Nemetz Media founder Alex Nemetz played a critical role in the production of The Aquarium, acting as the Lead Camera Assistant and ‘B’ Camera Operator for the duration of the show’s production, managing the technical and equipment needs in the field as well as facilitating communication between the production and post-production departments.

“We had an incredibly minimal crew while shooting ‘The Aquarium’. Our field team mainly consisted of two producers, an audio supervisor, and the camera team of myself and Director of Photography, Isaac Mathes. Our crew worked very closely with the entirety of Georgia Aquarium’s staff to build a strong rapport and ensure that we could authentically capture the often sensitive and specialized day-to-day tasks involved in caring for aquatic animals. We not only had to build trust with the Georgia Aquarium care team, but with the animals as well. The presence of unfamiliar individuals and certain camera and audio equipment had the potential to disturb the finely-developed routines and training activities that are crucial to the aquarium’s veterinary and scientific practices. We often had to adapt our shooting plan based on the activities we were covering, making use of mounted and hidden camera systems that would ensure the animals’ safety while also not being a distraction that may interrupt or affect their behavior. At many times, we had to limit the amount of personnel in a certain situation or animal habitat. Therefore, myself and Isaac would often have to take on a producer role,

Over the two years of shooting ‘The Aquarium’, I had the chance to document the delicate and incredibly important work of some of the world’s leading marine biologists in their field. From moving 2,000 pound beluga whales into their new habitat, to the surgical removal of a sea lion’s damaged eye, to coral conservation dive trips in the Florida Keys, working on Animal Planet’s ‘The Aquarium’ was an enlightening, challenging, and rewarding endeavor that taught me many valuable skills and honed existing ones to bring along with me on future documentary projects.”

– Alex Nemetz

Nemetz Media