SOME QUOTES

Islands In Time: Ruled By The Sun (National Geographic)

 '..the jury honours this film with a special prize – a prize for the most beautiful film of this year’s festival. Concept and editing; imagery and script; the use of music and the skilful implementation of the original sounds – as well as the art of narration: the result of all these ingredients is a true masterpiece far off our traditional festival categories..'  Jury presentation at the NaturVision Festival Awards 

 

Islands In Time: A Wildlife Odyssey - soundtrack album released by Red Bull Media 

Beautiful soundtrack to #IslandsInTime (a project I had the pleasure of filming for) released today by hugely talented composer @AlLethbridge. Grab yourself a copy and be transported into the jungles of Borneo for a while! 

James Aldred  - Emmy award winning Cameraman.

 

'I just checked this out on Spotify; absolutely gorgeous! Wishing you much success with this one…'

Steve Bravin - Senior Licensing Executive - Killer Tracks (US)

 

'Sounds really nice Al, dreamy music, very nice……lovely vocals and melodies..'

Will Slater - composer on many hit BBC shows. 

 

Ronroco Magic (album for Universal)

'..Just thought you’d like to know that your track, “Discovery Flight”, has managed to stop all work in our office! These recordings are truly beautiful, Al, I’m proud that Sontronics has been involved with them. Your music is simply stunning – I absolutely love it! The sound is so special..'  Trevor Coley - CEO SONTRONICS   (makers of the award winning Aria and Mercury microphones I used to record this album.)

'..Simply beautiful, Al.  I know our clients consistently find opportunities to score their projects with your delicate, refined arrangements and lush, evocative soundscapes. Keep writing, playing, and enhancing the world’s productions with your amazing compositions...'  Steve Bravin - Senior Licensing Executive - Killer Tracks (US)

'...Wow - I love this ronroco stuff. What a fabulous sound...'  Steve Nicholls - CEO Hooded Crow Pictures, multi award winning producer for the BBC and Burning Gold Prods.

ALBATROSS  (Feature Documentary)

“Albatross is a spiritual experience that transcends the medium of film.”   - Joanna Macy, author.

“Like other profoundly elegiac works in the history of art — Grunewald’s Crucifixion, Friedrich’s nocturnes, Picasso’s Guernica — Chris Jordan’s Albatross is both achingly sad and pleasurably beautiful.” Suzaan Boettger, art historian/critic, NYC.

“Albatross arrives like a godsend with spiritual value leaving a lasting memory upon all those that experience it.”  Mary Jordan, curator, artist, and Founder/Creative Director of New Water Culture, NYC.

“Albatross is a piercing, soaring, sobering, exalting artwork, tinged with the sadness of great love, radiantly brilliant.” - Carl Safina, conservationist and writer

“Transfixed, mesmerized, undone, astonished, stunned; even these words do not describe the experience of watching Albatross. It is poetry written at the end and beginning of the Earth, a radiant lens into innocence and suffering, a quintessential mirror of what it means to be humane in this world.” - Paul Hawken, environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author.

“Albatross is a shared grief, a collective prayer, a mirror into our own complicity of the suffering we have caused through our religion of consumption. Chris Jordan asks us through his lens of attention and compassion, “How shall we live?” This film is a reckoning of this moment in time. Do we have the courage to not avert our gaze? Albatross shows us the way.” - Terry Tempest Williams, author, conservationist, and activist.

..Soft guitar music adds to the depth of the moment as I look into her kohl-rimmed eyes framed by steel-gray cheeks. I’m falling into those eyes, recognizing clearly for the first time this essence gradually coming into focus through her gaze. That essence is dignity – a being’s worth and their innate right to exist, and now that I’ve named it, I see it everywhere. The film is “Albatross,” directed by Chris Jordan, and it’s just punched a hole in my heart that will never heal. I watch these glorious birds – the Laysan Albatross – wheel and dance, soar and glide over the sea. I watch them tend to their precious eggs and downy chicks with incomprehensible devotion and then, I watch them die. It’s not every day that I watch something perish, but in this film, alongside images of shimmering life, there is death and suffering that I can hardly bear, and seeing it alters me, permanently..'  Jaime Becktel  - www.carvedeepercontent.com.

