Michael Sanderson


Michael John Sanderson is a British-Dutch wildlife filmmaker.
He started his career in Bristol on the award-winning BBC series Smalltalk Diaries as cameraman.
One of his first independent projects as a Producer and Director of Photography was a film about the Eurasian wolf in Chernobyl for the television channels ORF/NDR/PBS/BBC. During this project, he pioneered filming in Ultra High Definition and was one of the first to build and use multi-rotor video drones for aerial images for EFP and wildlife film productions.
In the Netherlands, Sanderson's cinematography can be found in De Nieuwe Wildernis, which was number one in the Dutch box office and is still the biggest Dutch nature film for cinema ever; in Holland: Natuur in de Delta for which Sanderson filmed the closing sequences and the specialist macro using lenses he built himself; and De Wilde Stad which he filmed, in high speed, the scene of a peregrine falcon hunting and the emotional scene of ducklings jumping for the first time from their rooftop nest to the canals of Amsterdam.
Sanderson produced multiple wildlife documentaries for NHK which include The Paternal Bond: Barbary Macaques which is about the Barbary Macaque in Morocco's Atlas Mountains; Pyrenees Mountain, which is about the endangered Bearded Vulture in Spain; and the Japanese re-versioning of A Wild Fox Life.
Sanderson has filmed extensively in Latin America for Planet Earth II, BBC Natural World Jungle Animal Hospital and for his independent Ateles Films production, which was aired worldwide including Nat Geo WILD and Arte, called Return of the Spider Monkeys narrated by Hayley Atwell and follows the life of an orphaned spider monkey called Infinity after she is released back into the jungle of Guatemala. For this film, Sanderson learned how to climb into the canopy alongside the spider monkeys of the Mayan jungle to film their intimate lives from a tree top perspective.
Recent work includes, A Wild Fox Life which was shot in the Netherlands and follows the life of a red fox that lives in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve on the reclaimed polder province of Flevoland.
Sanderson founded Ateles Films in 2013, where he also serves as a executive producer and cinematographer for their wildlife film productions, together with his business partner.

Education

He studied Broadcast Systems Engineering at Solent University in Southampton and an MA in Documentary Filmmaking at Royal Holloway, University of London

Filmography

Films

Awards

YearFestivalCategoryNominated WorkResult
2020Green Screen Naturfilmfestival: International Wildlife Film Festival Audience Award Best Short FilmSpider Monkey for SaleNominated
2020World Wildlife Day Showcase Micro MovieSpider Monkey for SaleHonorable Mention
2018Mariupol International Film Festival Cinema and YOU Best Documentary Return of the Spider MonkeysWinner
2018Woods Hole Film Festival Best Cinematography All the Wild HorsesWinner
2017Baikal International Festival of Documentary and Popular-Science Films Special Mention AwardReturn of the Spider MonkeysWinner
2017British Academy Television Awards Huw Wheldon Award for Specialist FactualPlanet Earth II Winner
2017British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Photography - FactualPlanet Earth II Nominated
2017TCA AwardsOutstanding Achievement in News and InformationPlanet Earth II Nominated
2017Primetime Creative Arts Emmy AwardsOutstanding Documentary or Nonfiction SeriesPlanet Earth II Winner
2017Baikal International Festival of Documentary and Popular-Science Films Special Mention AwardReturn of the Spider MonkeysWinner
2017Green Screen Naturfilmfestival: International Wildlife Film Festival Audience AwardPlanet Earth Nominated
2017Green Screen Naturfilmfestival: International Wildlife Film Festival Best NewcomerReturn of the Spider MonkeysNominated
2017Finisterra VI Arrabida Film Art & Tourism Festival Best CinematographyReturn of the Spider MonkeysWinner
2017Finisterra VI Arrabida Film Art & Tourism Festival Best DocumentaryReturn of the Spider MonkeysRunner up
2017Finisterra VI Arrabida Film Art & Tourism Festival Best Wildlife & Nature TourismReturn of the Spider Monkeys2nd Runner up
2014Rembrandt Award Best FilmDe Nieuwe WildernisWinner
2014Gouden Kalf Public PrizeDe Nieuwe WildernisWinner
2009Green Screen Naturfilmfestival: International Wildlife Film Festival Children's Audience AwardSmalltalk DiariesWinner
2008Wildscreen Panda Best Series & Best InnovationSmalltalk DiariesWinner
2008Chicago International Children's Film Festival Best Live Action AwardSmalltalk DiariesWinner

Lectures

Michael Sanderson has been invited as a guest lecture to several events:
2013 for CineMec at “Master Class De Nieuwe Wildernis”;
2014 for Institute Beeld & Geluid at “Inspiration Day – Leren met Natuurbeelden”;
2015 for University of Porto for “Seminar – Open Class“;
2017 for NHL Stenden University for the event “Guest lecture by: Michael Sanderson“; for "Nederlandse Filmacademie Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten" for “BA Cinematography" and also during the Drone World Expo on the panel "Aerial Artistry: Exceptional Film and Television” in Silicon Valley.

Books