Our Founder: Andrew Wegst

Andrew began his career in filmmaking more than 30 years ago, with a focus on environmental education. Since then, he has produced, directed, shot, written, or contributed to over 150 hours of broadcast television content, educating audiences about the world around them. Andrew's work spans from small shows on creating backyard habitats for native species in the U.S. to multi-million-dollar wildlife conservation series for leading Chinese streaming platforms. He has worked in more than 75 countries and has won awards at numerous film festivals. In addition, he has produced material for international organizations, including the United Nations.

His latest series about the plight of sea turtles has garnered an impressive 40 million views in China. He was also part of a team that won the 2017 National News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a PBS Nature film featuring the incredible abilities of hummingbirds. However, after leading several high-profile media projects in Africa, Andrew recognized the need for more targeted programs to provide knowledge and solutions around human-wildlife conflict to local communities. This experience, along with his passion and dedication to the wild animals of our planet and its local communities, led Andrew to found Maono Conservation.

He is proud of his firm commitment to education and empowerment drives everything he does. He has taught several university courses and served as head film instructor at the Maine Media Workshops Rockport College. Andrew also mentors new content creators worldwide and has even taught classes for the Ugandan national TV network. He recently completed a successful five-year engagement as the Senior Producer of Special Projects at WildAid. Andrew believes that combining his filmmaking, education, and non-profit experience can have a more significant impact on wildlife conservation than by using any of them separately. He is excited by the opportunities that come from producing conservation-focused media projects.

Andrew is uniquely qualified and experienced to deliver on his mission of creating, producing, and distributing impactful educational conservation programs focused on wildlife.

Member:
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
International Association of Wildlife Filmmakers
British Guild of Television Camera Professionals

Watch Andrew’s “Talks at Google” presentation, which inspired the creation of MCM.