Neil Losin, Academic Affiliate of Biology, Penn State University



Neil Losin is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and an Academic Affiliate of Biology at PSU. After studying the evolutionary ecology of Anolis lizards to earn his Ph.D. in Biology from UCLA in 2012, Neil co-founded Day’s Edge Productions with fellow biologist Nate Dappen. For the last decade, Day’s Edge has created award-winning films for broadcast, web, and classrooms. Their clients include PBS, National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, HHMI, World Wildlife Fund, NSF, Illumina Inc., and many others.

In this presentation, Neil will share his journey from academia to science media, highlighting recent films that illustrate the breadth of Day’s Edge Productions’ portfolio. Through these and other examples, he’ll show how science documentaries get made – from funding to production and post-production, through delivery and distribution. He’ll outline the ways that researchers (including PSU faculty!) can collaborate with Day’s Edge Productions – from NSF-funded Broader Impacts partnerships to educational films for science classrooms, to primetime broadcast documentaries. Finally, Neil will share lessons from 10 years of experience leading professional development workshops for early-career scientists and filmmakers.