• Show Full List - Cosmos
• Show Full List - Consciousness
• Show Full List - God

Peter Getzels

Producer/Director/Executive Producer

Peter Getzels is an Emmy-winning documentary director, producer and cinematographer, noted for high-concept, cutting edge films which have been distributed around the world. Veteran filmmaker of observational narrative, Getzels has worked in 30 countries. In the course of directing, he's spent an entire winter in the high Himalayan villages of Zangskar Ladakh, North India; hunted and sledded with the Inuit at the top of Greenland; and kayaked from North to South along the coast of Vietnam. He's filmed in war zones, among hill tribes in Southeast Asia, on ships in the South Pacific and up on some of the world's highest peaks.

Currently, Getzels is Executive Producer, Director, and Writer at Getzels Gordon Productions, a new independent production company in Washington, where he's leading a team in the production of an ambitious 117 episode science series on Cosmology, Consciousness and God for PBS. Prior to that Getzels was a staff producer at National Geographic where he series produced a major, high definition four-part series on ancient Egypt for National Geographic Film and Television, which premiered to high ratings on the National Geographic Channel.

As a staff producer for National Geographic, Getzels also directed, shot and wrote a number of award-winning documentaries for the flagship series Explorer and Ultimate Explorer, including an Emmy Winning film on a major expedition to find the wreck of Kennedy's PT109 boat; and another on an archaeological murder mystery, following the discovery of the Moche mass burial site in Peru.

In addition, he developed a number of high profile series, such as the psychological thriller The Experiment - about incarceration and torture based on the original Stanford Experiment; and was one of the originators of the highly-rated anthropological series called Taboo, which played for three seasons on the National Geographic Channel. He also held an appointment as TV's representative on The Trends Analysis Group, a cross-divisional team that reports on future trends for National Geographic's Executive Management Team.

Prior to joining National Geographic, Getzels, along with his partner Harriet Gordon, headed an award-winning independent production company (Getzels Gordon Ltd) in England, where they produced, shot and wrote documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 (UK), ZDF, Canal Plus, the Discovery Channel and more. Getzels Gordon Ltd. specialized in long-term, observational films plus science and adventure. For two years, Getzels worked in the BBC Science Department, producing for the highly rated series, Supernatural Science, the first large-scale co-production between Discovery US and the BBC.

Getzels comes to filmmaking as an anthropologist, explorer, and mountaineer. A prolific climber, he originated and guided climbing itineraries for the American Alpine Institute, and has scaled nearly every major peak in South America, as well as participated on three expeditions to major peaks in the Himalayas. He's also explored numerous tributaries of the Amazon, and sea kayaked both the coast of Tierra del Fuego in Patagonia, and the coast of North Vietnam.

Many of his films draw on his ability to explore the most extreme regions on earth - including Emmy nominated, Into the Lost World, where new species were discovered on the mysterious tepuis of Guyana; and Behind the Ice Wall, about Tibetan children on an epic ice journey during winter in a Himalayan Buddhist kingdom. As a noted young anthropologist, Getzels conducted fieldwork in the Peruvian Andes, Ladakh, and Greenland, having won a prestigious Watson fellowship, as well as an NEH grant.

Getzels did his PhD work in Anthropology at the London School of Economics, and has an MFA from the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. He is a member of the film committee of the Royal Anthropological Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society as well as a founding member of the South American Explorers Club.

During his career, he's been an undergraduate Teaching Fellow in Comparative Religions, taught documentary film at the Ecole Nationale Superieure La Femis in Paris (France's prestigious National Film Institute). Getzels has shown his films and lectured widely in the US and England. Getzels recently returned from a six-month attachment to a Production Company based in China and Singapore, where he produced, directed and posted documentaries on China for Discovery, NHK, and Arte.

