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Chris Palmer is a professor, speaker, author, and producer of environmental and wildlife films, who has experienced swimming with dolphins and whales, encountering sharks and Kodiak bears up close, camping with wolf packs, and wading through Everglades swamps.
He is a Distinguished Film Producer in Residence on the full-time faculty at American University. In 2004, he established the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at AU’s School of Communication, aiming to inspire new filmmakers and media professionals to produce informative, ethical, and engaging work that makes an impact.
Alongside his environmental filmmaking courses, Chris developed and teaches a free semester-long course titled Design Your Life for Success, open to students and the public alike.
Chris also serves as president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation, which produces and funds IMAX conservation films. MacGillivray Freeman Films is the leading producer of IMAX films worldwide.
Over the past three decades, Chris has led the creation of over 300 hours of original programming for prime-time television and the IMAX film sector. His films have aired on channels including Animal Planet, Disney Channel, PBS, and TBS. Notable IMAX titles include Whales, Wolves, Dolphins, Bears, Coral Reef Adventure, and Grand Canyon Adventure. He has collaborated with prominent figures such as Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, and Ted Turner.
His producing career began in 1983 when he founded National Audubon Society Productions, a nonprofit film company affiliated with the National Audubon Society, serving as president and CEO for eleven years. In 1994, he founded National Wildlife Productions, linked to the National Wildlife Federation, leading it as president and CEO for ten years.
Chris authored the 2010 book Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom (Sierra Club Books), praised by Jane Goodall as "a very important and much-needed book." Now in its second printing, it exposes the darker aspects of wildlife filmmaking, including sensationalism, fabrication, and animal mistreatment. He also produced a PBS film adaptation of Shooting in the Wild with Alexandra Cousteau.
His 2015 memoir, Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker: The Challenges of Staying Honest in an Industry Where Ratings Are King (Bluefield Publishing), urges mainstream networks to cease producing wildlife films that harass animals, mislead viewers, and damage conservation efforts. Jean-Michel Cousteau called it "fascinating reading," while Ted Danson deemed it a "must-read for all who care about the natural world."
Shifting focus, his book Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success after College (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) addresses essential life skills often omitted in school, such as organizing job searches, managing time, speaking effectively, networking, and crafting a personal mission statement.
His latest book, Raise Your Kids to Succeed: What Every Parent Should Know (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), offers parenting guidance. In 2018, Rowman & Littlefield planned to publish his teaching-focused book, How to Excel at Teaching: Inspiring University Students to be Enthusiastic.
Chris has been featured in publications like the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and interviewed on the Today Show, ABC Nightline, NPR, Fox News Channel, among others. He regularly writes articles, including a bimonthly "best practices" column for Realscreen Magazine, and serves on the boards of ten nonprofit organizations.
A frequent keynote speaker at conferences and film festivals, Chris conducts workshops on improving success and productivity, achieving life balance, fundraising, and student engagement. In 2015, he spoke at TEDxAmericanUniversity. During five years of teaching at AU, he also performed as a stand-up comedian in Washington, DC clubs. Recently, he founded and leads a Bethesda Metro Area Village interest group focused on death and dying.
Chris and his teams have earned numerous awards, including two Emmys and an Oscar nomination. Honors include the Frank G. Wells Award from the Environmental Media Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media at the 2009 International Wildlife Film Festival, the 2010 Green Globe Awards’ Environmental Film Educator of the Decade, the 2011 IWFF Wildlife Hero of the Year Award for his efforts to reform wildlife filmmaking, and the 2012 Ronald B. Tobias Award for Achievement in Science and Natural History Filmmaking Education. He received American University’s 2014 Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, the 2015 University Film and Video Association Teaching Award, and the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival.
Before his film career, Chris spent twenty years as a high school boxing champion, Royal Navy officer, engineer, business consultant, energy analyst, environmental activist, chief energy advisor to a senior U.S. senator, and a political appointee at the Environmental Protection Agency under President Jimmy Carter. He also parachuted from helicopters and worked on an Israeli kibbutz.
Chris holds a B.S. with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture, both from University College London, as well as a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University, where he was a Kennedy Scholar and Harkness Fellow.
Born in Hong Kong and raised in England, Chris immigrated to the United States in 1972. He is married to Gail Shearer and has three adult daughters: Kim, Christina, and Jenny. Together, Chris and Gail have endowed a scholarship for environmental film students at American University to honor his parents and support future storytellers dedicated to saving the planet.
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