A Bristol television production company making natural history, documentary and factual entertainment for broadcasters and streamers worldwide.
Plimsoll Productions is a television production company based in Bristol. It makes wildlife, documentary and factual entertainment, and says it has produced more than 70 series for broadcasters and streamers including Netflix, Disney, Apple and National Geographic. Examples include Tiny World on Apple TV+, The Women of 9/11 and Hostile Planet.
Its founder and chief executive Grant Mansfield set the company up in 2013. In his words, "it's our mission to produce powerful storytelling" that reaches as wide an audience as possible. The company also says it wants to raise awareness of global issues and help drive positive change in society. Its natural history work is part of a long Bristol tradition of wildlife filmmaking, and its other titles include Night on Earth, Great Migrations, Handmade: Good with Wood and When Big Things Go Wrong, showing a mix of nature, craft and entertainment programmes.
Plimsoll is headquartered in Bristol, with other offices in Cardiff and Los Angeles. ACQUIRED: it is now described by ITV as part of ITV Studios, but it still operates under its own name and keeps its Bristol base. A 2024 company release said it was working on around 20 series at once, which shows how many productions are running in the West of England. ITV's page says the company reports more than 50 series, 14 live shows and seven films in total, and the LDC release lists upcoming titles such as On the Edge, a National Geographic series featuring Alex Honnold, and Tales from a Kitchen Garden with chef Marcus Wareing.
The company describes its creative teams as multi-award-winning, including BAFTA, Emmy and Academy Award winners. It has hired experienced natural history producers, including Mark Brownlow, known for Blue Planet II and Frozen Planet II, and its Chief Creative Officer for Natural History and Science is Martha Holmes. These are the company's own descriptions of its people.
A production company employs many kinds of people, from researchers, producers and directors to editors, production managers, finance and business affairs staff, and a US team led by Alan Eyres. Bristol is a major UK centre for wildlife filmmaking, so it is a good place to look if you love nature and storytelling. The company's release also names advisers: former US talent agent Mark Itkin on strategy, and Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees on talent, diversity and sustainability, which suggests it cares about who gets to work in TV. That is a company statement, so ask how it works in practice.
Website: www.plimsollproductions.com
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