How Sir David Attenborough built 'Green Hollywood'

An important development from the financial markets: How Sir David Attenborough built 'Green Hollywood'1 hour ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleDave HarveyWest of England business and environment correspondentSilverback FilmsKeith Scholey, on location filming "Ocean with David Attenborough", has worked with the naturalist for 40 years. As Sir David Attenborough marks his centenary, one achievement is often overlooked: how the world's famously soft-spoken naturalist helped create an industry employing thousands and earning millions, centred on Bristol. The city has become "the beating heart of the wildlife film industry", according to Lucie Muir, CEO of the Wildscreen Awards and Festival.

Bristol produces 80% of the high quality natural history television in the world. "Without Sir David," says his long time director Keith Scholey, "the wildlife film industry in Bristol would be a shadow of what it is. "So how did David Attenborough create not just landmark programmes, but an entire industry?

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More from BristolMurder investigation after 'loved' man found deadHeadlines: Rave plane and helipad bus blockingMajor train operator to be renationalised in monthsSilverback FilmsSir David Attenborough filming in the Masai Mara, Kenya, for Silverback FilmsScholey first met Attenborough in 1981 as a Bristol University zoology graduate hoping to break into television. He went on to direct Planet Earth and The Private Life of Plants, before co‑founding Silverback Films in 2012 with another of Attenborough's veteran producers, Alastair Fothergill. "He made it famous, he made it internationally valuable," Scholey says.

"And all of us who went on to have careers in natural history in this city benefited from the genius of this man," Scholey adds. WildscreenThe Wildscreen Festival is seen as 'The Oscars of Wildlife', bringing the industry together in Bristol every two yearsThe Wildscreen Festival - often called the "Oscars of Wildlife" - brings the global industry to Bristol every two years. "Bristol is seen as the kind of 'Green Hollywood'," says Muir.

"If you watch National Geographic, or the , Disney, Apple, Netflix - the vast majority of their natural history productions are made in Bristol. "And yet to sell programmes globally, Bristol filmmakers did not have to travel to Hollywood. "We had the big players coming to us," Scholey says.

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"Netflix, Apple TV, and National Geographic… because it was known as a centre of excellence. "We have built a concentration of talent in Bristol that is quite unique. "Building BlockbustersAttenborough's first influence was not from in front of the camera, but behind a desk.

As controller of BBC2 he created the concept of ambitious landmark programmes, then left management to become a presenter, working with the 's Natural History Unit (NHU) in Bristol. The result was Life on Earth, filmed around the world and watched by 15 million people in the UK and 500 million globally. "It was extraordinary," says Scholey.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.