Awards

• CINE Golden Eagle (Three)
• Genesis Award - The Humane Society of the United States
• Grand Prize - Banff Mountain Film Festival
• Emmy Award & Nominations (Multiple)
• One World Award - Telluride
• Carlo Mauri Memorial Award - Trento Italy (Twice)
• Best Photography - Trento Italy
• Best of Festival - Autrans, France
• United Nations 'Peacemakers' Award
• Silver Hugo - Chicago (Twice)
• Special Jury Award - San Francisco
• Basil Wright Award - Royal Anthropological Institute - London UK
• David I Wolper Documentary Award - Los Angeles
• Finalist American Film Festival (Twice)
• Margaret Mead Film Festival - New York (Show cased)
• Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (Show Cased)
• Festival de Popoli - Florence Italy
• Cinema du Real - Paris France

Peter Getzels Production Credits

Current

CLOSER TO TRUTH 117 x 30 min. science series PBS (In production)

Cutting edge scientists discuss the latest work in their fields, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn (3rd season). Series Producer, Director and EP for New River/Grace Creek Media

DEMOCRACY IN THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS 60 min PBS/CPB (In Production)

An observational film behind the scenes charting Egypt's democracy movement in action. With New River Media

BASEBALL'S SECRET FORMULA 47 Min. Discovery Science

The science behind baseball: What if all it took to win a pennant was a calculator and a stat book? Senior Producer/Director/Writer for Team Creations

EMPEROR OF THE SEA: THE VOYAGE OF ZHENG HE 50 min. Discovery/Arte

The story of China's greatest mariner, a eunuch admiral who sailed the seas in the 15th century with the largest fleet and ships the world had ever seen.

For Bang Productions (China dramatizations by Chen Kaige director of ‘Farewell My Concubine' winner Best Film Cannes 1993)

RETURN TO THE SOURCE 50 Min. HD Special for Discovery Asia (development funded & distribution secured)

HD special on China's greatest river, the Yangtze, production 2005 For Bang Productions

National Geographic

TALES FROM THE TOMB 4 x 60 Doc. Series NGT & F for the National Geographic Channel

A documentary series which unveils the private lives of the ancient Egyptian elite.

LIFE OR DEATH ON DENALI Two hour Special addition of Ultimate Explorer National Geographic

An unprecedented look at the brave high altitude-climbing rangers of Mt. McKinley during an entire season on the mountain with National Geographic Correspondent Mick Davie

INTO THE LOST WORLDS 50 min. Ultimate Explorer

Primatologist Mireya Mayor explores the impenetrable jungles and vertical lost worlds of the Tepui mesas of Guyana in search of new species with biologist Bruce Means, herpetologist Jesus Rivas, and two of America's top rock climbers.

Emmy Nomination 2005: Best Science, Technology, and Nature Program

CINE Golden Eagle Award

POACHER PATROL 50 min Ultimate Explorer National Geographic

Naturalist Nick Baker investigates a new international anti-poaching force forming up in the jungles of western Cambodia.

CINE Golden Eagle Award

GENESIS AWARD -The Humane Society of the United States

LOST TREASURE OF IRAQ 47 min Ultimate Explorer National Geographic

(Field Producer) Immediately after the war and looting National Geographic correspondent Lisa Ling goes in search of the fabled lost gold of Nimrud and finds it with a blue chip team of archeologists.

THE EXPERIMENT 4 x 60' Reality Series for NBC and NGT&F (in development)

A psychological thriller and inquiry into human nature.

THE SEARCH FOR KENNEDY'S PT-109 60 min. National Geographic Explorer Special

Underwater explorer Bob Ballard goes to the Solomon Island in the South Pacific in search of JFK famous boat.

Emmy Nomination 2003

Emmy Governors Award 2003

MOCHE MURDER MYSTERIES 60 min National Geographic Explorer

Human sacrifice and forensic anthropology on the north coast of Peru.

DESCENDING THE DRAGON 45 min. National Geographic Explorer

Sea kayaking journeys of self-discovery for one refugee down the northern coast of Viet Nam.

Cine Golden Eagle Award

TABOO National Geographic Channel

Ritual battle unveiled for the first time and high altitude healers for two segments in Bolivia for 13 part series on rituals and taboos around the world.

