After graduating in Zoology Alastair MacEwen made his first 'commercial' film while still a student at the London Film School. He met some friends, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in a pub and he later found that he had promised to make a film on headlice. Fortunately the story has a happy ending for all concerned, especially the patient sponsors, because the film won a major award at an International Scientfic Film Festival and attracted the interest of a London based film medical film making company called Medi-Cine. The directors of this company provided premises and funding to kick-start London Scientific Films.
Starting out as a director/writer his first three films won Best of Festival at the International Scientific Film Association Festival, Gold Award at the British Medical Association Festival and the Times Newcomers Award at the British Industrial Film Association. These early successes established London Scientific Films as a credible industrial documentary production company.
The company specialised in making commercial documentaries but very soon became involved in shooting for television science programmes. LSF had four studios fully equipped for specialist natural history filming. One of them was equipped for microbiological subjects based on Zeiss reseach microscope, an IM 35 with all the relevant optics (DIC, phase, darfield etc). The medical film interest of the company required the filming of anything from bacteria, leucocytes, and tissue cultures to cellular slime moulds, fungi and yeasts.
During its existence LSF took a keen interest in developing innovative optical and electronic systems. In the early 80's the company was developing some of the earliest motion time lapse rigs.
In the mid 1980's the company had to retrench. The scientific filming unit was disbanded. Fortunately by this time the personnel had established a sufficient reputation to go their separate ways within the wildlife film industry. In 1986 Alastair MacEwen gave up his directorship of LSF to continue to work as a freelance cameraman and film maker. He spent some time working with Survival Anglia, followed by a very productive spell at Partridge Films. It was during this time that he met Hugo Van Lawick and worked on a number of films over a six year period while based in Hugo's camp at Ndutu in the Serengeti.
Subsequently most of his work has been for the BBC Natural History Unit and for National Geographic TV.
Credits on programmes include BBC series 'Life on Earth', 'Living Planet', 'World About Us', 'Wildlife on One' - eg 'The Water Walkers', 'Horizon', 'QED'. Also worked on a number of programmes for Survival Anglia, 'They Walk on Water', 'Short Hectic Life', '24 Hours in Deepest Dulwich'. Worked for London Weekend TV 'City Safari', 'Concrete and Clay' and BBC 'Backyard Safari' and 'Seaside Safari', Channel 4 - 'The Amateur Naturalist' with Gerald Durrell, Partridge Films and for the American Stations WNET & WGBH.