Long-form and short-form programming among content offerings

Fremantle company Wildstar Films has joined with wildlife filmmaker, explorer and scientist Dan O’Neill to launch a YouTube channel.

The World is Out There will unite Wildstar’s expertise in natural history programme-making with O’Neill’s knowledge, appetite for adventure and content creation. It will have three core strands: The World is Out There Expedition, which will comprise longer form docs following O’Neill on wildlife expeditions; a monthly visualised podcast where he takes guests on walks outdoors; and The World Is Out There Explainers – shorter, presenter-led films exploring animal behaviour, science and topical stories from the natural world.

The aim of the digital channel is to attract audiences who may not traditionally watch natural history programming.

Rebecca Wootton, chief operating officer of Wildstar Films, said: “As audience habits continue to evolve, The World is Out There represents an exciting opportunity to extend Wildstar’s storytelling beyond traditional platforms and build a long-term digital brand.

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Dan O’Neill, whose expertise as a biologist and presenter, combined with his passion for exploration, makes him the ideal partner for this venture. Together, we have the opportunity to bring Wildstar’s Emmy Award-winning filmmaking to new global audiences, creating a platform that can grow and evolve alongside changing viewer behaviours while inspiring curiosity about the world around us.”

O’Neill added: “On YouTube we can show it all unfiltered: the embarrassing bits, the painful misses and the absolutely magic moments, so viewers can feel what it’s really like to be out there. All I’ve ever wanted to do is get people as excited about the natural world as I am, and I think the best way to do that is to make it entertaining.

“Whether it’s tracking tigers in the jungle, going for a walk with a guest on the podcast or unpacking some brilliantly horrible parasitic behaviour in an explainer, I want everyone to finish watching and immediately feel like heading outside to find something for themselves.”