Michael de La Roche Gunton is a British television producer and a senior executive at the BBC Natural History Unit, the world's largest production unit dedicated to wildlife film-making. In November 2009 he became the Unit's first Creative Director.
As Creative Director of BBC Studios Natural History Unit, he is responsible for bringing new and pioneering stories about the natural world to global audiences, including the BAFTA and Emmy winning Planet Earth II, which was viewed by millions worldwide. In 2018, his ground-breaking animal behaviours series, Dynasties, won a number of awards and was acclaimed by Sir David Attenborough as inventing a new genre in natural history film making. A fellow of the Royal Television Society, he also speaks internationally and is an ambassador for natural history making, BBC Studios and the natural world.
He was the executive producer of Life, a nature documentary series which revealed the adaptive survival strategies of animals around the world, and as the co-author (with Martha Holmes) of the accompanying book. He co-directed (with Holmes) a feature film version of Life, and was the executive producer of a major BBC One series on African wildlife, broadcast in 2013.
Film and TV credits
Prehistoric Planet (2022-2023) - executive producer
The Green Planet (2022) - executive producer
Dynasties (2018) - executive producer
Planet Earth II (2016) - executive producer
Life Story (2014) - executive producer
Hidden Kingdoms (2014) - executive producer
Africa (2013) - executive producer
One Life (2011) - co-director
Madagascar (2011) - executive producer
The Great Rift: Africa's Wild Heart (2010) - executive producer
Life (2009) - executive producer
Yellowstone (2009) – executive producer
Galápagos (2006) – executive producer
Life in the Undergrowth (2005) – executive producer
Europe: A Natural History (2005) – executive producer
Journey of Life (2005) – executive producer
Nile (2004) – executive producer
British Isles: A Natural History (2004) – executive producer
Natural World (2001-2004) – series editor
Steve Leonard's Extreme Animals (2002) - executive producer
Steve Leonard's Ultimate Killers (1999-2001) - executive producer
Animal People (1997-1999) – series producer
Violent Planet (1999) - series producer
Tales from the Riverbank (1997) - series producer
Natural Neighbours (1994) - series producer
The Trials of Life (1990) – producer
Episode "Finding Food"
Episode "Home Making"
Episode "Once More into the Termite Mound: The Making of The Trials of Life"