Additional Productions w/Harriet Gordon Getzels/Gordon Ltd.

AFTER THE KILLING FIELDS 60 min. Discovery USA

The forgotten tribes of NE Cambodia - and their unique story of survival during the Vietnam War and Khmer Rouge.

For Essential TV, Peter Getzels, director/producer. Harriet Getzels, edit director/writer.

THE NEW EDEN 60 min.C4 'Ends of the Earth'

Ancient DNA and new findings in the Andaman Islands

For Cicada Films, London, (Peter Getzels, director)

Science

THE BITE THAT CURES 60 min. TLC for Cicada Films

How maggots leeches and bees are used by surgeons in high tech settings

RETURN OF THE KILLER BUGS 60 min. BBC/TLC 'Hot/Cold Night'

New outbreaks of pestilence and disease triggered by climate change

EXTRA SENSORY PERCEPTION 60 min. BBC/Discovery USA

Quantum theories of consciousness have changed the course of psychic research

ATLANTIS FOUND 60 min. BBC/Discovery USA

Lost civilizations are filmed for the first time in Bolivia, Canaries, Greece & Turkey, but are they Atlantis?

Journeys & Adventure

BEHIND THE ICE WALL 60 min. Discovery USA, Canal Plus, ZDF

Tibetan children from the kingdom of Zanskar on a treacherous ice journey during a Himalayan winter in Ladakh, India

GRAND PRIZE Banff Mountain Film Festival Canada

ONE WORLD AWARD Telluride, FINALIST New York Film Festival; CARLO MAURI AWARD and BEST PHOTOGRAPHY Trento, Italy; BEST OF FESTIVAL Autrans, France

MR. MIKE IS ON THE MOUNTAIN 60 min. C4 'Adventures'

Sherpas viewpoint of a British climbing expedition in Nepal

Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival

Banff Festival of Mountain Films, Margaret Mead Film Festival

Telluride Mountain Film Festival

PETER MATTHIESSEN 60 min. BBC 'Omnibus'

North Atlantic whaling journey in Greenland, Iceland, Faroes & Denmark with author and conservationist

Observational & Religion

THE PEACEMAKER 60 min. C4 'Witness'

An international peacemaker confronts Slough's Sieks and Muslims.

SUMMERHILL AT 70 60 min. C4 'Cutting Edge'

Children in Suffolk who govern their own school set up by the radical educator A.S. Neill

SILVER HUGO Chicago SPECIAL JURY AWARD San Francisco Margaret Mead Film Festival, New York

MOSES OF OXFORD 40 min. BBC 'Everyman'

The irrepressible rabbi, Shmuley Boteach, tries to make Oxford a Jewish city

THE NEW RASPUTIN 60 min. C4 'Witness'

Notorious sex guru of Siberia orchestrates telepathic orgasms for hundreds of followers

PEACEPACT WARRIORS 60 min. British Council, David Puttnam, National Film and TV School

Remote tribes in the Mountain Province of the Philippines are required by the Aquino government to perform for the U.N. Year of Indigenous People

Andean Trilogy

THE CONDOR AND THE BULL 60 min. National Film and TV School

Power struggles between Andean highlanders and roadside villagers near Ocongate, Peru

BASIL WRIGHT AWARD Royal Anthropological Institute

CARLO MAURI MEMORIAL AWARD Festival of Mountain Films, Italy

DAVID I. WOLPER DOCUMENTARY AWARD Los Angeles

IN THE COMPANY OF SAINTS 40 min. National Film and TV School

The story of Gubernal Diaz, who's been chosen to feed a thousand pilgrims on the way to Qoyllur Rit'i

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TAYTACHA 40 min. N.E.H. Grant USA

The largest religious pilgrimage in the Andes Mountains of Peru, to the sacred peaks of Qoyllur R'iti

SILVER PLAQUE Chicago FINALIST Royal Anthropological Institute

FINALIST American Film Festival

Festival dei Popoli, Italy; Margaret Mead Film Festival New York