 

Wild Ireland - The Edge of the World - BBC2

"..A stunning new TV series  charts one of the world’s most breathtaking but rarely explored coastlines.."
 Daily Mirror

"Nature cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson lolls with puffins, seals, dolphins and natterjack toads on a gorgeous coastal journey in the Emerald Isle"
 Guardian

 
"Natural World - Jaguars: Brazil's Super Cats -  Narrated by Sir David Attenborough -  BBC2

'The best wildlife footage you’re likely to see this week, or any other for a long while..' - Daily Mail

Pick of the Week - Guardian

'.. I loved your score..'  - Tim Martin  Exec Producer BBC NHU

" Loving the music Al, thanks for all your hard work.. it gave the film a lovely feel.." Roger Webb - Natural World Series Editor, BBC NHU.

" Watching now.. music sounding real nice and fitting just right with picture.. overall lovely soundtrack. High five to you!" Andrew Stannard - Senior Producer, Universal (UPPM)

".. Always a pleasure to mix your music, dude..."  Matt Costa - MD and Dubbing Mixer at Audio Uproar - Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Music and Sound: Animal Misfits (PBS) (BBC NW Nature's Misfits) RTS Winner (WOE): Best Sound: Wild Arabia; The Jewel of Arabia

".. the music was superb and brilliant... absolutely appropriate and quite wonderful..."  Graham Wade - Writer, classical guitarist.

"Ah! I did wonder about the music. Kudos @AlLethbridge. Very nice indeed! The music really fitted the program....and the program was awesome.." @_AndreaUrbanFoX

"Amazing film and VERY beautiful music. Fantastic stuff.."  Babs Seymour - Forever Living

"..loved your music!.."  Sue Outlaw - Film Editor

"Hauntingly beautiful guitar music accompanying Jaguars: Brazil's Super Cats on TV tonight.." Judy Mackenzie

".. and very lovely it was too! "  - Mark Flowers - BBC Series Producer - New Zealand: Earth's Mythical Islands, Gardener's World 




The Peacemaker:  Feature Documentary - Director - James Demo 

" ..The Peacemaker was hands down the best film I saw at Sheffield Doc Fest...a film that elegantly covers the geopolitical, the intimate and everything in between.."   Robert J Hunter - Grierson Trust DocLab

"..A deeply moving portrait of its truly admirable, complex subject.."
The Hollywood Reporter

"..the film becomes something deeply personal and almost heartbreakingly poetic.." -Toronto Film Scene

'..Your score (for The Peacemaker) sounds fantastic and has been a real pleasure to mix. Bravo, Maestro!!!!!..'   Joe Milner  (Sound Mixer - Das Boot, 8 Mile, Last Days In Vietnam - Puget Soundpost, Los Angeles)

10 Filmmakers to watch in 2016: James Demo  - The Independent.



Patagonia: Earth's Secret Paradise - BBC2

"...music and sound design that really capture the atmosphere of this unique and evocative place, all beautifully crafted."
Wendy Darke - Head of the BBC Natural History Unit  2013 - 2017.

 "This spectacular new three part series has elevated the art of the natural history documentary to a new level.."
The Observer
 



Dark Vision - Horror Feature from Stray Spark Prods - nominated at the RTS Awards.

"A combination of good acting, fine cinematography and interesting characters marks out Dark Vision as one of the better British horror indies of recent years...wonderfully atmospheric music from Al Lethbridge.."  The Hollywood Investigator

 

 


What Lies Within - album for Universal

"... I could imagine Ben Wishaw on some bleak hill, in the gloaming.  Lank hair ripped across his face by the wind.  Rain. Winter. Grey. Tears. That's what I see. Yes - there's Floyd in there too. Great stuff.."  Tim Leandro - Director (Ultimate Force, The Vice, Casualty, Eastenders) 

“…a supremely strong and interesting album, I believe we have a wonderful product here ... it really shows off the new Chappell Noir label.. I really think this album is a killer.  Kristian Pilling, Senior Producer, Universal Publishing Production Music

"....it all sounds amazing - bravo sir! Lovely touches all the way through and bang on for sync I'd say! "  Dan Brown - Producer/Writer (Massive Attack)

