Michael Rosenberg obituary
Throughout the golden age of wildlife film-making, during the last quarter of the 20th century, a handful of visionary pioneers created the memorable TV nature programmes that millions watched and enjoyed. Many of them stuck to the tried and trusted formula of showing spectacular scenes of animal behaviour. But a few - including Michael Rosenberg, who has died aged 71 - focused on the urgent message of conservation. His approach achieved stunning results: Rosenberg won more of the prestigious Wildscreen Golden Panda awards - the Oscars of the wildlife world - than any other film-maker.
Through series such as Fragile Earth, which appeared on Channel 4 from 1982 until 1993, Rosenberg and his colleagues brought audiences vitally important, yet always entertaining, stories about the plight of the world's wildlife. For more than two decades, his independent company, Partridge Films, attracted some of the brightest and best talents in the industry. Partridge provided a much-needed foil to the BBC natural history unit's output at the time, which sometimes ignored conservation stories on the grounds that viewers would switch off.
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