The Hallmark Of Adventure

Michele Hall’s journey to becoming part of one of the world’s most pioneering underwater filmmaking duos was an unexpected one, inspired by love – of the ocean, of adventure, and of the man who became both her creative and life partner.

- Michele Hall

Natural history filmmaking is more than just a job. It defines your goals, characterises your ambitions, becomes your way of life. I’m often asked how I got into this business. It’s a career no one (especially me!) would have imagined, much less predicted, for my future.

I grew up a city girl, born to city folks. My idea of an outdoor adventure was a Sunday walk in a city park or sunbathing at a hotel swimming pool. As a child, we didn’t visit national parks and only once did I travel outside the continental US, on a short trip to the Bahamas.

Being a registered nurse was the only job I ever wanted. While in nursing school, I’d have laughed at the suggestion that I would have a second career 20 years later as an underwater filmmaker; I would have found the idea terrifying.

A few years after college graduation and a move from Kansas City, Missouri to San Diego, California, I began dating a doctor whose favourite pastime was scuba diving. That provided me with the motivation to take up the sport, a daring act to me at the time, and in May 1975 I became a certified diver.

A LIFE-LONG LOVE AFFAIR

I soon found myself literally immersed in the Pacific Ocean and enthralled with the new world I’d discovered in the sea. I’d fallen in love. First with the ocean and its inhabitants, and later with my instructor, Howard Hall. I’m sure my parents were horrified upon discovering my romantic attentions had drifted away from a doctor and future plastic surgeon, and toward a diving instructor! Eventually Howard became my wildlife guide.