"....David Gilmour meets John Barry.." Jamie MacPhail (Emergency Duty Team - Bristol & Avon Social Services)



Alaska: Earth's Frozen Kingdom - BBC2

"A beautiful new slice of natural history from the BBC, not only was the footage stunning - but the storytelling deceptively simple. Another fine addition to the Natural History Unit's Beatles-like reel of hits"  The Independent

 

 




Hitler's Hunting Experiment AKA Hitler's Jurassic Monsters - Ch4/Nat Geo/Discovery

"Goering, the obese head of the Luftwaffe had an insane scheme to fill a Polish forest with bears, bison and aurochs, making his own private hunting reserve. The aurochs were extinct, but Goering didn't intend to let that stop him: he had a mad scientist who believed these killer cattle, almost as big as elephants, could be recreated through intensive breeding.

It's a shame he never did get to hunt aurochs. 'Nazi chief trampled to death by psycho cow' is the sort of violence we can all applaud."

Daily Mail


Guardian - pick of the day.


"I won’t lie to you, I was snagged into watching this by the lurid title. It won’t surprise you to learn that it’s one of those bombastic documentaries full of DUN DUN DUN!-type music, and where the narrator actually says these words: “Only now can the full story be told.” Alison Graham - Radio Times

 

Ireland's Ocean -  RTE One

"..a beautiful sensitive soundtrack composed and performed by Al Lethbridge.." Sea Fever


Stunning … dreamlike … fascinating four-part ocean wildlife series explores the spell-binding diversity of the marine life living around the Irish coast and asks some thought-provoking questions about the wildlife that share our waters.”  Irish Examiner

"A beautifully shot, deftly structured four -part series about the marine eco system, by no means shamed by a comparison to the BBC's Blue Planet. Some day, we hope, humans will develop a fraction of the instinctive wisdom displayed by invertebrates at the bottom of the sea." Liam Fay -The Sunday Times


"Precision: The Measure Of All Things"  BBC4

'Du Sautoy is a master storyteller and in the opening instalment of a series about our need to quantify the world, he brings alive the concepts of time and distance. Genius'. - Radio TImes Pick of the Day

'Why 24 hours in the day and 60 minutes in the hour? And why the need to quantify and measure at all? Marcus du Sautoy begins a fascinating series with a trip across revolutionary France and the story of the metre'. - The Independent Critic's Choice

'An engaging opening salvo.' - Time Out Pick of the Day

'Du Sautoy proves an engaging guide, radiating the gravitas of an academic and the joy of a naive enthusiast'. - Guardian Pick of the Day



"Empire Of The Desert Ants"  BBC/Discovery

Radio Times ‘Pick of the Day’ - ‘an astounding feat of photography’

The Times 'Pick of the Day' '..If you thought that human beings were ruthless wait till you meet the honey Ants of the Arizona Desert. This stunning film follows seven years in the life cycle of a hidden and unforgiving world....we humans are blissfully unaware that the ground beneath our feet is heaving with the rise and fall of thousands of miniature Roman Empires..'

The Daily Telegraph 'Pick of the Day'
'..this fascinating if skin crawling film..'


"  Al - I saw the film and thought the music excellent.."  Dave Allen - CEO - Passion Planet

Natural World - "Andrea: Queen Of Mantas" (BBC2 & BBC HD / Discovery)

"Breathtakingly beautiful testimony..every ripple seemed part of an elegy.." Guardian

"Manta Rays are extraordinary. For a start they look like an alien spaceship that's inadvertently plunged into the ocean.. superb underwater photography.." - Radio Times - today's choice. 

pick of the day in much of the press



"Wilderness Explored" (3x60 - BBC Natural History Unit for BBC4)


"..three fabulous films..a superb essay.." Sunday Times
" ..Glorious documentaries... fantastic." - Guardian
"..stunning footage, great interviews.. an entrancing piece of cultural history" - Radio Times
"..Awe inspiring footage..epic stories for an epic landcape" - Daily Mail
"..this excellent series.." The Observer
"..stunning panoramas and expert commentary..unusually evocative'" - The Times




  "The Day Of The Kamikaze" (90 mins -DarlowSmithson for CH 4)


