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One to watch

Future filmmaker

ake a note of the name Alice
Owen. You might not have
heard of her yet, but in a few
years from now, she could
be masterminding the BBC’s next nature
spectacular. Alice is the first recipient of
the University of the West of England’s
(UWE) Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust
scholarship for an MA in Wildlife Filmmaking.
The course, run in partnership with the BBC’s
Natural History Unit (NHU), is a one-year
introduction to everything from pitching ideas
to post-production. And with every student
assigned an industry mentor, it’s also an
unrivalled opportunity to learn from the best.
Alice didn’t plan on a career behind the
camera. Born just outside Nairobi, she worked
first in marketing, then for a bank. It was a
meeting with the Canadian philanthropist
Mike Korchinsky that triggered her interest
in conservation. In 1997,
Mike founded Wildlife
Works, a company that
creates eco-friendly jobs for
communities whose income might
otherwise come at a cost to the
environment. Inspired, Alice upped
sticks and travelled 400km south
to Tsavo, where she was responsible
for setting up Wildlife Works’
Rukinga wildlife sanctuary.
It wasn’t until 2010, following
marriage to her British husband

Matthew, that Alice moved to the UK.

The couple and their two young children

settled near Bristol, and Alice was soon an

enthusiastic volunteer with Somerset Wildlife

Trust. However, an early outing to a site near

Taunton was something of an eye-opener.

Alice recalls her shock on realising that the

nature reserve was essentially two fields by

a motorway – quite a contrast to Rukinga’s

80,000 acres. Yet what impressed her was

how much passion even this small patch

generated. ‘In Kenya we don’t really know

the detail of the wildlife,’ she reflects. ‘We

take it for granted, and I think that’s why

‘I thought, this is it...

this is my big opportunity’

ALICE OWEN

The first-ever recipient of

the Stephen Lawrence Trust

bursary in wildlife filmmaking

is set to make a splash in the

documentary world – with a

little help from her mentor

Originally from

Kenya, Alice Owens

worked with lions

in Amboseli before

moving to the UK

and discovering a

love of filmmaking

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