Biographie
Maria Baltazzi has built a career producing on-location projects worldwide. Her latest work includes Animal Planet's acclaimed three-part series, "Battleground: Rhino Wars," filmed in South Africa's Greater Kruger Area, north of Johannesburg. The series follows four US Special Forces Operators collaborating with a South African anti-poaching unit to track rhino poachers. It aired in the US, Australia/New Zealand, Taiwan, China, and South Africa.
Other credits include "World's Toughest Truckers," a joint production for Discovery US and Channel 5 UK; "One Man Army" for Discovery and Renegade 83; and "Sarah Palin's Alaska" for TLC and Mark Burnett, which premiered to nearly 5 million viewers—the channel's highest-rated debut.
Maria has worked with Mark Burnett since the inaugural season of "Survivor," where she served as one of the original producers. Together, they developed and Executive Produced "Expedition Africa" for History, which earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography Nonfiction in 2009. Since then, she has focused on producing action-adventure programs, while remaining open to projects featuring compelling characters in distinctive settings.
Her international production experience spans over 50 countries across all seven continents, including Alaska, Antarctica, Australia, Borneo, Botswana, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, England, Fiji, Hawaii, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Mongolia, Okinawa, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, St. Barts, St. Martin, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zanzibar.
An adventurer outside of work, Maria climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2008 and trekked to Everest Base Camp in 2009. She is also a marathon walker, having participated in the New York Marathon (2009), Los Angeles Marathon (2010), Athens Marathon (2010), Great Wall Marathon (2011), Solar Eclipse event in Port Douglas, Australia (2012), and the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya (2013). She runs these marathons to raise funds for charity.
