Russ Malkin is a British TV producer and director, the founder of Big Earth Productions. He has created documentaries for broadcasters including

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, ITV,

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, and

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

, often working with high-profile personalities. He is known for the adventure travel documentaries '' Long Way Round'', '' Long Way Down'', and '' Long Way Up'' with actors and motorcyclists

Ewan McGregor Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and ...

and

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made four long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in '' Long Way Round'' (20 ...

. His work also includes ''Prince Harry in Africa'', ''David Beckham: For the Love of the Game'', and the National Geographic documentary ''Fiennes: Return to the Nile''. RUSS ILYUSHIN

Works

''Prince Harry in Africa''

In 2016, Malkin produced and directed ''Prince Harry in Africa'' following the prince's journey from Kensington Palace to

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

in Southern Africa to see the progress being made by his charity Sentebale, to combat HIV/AIDS. The informative and emotive documentary, featuring guest appearances from Sir Elton John,

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

and

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, was produced by Big Earth for ITV.

''David Beckham: For the Love of the Game''

In 2015, Malkin produced and directed ''David Beckham For The Love Of The Game'', in which

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

played seven football matches on seven continents in under nine days, for his

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

7 Fund. The documentary features matches in the jungles of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, with earthquake survivors among the historic temples of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, with refugees on the desert planes of

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

and a game in the dangerous barrios of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. It also includes the unique, World's First official game of football on the isolated and inaccessible continent of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

. The final game took place in front of 70,000 fans raising £1M for UNICEF. Big Earth successfully completed this major logistical undertaking to produce a 90 minute special for worldwide distribution with the

''Fiennes: Return to the Nile''

In 2019, Malkin was the Executive Producer for Ranulph and Joseph Fiennes’s

documentary, ''Fiennes: Return to the Nile''. The three-part series saw the Fiennes cousins re-trace Ranulph’s expedition in Egypt back in the 1960s, including a rare chance to stay overnight in the giant pyramid of Cheops.

Joss Stones's Total World Tour

In 2015, Russ collaborated with

and New Earth Films to follow Stone on her SE Asia tour to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The online adventure saw Joss visit causes close to her heart.

''Long Way'' series

Malkin is best known for producing and directing with David Alexanian a trio of travel documentaries ''– Long Way Round'' (2004), '' Long Way Down'' (2007), and '' Long Way Up'' (2020) – featuring

and

. In each mini-series, Malkin, Alexanian, and a small camera crew accompany and provide logistical support for the two actors as they ride motorcycles on a months-long globe-spanning journey: from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and from

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

With Charley Boorman

Following the first ''Long Way'' series, Malkin and Boorman collaborated on several similar adventure series for TV. The format of these programmes meant that Malkin also made frequent on-screen appearances. Each series has combined social media, books, DVDs and commercial partnerships. In 2006, Malkin produced and directed '' Race to Dakar'', a documentary series following

's entry into the 2006 Dakar Rally from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

. First aired on Sky Two and ABC Television (Australia) during 2006, it was also released as a book. In 2008 and 2009, Malkin produced and directed ''By Any Means'' and '' Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means'' for the BBC, which followed him and Boorman as they travelled from Ireland to Australia and then Australia to Japan, "by any means" of transport available, including gondolas, yachts, and elephants. In 2011, Malkin produced and directed the Channel 5 adventure travel series ''Charley Boorman's Extreme Frontiers'' which spawned a follow-up book and DVD, ''Extreme Frontiers: Racing Across Canada from Newfoundland to the Rockies''. The series featured Boorman undertaking extraordinary adventures through Canada, South Africa and the United States on his motorbike.

Other works

Malkin has produced and directed a number of short-form digital brand adventures, most recently featuring Henry Cavill and Anna Friel. He has also worked on other television productions including ''Murder or Mutiny'', ''Britain in Motion'', ''Ball’s in Our Court'', ''Road Rivals'' (UK Travel Channel), ''Adventure or Luxury'' (

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

), ''Tales of Travel'' (

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

), the ''World

Wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...

Championships'' and ''Clothes Show Live'' for ITV , along with ''World's Fittest Woman'' (2003). As well as television, production and branded content, Malkin wrote his book ‘Big Earth's 101 Amazing Adventures’, published by Transworld in 2011. The book documents the must-go places and routes he has visited, for other keen adventurers to follow. During Malkin’s early career, he produced events that broke several world records including the fastest produced feature film in 1990, the largest aerobics event with the 1993 Boots’s Aerobathon as well as three world records for the indoor go-karting, outdoor go-karting and electric go-karting. He was also responsible for saving the HEMS London Air Ambulance Service after it lost its sponsor, securing sponsorship from

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400. Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...

who assumed the contract for the next 10 years. He is a fellow of

and the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

References

External links

*
Big Earth Ltd. Russ Malkin's TV Production company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malkin, Russ English television directors English television producers Long-distance motorcycle riding Motorcycling mass media people Living people Year of birth missing (living people)