National Geographic Television & Film Takes Home Three Wildscreen Awards

Washington, DC, October 18, 2002 -- National Geographic Television& Film (NGT&F) was awarded three Panda Awards at the 2002Wildlife Film Awards, which were announced this week at Wildscreen'sannual 'Green Oscars' ceremony in Bristol, UK. NGT&F won in thefollowing categories:

*Animal Behavior -- Mzima: Haunt of the Riverhorse (Aired inthe U.S. on National Geographic EXPLORER/MSNBC as Haunt of theHippo). Produced and filmed by Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, aco-production of Survival Anglia Limited/NGT&F

*Camerawork -- Mzima: Haunt of the Riverhorse. Produced andfilmed by Mark Deeble and Victoria Stone, a co-production of SurvivalAnglia Limited/NGT&F

*Presenter-Led Show -- Snake Hunter - North America. Producedby Zebra Film Productions for NGT&F

With the Panda Awards, Mzima: Haunt of the Riverhorsecontinues to be one of the most decorated natural history films of the2001-2002 awards season. In the U.S., Mzima won a 2002 News& Documentary Emmy, a 2002 Peabody Award, and the Grand Teton Awardat the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in 2001. Mzima wasalso a Best Animal Behavior award winner at Jackson Hole and garneredan additional nine awards at this year's International Wildlife FilmFestival in Missoula, Mont.

Filmmaker Hugh Miles won a separate award for OutstandingAchievement. In addition to his work with the BBC and as an independentproducer, Miles has produced, photographed, and/or appeared in a numberof films for National Geographic, including the National GeographicSpecials Puma - Lion of the Andes and The Tigers ofKanha. Miles has also produced and/or filmed a number of films forNational Geographic EXPLORER including The Ultimate Crocodile,Newfoundland: People of the Sea, Spitting Mad: Wild Camel ofthe Andes, Africa's Wild Dogs, Day of the Lion, andThe Improbable Ostrich.

Building on its global reputation for remarkable visuals andcompelling stories, National Geographic Television & Film augmentsits award-winning documentary productions (119 Emmy Awards and morethan 800 other industry awards) with feature films, large-format films,and long-form television drama programming. Worldwide, NationalGeographic's television programming can be seen on National GeographicChannel, MSNBC, and PBS, home video and DVD, and through internationalbroadcast syndication. The National Geographic Channel is received bymore than 141 million households in 23 languages in 142 countries,including the United States. For more information about NGT&F, logon to www.nationalgeographic.com,AOL Keyword: NatGeo.