Oxford Scientific Films
The Team
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Clare Birks
Chief Executive
As CEO she is responsible for the strategic direction as well as the overall running of the company in addition to raising co-production finance and overseeing the commercial exploitation of the company’s IP. Since taking on the role in 2004, she has used her commercial acumen to transform the business into a company with an international reputation for creative excellence and innovation producing award-winning programming for the international market.
Co-production partnerships with the USA, Australia, Austria, Korea, Japan and most recently China have enabled the company to produce a range of programming in the natural history and science genres including global hit Meerkat Manor, Wildest Weather with Richard Hammond, Wild Tokyo, Magical land of Oz and China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom.
Prior to this she worked extensively in drama co-production for Southern Star, funding drama development and brokering international co-production deals for series. She has also worked for a number of leading entertainment companies including RKO, Viacom and London Weekend Television.
She graduated from the University of Manchester with a degree in History.
Caroline Hawkins
Creative Director
Caroline Hawkins is an award-winning filmmaker who joined OSF in 2004 after a 13-year freelance career as a director. Her original ideas, often emulated, partnered with Clare's business acumen have ensured OSF's position as not only the oldest production company in the UK but also one of the most-respected internationally.
She is the creator, producer and writer of the thrice EMMY nominated global hit Meerkat Manor. Other credits include the three-part blue-chip natural history series Magical Land of Oz for BBC, ABC and PBS, Wild Korea, Secret Life of Farm Animals, Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem for BBC and PBS, Secret Life of Twins for ITV, Dogs Might Fly for Sky One and the four-season US dramatised documentary series Fatal Attractions for Animal Planet.
She produced her first feature film in 2008, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins for Discovery Studios and The Weinstein Company. In 2012 she led OSF’s move into 3D with Meerkats 3D followed by Pandas 3D -The Journey Home, the IMAX version of which was screened throughout North America and Europe.
Able to turn her hand to any genre, in 2019 she was nominated for a BAFTA in the Single Documentary category for Driven: The Billy Monger Story (BBC). The film was also shortlisted for a Grierson and a Broadcast award.
She has just completed production on Murder In The Pacific, a three-part documentary thriller for the BBC & ITV Studios.
Anna Brett
Head of Production
With over 17 years’ experience in the industry, Anna joined Oxford Scientific Films in 2006 as the office runner and has never left! Anna moved into production and worked as a Production Coordinator on many big series including Meerkat Manor and Atom before progressing to be Production Manager on Fatal Attractions, Magical Land of Oz, Secret Life of Cats and The Queen’s Garden.
Anna was promoted to Head of Production in 2015 and now oversees all the OSF output across numerous genres for a wide range of broadcasters, including BBC, Netflix, Channel 4, ITV, Discovery, National Geographic and Disney+. Recent productions include China: Nature’s Ancient Kingdom, Driven: The Billy Monger Story and Secret of the Elephants.
When not at her desk Anna can be found trying to balance family life, planning her next holiday, cooking for friends or running incredibly slowly.
Lucinda Axelsson
Creative Director
Lucinda Axelsson is a multi-award winning executive producer and former BBC Commissioning Editor and BBC NHU producer, specialising in highly popular and innovative specialist factual shows, documentaries and wildlife series from high end Blue Chip to presenter led shows. She recently exec produced ‘Serengeti’ a pioneering ‘wildlife meets drama’ hybrid series for the BBC, with XIX entertainment and John Downer Productions.
As a series producer Lucinda was responsible for helping create several long running series including the Emmy Award nominated Meerkat Manor with OSF, where for the first time the dramatic narrative techniques of the soap opera were used to reveal the complex social lives of animals, and Natures Weirdest Events where she innovated new ways of explaining the science behind the strange and wonderful events from the natural world by using User Generated Content alongside blue chip footage.
Strong storytelling is at the heart of everything Lucinda does. As a producer and then as a Commissioning Editor she breathed new life in the Blue Chip landmark space with highly rated series on Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, Patagonia, Mexico, Thailand and Alaska, with a focus on creating surprising and exciting narratives. As a Commissioning Editor she worked closely with the producers on highly rated and innovative shows including Spy in the Wild, Snow Chick and Pets Wild at Heart for JDP, the Bafta Nominated, multi-award winning, Attenborough’s Life that Glows with Ammonite Films and Tribes, Predators and Me and Elephant Family and Me featuring Gordon Buchanan with the NHU. Beyond Wildlife films, she was also responsible for the hit BBC shows The World’s Most Amazing Hotels and James May: The Reassembler.