Cameramen become the filmed in the “Monster Croc: Search for a Killer” Animal Planet Thriller

UK based professional wildlife cameramen returned to Belize last January for another filming adventure, but this time the talented two worked in front of the camera, instead of from the sights of the viewfinder. Their program, titled “Monster Croc: Search for a Killer” follows the gutsy duo through the wild jungles of Belize where they search for a dangerous crocodile blamed for several attacks.
James Incledon and Jason Gibirti first came to Belize in February 2012 as the production team for Wild Productions, who produced the long-running UK Discovery Channel “Wildlife SOS” series. At that time Cherie and Vince Rose of the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary (ACES) were filmed for one of the “Wildlife SOS” episodes. When returning to Belize as film makers, Incledon and Gibirti reunited with the ACES team who were instrumental in the crocodile component of the “Monster Croc: Search for a Killer” production.

So why did these cameramen migrate to the other side of the lens and what makes their approach to filmmaking different? In an interview with The San Pedro Sun, Incledon explained the transition. “As you know Jason and I were wildlife cameramen and over the course of several years we have worked together on a lot of different projects, all around the world. After we came to the end of working for Wild Productions we had to decide what to do next? You may notice at the end of big production nature programs on TV there are sometimes short segments on how they got the shots and what the cameramen had to do to get them. It seemed like something people were interested in seeing, and we thought why not be in front of the camera WITH a camera?” Gibirti added, “It seemed like the climate was right, that these big productions had gone behind the scenes to show viewers what the field production was like and what it took to get these amazing shots. We thought the audience was ready to see more.”

In using their unique style to telling the story, the fearless film makers incorporate their many years of experience into the filming process. “We are basically using our 20-some combined years of experience of filming, the investigation process, setting up the camera hides, night vision cameras, camera traps, being on a long lens, stalking the animal, learning its behavior, then trying to capture it on camera.

These skills can ultimately be used to capture a problematic animal and relocate it. We are basically using our experience in the field filming wildlife to help solve a specific wildlife problem,” explained Gibirti. These techniques were utilized during the filming of the action packed killer crocodile show.

“Monster Croc: Search for a Killer” is the first in what the best friends hope to be in a series of shows that uncover the truth about the most deadly animal-human conflicts to date. The one-hour action packed show premiers this week during Animal Planet’s annual Monster Week series and will be aired on Saturday night, May 24th at 7PM EST (5PM in Belize).