Mark Linfield and Vanessa Berlowitz are no strangers to working with each other. The married couple have produced or co-directed some of the greatest nature films of all time. Films like Planet Earth, Penguins, Elephant, and now Tiger. We recently sat down with them to discuss this beautiful Disneynature EPIC releasing on Disney+ this Earth Day.

The making of Tiger wasn’t easy. The film ended up taking 1500 days to complete, with COVID being the primary factor. But through it all, Linfield and Berlowitz created a stunning, emotional work of art the entire family will enjoy.

We dove into the difficulty of starting and ending production more than once and making sure they could find all the tigers when they needed to film.

We tried to always have someone on the ground at all times. And that was very difficult during COVID, which was exactly when that was unfolding. So we had an Indian cameraman on the ground. We had to leave, which was heartbreaking. Twice in 2020 and 2021, both times in March, which was a very good time of year, we had to up sticks and leave. And the second time we thought we would never be able to return. So we were having a couple of our Indian team pick up material on the ground, and try at least keep track of where the tigers were.

But, you know, it was hard. We definitely had to fill in some gaps over COVID when we came back. But the good thing about COVID is it did allow us to span five years, because normally these films, we film them over two and a half to three years. But this five years allowed us to actually watch our characters really grow and mature and follow their life journeys.”

– Mark Linfield

Check out our full conversation with Linfield and Berlowitz on Tiger below.

ABOUT TIGER

Narrated by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Disneynature’s “Tiger” lifts the veil on our planet’s most revered and charismatic animal, inviting viewers to journey alongside Ambar, a young tigress raising her cubs in the fabled forests of India. Curious, rambunctious and at times a bit clumsy, the cubs have a lot to learn from their savvy mother who will do all she can to keep them safe from pythons, bears and marauding male tigers.

Directed by Mark Linfield, co-directed by Vanessa Berlowitz and Rob Sullivan, and produced by Linfield, Berlowitz and Roy Conli, “Tiger” is the groundbreaking culmination of 1,500 days of filming. Combining fast-paced action with remarkably intimate moments, Disneynature’s all-new original feature film streams on Disney+ beginning on Earth Day, April 22.

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