Friend of Screen and Film School Manchester, Alex Sletton, scoops three Emmy awards for Penguin Town

1 July, 2022

Screen and Film School Manchester are delighted to announce that last week our former masterclass guest, Alex Sletton, picked up not one but three awards at the Creative Arts & Lifestyle Emmy Awards ceremony.

The Norwegian filmmaker won the three awards for the Netflix series Penguin Town. The prizes in the Creative Arts & Lifestyle category were awarded during a streamed live broadcast and Alex’s penguin creation walked away with the prizes for Best Travel and Nature Program, Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mix. A huge achievement for everyone associated with the production.

Alex is a nature photographer turned filmmaker and he helped to give the world penguin fever when the show was released on Netflix last year. The series tells the story of the 1500 pairs of penguins that live on Boulders Beach at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. Alex followed the penguins throughout a full breeding season and the result was an award-winning documentary series about the world’s only penguin colony that lives exclusively in a city.

When discussing the nature documentary, Alex said:

“Nature photography is about spending a long time with the animals and a lot of patience. The animals are your actors, but you cannot tell them what to do. If they notice you or care that you’re there, it’s not working. They look at the camera and get stressed.”

Alex is originally from Kristiansand in Norway and has been filming documentaries around the world since 2006. He has had almost 30 productions optioned by giants of the documentary world such National Geographic Wild, the Smithsonian Channel and Disney +. His expertise has led to him capturing a wide range of heart-stopping moments, from exciting interactions between bears and wolves in the Arctic Circle to beautiful slow-motion shots of falcons in the Arabian Desert.

With the brilliant masterclass with Alex last year in mind, Screen and Film School Manchester College Principal David Thompson had this to say about the news of the Emmy success:

“I think Alex is such a brilliant filmmaker, both technically and creatively. These awards and this programme reflect those two qualities, alongside dedication and hard work, all of which I have witnessed first-hand. We were so lucky to host him in our masterclass last year and speak with him whilst he was actually out on location, in the depths of snowy Finland making his latest TV series. He was tracking wolverines and described how tricky and unpredictable they were to film. It created a real buzz of excitement, as our students got the opportunity to ask questions and get incredible insight from the front line of wildlife filmmaking.”

This award win for Alex gave us all the chance to reflect on that one-of-a-kind masterclass which took place during our first year at Screen and Film School Manchester. Our Industry Team all work continually to deliver such high-caliber industry insights to our students. Stay tuned to find out who the next masterclass guest will be.

 


 

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