira, and
Devilfish.
Rising Star Award
Hans Cosmas Ngoteya is a wildlife and conservation film director and cinematographer from Tanzania, a National Geographic Explorer, and co-founder of Ngoteya Wild, a Tanzanian wildlife and conservation storytelling organization where he has directed award-winning documentaries. He is also a co-founder of the Tanzania Wildlife Media Association (TaWiMA), an association of professional Tanzanian wildlife media creatives, where he mentors aspiring wildlife conservation storytellers. Additionally, he has co-founded Landscape and Conservation Mentors Organization (LCMO), which focuses on promoting, ing, and improving community livelihoods through sustainable environmental practices. His ultimate goal is to tell stories that will help to develop and explore practical solutions to solving emerging conservation challenges and help communities co-exist with wildlife.
