Founder, Managing Director and Producer/Director, DewClaw Productions
Growing up in England, Sophie’s fascination with African wildlife started when she was young because of Sir David Attenborough’s nature films on TV. She emigrated to South Africa in 2001, and did an MSc in conservation biology at the University of Cape Town. A study of lions took her all over South Africa to interview people in the field.
‘I knew people overseas would love to see some of this. While writing up my thesis, I realised it was a stuffy old thing and that very few people would ever read it, whereas 80-million homes in the United States turn on Discovery Animal Planet every night. That seemed a better way to get across conservation messages,” she says.
She started DewClaw Productions in 2002 to make wildlife, conservation and environmental education films, ‘even though I knew absolutely nothing about film production! But I’ve gathered together a great team, and Craig and Damon Foster, the renowned film-makers, are my mentors.”
Current projects include creating a children’s wildlife series. Highlights in DewClaw’s portfolio include a series called Wild Women, which explored the work of individual women in conservation.