South Africa: Wildlife Documentary & Conservation Filmmaking Program

Introduction

Join a leading wildlife media training company in South Africa for an immersive, month-long filmmaking experience designed to launch or advance your career in wildlife storytelling. With a focus on conservation and ethical filmmaking, this hands-on course blends expert instruction with real-world fieldwork, preparing you to work across broadcast, NGO, corporate, and digital platforms.

Based at their studio in the coastal town of Mossel Bay, you’ll receive practical training in story development, cinematography, sound, and post-production. Field excursions along South Africa’s iconic Garden Route will offer the chance to film wildlife in their natural habitat, including a week at their exclusive safari camp on a private game reserve. You may also collaborate on live client projects, gaining professional experience producing content for marketing and social media.

The program also covers essential business skills for freelancers and filmmakers, including branding, networking, building income streams, and writing a business plan. 

Training is interactive and practical, with personalized guidance from experienced wildlife filmmakers who teach by doing – not just telling

Whether you’re starting out or looking to sharpen your craft, this course provides the skills, experience, and industry access to help you succeed in the competitive world of wildlife filmmaking.

Daily Life

As part of this programme, you’ll receive in-depth training in both foundational and advanced aspects of wildlife filmmaking, along with a working knowledge of Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. You’ll join our team on a series of field trips (see below), gaining hands-on experience in authentic shooting environments. Strong partnerships with wildlife organisations along the Garden Route offer unique access to real-world scenarios – giving you the chance to learn not only how to plan and execute a professional shoot, but also how to begin building a sustainable career in the industry. Each day is divided between focused tutorials with practical fieldwork, guiding you step-by-step as you produce your own 3–5 minutes short documentary film centred on wildlife.

In addition to your training, you’ll take part in a variety of excursions designed to enrich your storytelling skills and deepen your connection with the environment and local communities. These include:

• A 7-10 day stay at their exclusive safari camp on a private game reserve, home to lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, zebras, and a wide range of other wildlife
• A day trip to Plettenberg Bay, with visits to renowned wildlife sanctuaries including Monkeyland, Birds of Eden, and Jukani Wildlife Park
• A guided elephant walk experience
• Visits to local game reserves for additional wildlife encounters
• Opportunities to film local people and communities through collaborations with partner organisations and institutes
• A hike along the famous St Blaize Trail, capturing dramatic coastal cliffs, caves, and waves
• Night shoots to capture star trails under clear, dark skies
• Magical sunrise and sunset shoots in breath-taking locations

You can expect to find the following species;

• African Lion
• African elephant
• White Rhino
• Cape Buffalo
• Hippopotamus
• Black backed jackal (rare)
• Brown Hyena (rare)
• Caracal (rare)
• Warthog
• Bush pig
• Nile Crocodile
• Bushbuck
• Giraffe
• Black wildebeest
• Blue wildebeest
• Eland
• Red hartebeest
• Cape zebra
• Impala
• Springbok
• Waterbuck
• Blesbok
• Ostrich
• Rheebuck
• Secretary Bird (rare)

Depending on the month, we may also visit different game reserves for filming. This will be decided at the discretion of the in-country coordinators.

Travel & Accommodation

The program is based at our studio in Mossel Bay, a vibrant coastal town nestled between the Outeniqua Mountains and the Indian Ocean, around 400 km east of Cape Town. You’ll fly into George Airport, where a member of the team will meet you and provide transport to your accommodation. All programme-related transport is included.

You’ll stay in comfortable, self-catering dorm-style accommodation located on-site at the studio, creating a seamless and immersive learning environment. Centrally located, the accommodation is just a short walk from beaches, shops, restaurants, and the harbour. Private rooms are available at an additional cost.

While at the private game reserve, you’ll stay at their newly built, exclusive safari camp. The camp offers comfortable dorm-style lodging with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, placing you in the heart of the reserve with direct access to daily game drives – providing a unique opportunity to experience and film African wildlife in its natural environment.

Requirements

• Minimum age: 18 years
• Minimum commitment: 1 month
• Basic English proficiency (spoken and written)
• Valid passport, visas, and return flights to South Africa
• Comprehensive travel and medical insurance (full assistance available if you opt for our Premium Support service)

Participants usually bring their own camera gear, including a camera body, lenses, and a tripod. If you require any of these, a selection is available for rental – pre-booking is strongly recommended to ensure availability. While additional lenses are provided for tutorial use, these are limited and not intended for personal fieldwork. Please contact us directly for rental options and pricing.

Each participant must also bring a laptop pre-installed with Adobe Premiere Pro, as this software is used extensively throughout the course. Circular polarising (CPL) and neutral density (ND) filters for your lenses are also recommended, as well as a remote shutter release (even a basic one). Finally, please bring an external hard drive with a minimum capacity of 500GB, though 1TB is preferable to accommodate your media files.

Computers: Please bring your own laptop if you have one. It must be pre-loaded with Adobe Premiere Pro CC2015  or CS6 as we use this extensively on the course. We do have three computers to use if it is impossible for you to bring your own computer.

Costs

2025 programmes: $3,900 USD per month

2026 programmes: $4,500 USD per month

Deposit: A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 USD is required to secure your place.

Payment Fees: Please note that all payments are subject to a 5% bank transfer fee.

Currency Conversion: For the latest exchange rates, visit xe.com.

What’s Included:

• Airport Transfers (on programme start and end dates only – 1st and 28th of each month; a $40 USD surcharge applies for transfers on alternative dates)
• All programme-related transport for scheduled field trips and activities
• Shared dorm-style accommodation (gender-separated); private rooms available on request at an additional cost
• All practical and theoretical training, including tutorials, fieldwork, and guided sessions
• All trips and excursions listed under the Daily Life section (subject to availability)
• Unlimited Wi-Fi (reliable by South African standards, but may be slower than international norms)

What’s Not Included:

• Accommodation outside of official programme dates
• Meals and groceries (self-catering facilities are provided)
• International and domestic flights to and within South Africa
• Optional tourism expeditions / activities
• Rental of high-end DSLR cameras and lenses
• Laundry services
• Bank or PayPal fees incurred during payment transfers

Depending on your lifestyle and personal spending habits, an additional R4,000–R6,000 (approximately $300–$500 USD) is recommended for souvenirs, additional activities, entertainment, and other daily expenses during your stay.

Due to high demand and limited spaces, cancellations or date changes are not permitted after final confirmation and deposit payment. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 USD is required within 7 days of booking to secure your place in the programme. Please note that all bank or PayPal transfer fees are your responsibility.

The remaining balance must be paid in full at least 30 days prior to your arrival in South Africa. In the event of a date change request, the team will do their best to accommodate a change to a future month, but refunds on deposits cannot be offered under any circumstances.