Colin Butfield
Colin Butfield is a prominent British environmentalist, filmmaker, and producer, widely recognized for his significant contributions to conservation storytelling and climate change advocacy. With almost 25 years of experience communicating about the natural world, he has been a driving force behind numerous high-profile projects that aim to raise awareness and inspire action on environmental issues.He spent 15 years at WWF (World Wildlife Fund), where he held senior roles, including Executive Producer for the "Our Planet" project. In this capacity, he was the scientific and conservation advisor for the Emmy Award-winning Netflix series "Our Planet." During his time at WWF, he also led many high-profile campaigns and worked across various United Nations climate and biodiversity agendas, appearing in hundreds of media interviews on topics ranging from renewable energy to ocean biodiversity.Following his impactful work at WWF, Colin Butfield co-founded Studio Silverback with Alastair Fothergill, Keith Scholey, and Jonnie Hughes. As Executive Director of Studio Silverback, he has continued to produce and write groundbreaking environmental content. His work often involves collaborations with Sir David Attenborough, and he served as Executive Producer for feature documentaries such as "David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet" and "Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet." He is also a co-director and co-author of "Ocean with David Attenborough" (2025) and its accompanying book, "Ocean: Earth's Last Wilderness," which Attenborough has called "the most important project of his career."Beyond these major productions, Butfield is also a co-founder and Executive Director of Open Planet, a non-profit initiative that provides free, open-source environmental footage to help global storytellers share local climate narratives. He is an advisor to The Earthshot Prize, an ambitious global environmental prize launched by Prince William, and co-authored the bestselling book "Earthshot: How to Save Our Planet." His work extends to executive producing series like the BBC's "Earthshot," YouTube Originals' "Seat at the Table," and "The Climate Games." Colin Butfield's career is characterized by his unwavering belief in the power of storytelling to drive meaningful change and his consistent effort to blend urgency with optimism in addressing the planet's most pressing environmental challenges.
