Moritz Katz

I was raised in an adventurous family, we traveled a lot, often to remote places and we would always explore nature by hiking and camping in the wilderness. Even though my decision to become a wildlife filmmaker took shape relatively late, I was always passionate about the wild places and looking back, it does look like a set of stepping stones, which led to my current profession.

Recently, I found an exercise book from my first year of elementary school. My teacher asked me back then about my hobbies and I wrote in my untrained handwriting: “Faraisen”, meaning traveling. I was further asked, what I would really like to know. This time I wrote: "I want to know how animals behave".

Biology became my advanced course at high school and after graduation, I left for my first big journey. It led me to India, where I lived and worked for one year. I got to know a completely different culture and I explored the abundant nature of the tropics for the first time.

Intrigued by this experience, I decided to study biology. My main subject became tropical ecology. This allowed me to explore other regions of the tropics: In Costa Rica, I studied an endemic bird. For the first time, I spent hours and hours in a hide documenting every move of these birds. It was hot, uncomfortable and tiring, but at the same time, I felt incredibly privileged to spend time in a beautiful rainforest, with nothing but animals and other researchers around, who shared the same passion. With my first digital camera, I started to take as many photos as possible, to share this experience with those who stayed at home.

Later on, I was able to join a research group in Africa. While I was studying the local bees, I got to know Africa’s Savannah and Mount Kilimanjaro, two fascinating places. The Serengeti appeared to me like a giant open air zoo, and the idea to make films about wildlife took shape. However, getting a foot in the door of wildlife filmmaking without any actual filming experience proved difficult. Thus, I needed to learn the skill from professionals.

I was lucky to get accepted into a natural history film-making course in New Zealand and with this qualification, I was finally able to work on my first big TV productions. I hope that with my films I can not only share the wonders of nature with a broad audience, but also contribute to its conservation.

In 2005, I began my studies in biology at the University of Darmstadt. 2 years later, with a preliminary diploma (Vordiplom) in the pocket, I moved to the University of Würzburg for my main studies. I specialised in Animal Behaviour, Botany and Tropical Ecology and graduated in 2011 with a German Diploma (this is a 5-year degree, equivalent to a Bachelor + Master).

From there, I wanted to get some hands-on filming experience and worked for some months as a sound guy and camera assistant for "Frontal 21", a German, political TV magazine.

In 2013 I started a Master’s degree at the University of Otago in New Zealand and graduated 2014 with a Master's of Science Communication and Natural History Film Making. My graduation film did very well on international film festivals, which helped me to get my first jobs in the industry.

Filming wild coastal wolves in Canada - too close for comfort!

Filming storks in Spain - my only project in Europe so far.

Filming crabs in Christmas Island, a ticklish experience.

Filming terns in one of Japan's beautiful subtropical islands - one of the perks of being a wildlife filmmaker.