"The result was pure cinema. Heartbreaking, poignant and beautifully shot, it was an epic tale of of sacrifice and mass brainwashing.." Jon Farrar - Programme director at NBC Universal (writing in Broadcast)

"..thoughtful..sensitive..breathtaking.. the astonishingly honest testimony from survivors on both sides drop into the plot as unexpectedly as the bombs." Jane Mote UKTV Director of Lifestyle and Factual (writing in Broadcast)


"..rivetting..even-handed.." Radio Times - Documentary Of The Week

"Pacific Abyss"  (3x60 - BBC Natural history Unit for  BBC1

"...this lavish series...a thrilling insight into an unspoiled pocket of underwater heaven." - Radio Times


"NUREMBURG  - GOERING'S LAST STAND" 
( 120 mins 3BM for CH 4) (Bafta winner - Hugh Weldon Award 2007)

"...the magnificent Nuremberg: Goering’s Last Stand.....stunning. That’s the only word needed to describe this dramatisation of the events surrounding Hermann Goering’s life from 1945 to his cell-bound death in 1946. This has shades of the supremely brilliant Downfall about it, not least of all in the breathtaking performance of Hannes Hellmann as Goering. You will find this thoroughly engrossing, and fair play to C4 for devoting two hours of the schedule to such a stupendous piece of television."    The Stage

“Superbly made, thought provoking and gripping…” The Guardian.

“A gripping story of a doomed cat-and-mouse game…” The Telegraph.

“Intelligent, entertaining and involving….” The Observer.




"THE FIFTH PROVINCE" (FEATURE FILM)

"...one of the most challenging and original Irish films of recent years...  the performances are superb...the score is possibly the best music I've ever heard in an Irish feature..."   Nicky Fennell   FILM WEST - (Ireland's film quarterly) 
www.iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/





"BEYOND BOUNDARIES"  (DIVERSE PRODS for BBC1 AND 2)

 
"It is one of those rare examples of inspired television  that might well change the way you look at the world". The Times
 
 "Most astonishing reality programme".  Chater's Choice

 "what promises to be an engrossing and remarkable series" Daily Telegraph

 
"MUST SEE"  Daily Express Saturday Magazine

 "If ever a programme made you aware of your own limbs, it's this one... Again and again the programme opens our eyes to the heroic efforts its subjects make... it may well leave a lump in your throat."
    The Radio Times, 7 - 13 October 2006



 "these people seem infinitely nicer than the self-absorbed morons who usually infest the genre." Guardian Guide

 
Four stars Mail Weekend

 
"Any thoughts of this being reality TV at its most artificial are swiftly dispelled ... Expect a gripping four weeks." Four stars Mail on Sunday




"ANATOMY FOR BEGINNERS"  (FIREFLY FILM And TELEVISION PRODS for CH4) x2 RTS Awards
 

 "Jaw Dropping!" - The Times

"Truly grown up television" The Independent






"LAND OF LOST MONSTERS" (BBC For ANIMAL PLANET USA)

"Gripping....packed with terrifying moments" The Archaelogical Institute Of America



"SECONDS TO IMPACT" (DIVERSE PRODS for CH 4)

"The film was breathtaking in every sense... "  Victor Lewis Smith  - London Evening Standard

"Seconds To Impact is directed by Emmy Award winning Lol Lovett. The use of film, a range of tape cameras, and creative postproduction image manipulation ensures unusually high visual impact footage. Superb... "  Guardian



"SHARKS: THE TRUTH" (BBC 1)

Winner of the “Prix Du Documentaire Animlier” at the “World Festival of Underwater Images” in Antibes.

“A great film” The Guardian

“ a most striking and beautiful film” The Times

“fantastic footage” Time out

“The footage in this film is remarkable” The Mail on Sunday


Pick of the day in over 7 papers & magazines
 


"LIVING WITH DINOSAURS" (BBC 1)


“astonishingly convincing.. recreated with the kind of skill that has made the BBC’s Natural History Unit world famous.” Time Out

“Living With Dinosaurs is a must.. it should be made compulsory viewing” TV Times

Spectacular and breathtaking.. it’s must see TV at its best” Daily Express

“amazing programme, brilliantly convincing”  Sunday Express

“the overall impact of this programme was stunning” Daily Star


Pick of the day in over 36 papers