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The Lion and the Giraffe: A Naturalist's Life In the Movie Business

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Hollywood is chock full of unsung heroes who bust their butts behind the scenes to create the films and television programs that we all enjoy. Jack Couffer's life story (so far) is engagingly told in this fascinating autobiography of a man who has made the most of everything life has offered to him. From building weapons during wartime to capturing animals on film, Couffer peppers his book with enjoyable, riveting anecdotes. His love of life, of his home-away-from-home in Africa, his family and friends, are covered in a fast-moving narrative. Pick up this book -- I hope you'll love it as much as I did!

Much more than just an in depth study of the film industry, The Lion And The Giraffe is the story of and by a man who loves animals and possesses the unique ability to capture their moods, moves and natural wild instincts on film, often risking his own life to do so. Couffer is blessed with the creative ability to get what is needed against all odds, the man who gets the take, and he possesses a keen descriptive sense when relating his story through the written word. Animals, actors, directors, producers, moguls like Walt Disney all spring to life in this book, along with the many countries he has filmed in, his favorite being Africa, where he eventually settled. Real, gut wrenching and wonderful, Jack has documented his life, his loves, the pitfalls and triumphs of a life spent doing what he loved. You've seen his work in many films, he's worked with many of the biggest names in the film industry. Recommended reading for anyone who has ever had the courage to follow their heart and their dreams.

The book appeals to the reader with a wide variety of interests from animals to movie-making. There are vivid descriptions of the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, Scotland and other locations. Stories about various colorful and sometimes eccentric people are fascinating. The author shows his lifelong interest in and understanding of living creatures, while sharing his knowledge of how movies are made. This is an engaging book by an interesting author. I found it hard to put down and read it eagerly while ignoring my chores around the house and yard.

American Cinematographer Magazine
The Lion and the Giraffe
By Jack Couffer
Reviewed by Jim Hemphill

Jack Couffer, ASC has told stories about the subject that consumes him above all others - nature - in an astonishingly broad array of media. He's worked as a director (both first and second unit) and cameraman on everything from low-budget documentaries to enormous Hollywood spectacles, he's written screenplays and novels, and he was a television pioneer with his work for Walt Disney. As one might expect from a filmmaker of such diverse interests and talents, Couffer's memoir The Lion and the Giraffe: A Naturalist's Life in the Movie Business covers a wide range of topics and experiences, from Couffer's personal life and filmmaking adventures to the minutiae of show business politics and the author's squabbles with unions and producers. The result is an entertaining and informative portrait of an enviably varied artistic life.

Couffer's life as a filmmaker begins with some fateful encounters at the USC film school, where in the late 1940s he meets student filmmakers Marvin Weinstein and future cinematography legend Conrad Hall. Together the three young cinema buffs form a production company and make their mark by shooting nature footage for Walt Disney's film and television productions, including the True Life Adventures and The Wonderful World of Disney series. Eventually the "three musketeers" split up to pursue different interests, but Couffer's path as a chronicler of nature is set, and his work for Disney takes him all over the world. It also puts him in contact with some colorful but dangerous characters (both human and animal), who Couffer describes in amusing detail throughout the memoir.

Couffer eventually leaves Disney and becomes a successful director of animal and nature footage in fiction films and television shows including the Born Free sequel and series, The Ghost and the Darkness, and perhaps his most extraordinary achievement, Never Cry Wolf. The productions Couffer works on range from the ridiculous (Sheena, Queen of the Jungle) to the sublime (Out of Africa), and he narrates the ups and downs of all of them with great wit and detail. One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is the correlation Couffer draws between an enjoyable shoot and a successful finished film - which is to say, no correlation at all. The massively successful Out of Africa leaves a sour taste in the filmmaker's mouth thanks to negative behind-the-scenes politics, while other movies that are more creatively and personally satisfying fail to find audiences. For each job, Couffer expertly describes the technical and artistic challenges as well as the political and economic ones, giving a fully rounded view of what it means to be an artist in a mass medium like film or television.

Couffer's is thus a tale of a working filmmaker in the trenches, doing his best to get what he wants on film and finding success, disappointment, and surprise in equal measures. It's also a love letter to the places and animals he photographs, and to the people with whom he's worked (of course, it's not all love - there are some delicious chapters in which Couffer pulls no punches against the collaborators with whom he clashed). For cinematography buffs and film historians the book is pure gold, filled as it is with the stories behind films both famous and obscure - one such nugget, in which Couffer explains his small role in the evolution of Haskell Wexler, ASC's Medium Cool, is an especially instructive lesson in the roundabout manner in which movies come to exist. Couffer's combination of specialization (in the world of nature filmmaking) with the diverse number of professional hats he's worn gives him an uncommonly unique perspective on the art and business of cinema, and his decades at work give his book admirable scope.

Yet there's also a real modesty in Couffer's writing style that belies the breadth of his achievements, and it makes his book more pleasurable and valuable than the usual self-serving Hollywood memoir (to cite just one example of Couffer's self-effacing manner, one of his shortest chapters is the one on Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the film for which he was nominated for a cinematography Oscar). Throughout the tome one gets a sense of the author's sheer gratefulness at having had the kinds of filmmaking opportunities he's had (even during the more challenging shoots), and his infectious passion for both cinema and nature is extremely inspiring. His humility extends to honest descriptions of his personal relationships, including his marital infidelities, but there's nothing gossipy or indulgent about the chapters detailing his romantic entanglements. In fact, the more personal chapters inform rather than distract from the professional ones, as Couffer reinforces the notion of an integrated life in which relationships, nature, and filmmaking are all inseparable parts of one larger continuum.

Review by Leonard Maltin
The author of this colorful memoir may not be a household name, but he's been involved in everything from Walt Disney's The Living Desert to Out of Africa, from Disney animal movies like The Incredible Journey to Never Cry Wolf...and he has great stories to tell.

Couffer was a naturalist and a seaman before he ever thought of looking through a viewfinder. It was only by chance, when he attended USC on the G.I. bill after World War Two, that he became friendly with a fellow student named Conrad Hall, who persuaded him to try a cinema class. He fell under the spell of the celebrated montage-maker and teacher Slavko Vorkapich, and before long, he, Hall, and another newcomer were filmmaking partners. Couffer's tales of trying to break into the business--and how the three hungry newcomers bent and broke rules to do so in the 1950s--are evocative and still instructive today. How the trio made its first dramatic feature (Running Target) on location, with very little money and not-always-cooperative actors, could still be used as a textbook on indie filmmaking.

Eventually he shot some macro-footage of insects, which got his foot in the door at the Disney studio and his first assignment. He and Hall, who shared his adventurous spirit and love of the outdoors, spent almost a year living in the Galapagos Islands, for starters, filming wildlife that had never been put on film before. He continued working for the company on a freelance basis well into the 1960s, and reveals fascinating details about how some of the remarkable animal footage for films like Nikki, Wild Dog of the North, The Legend of Lobo, and The Incredible Journey was accomplished. He also spills the beans about Disney's not-so-generous attitude toward freelancers, and how--after push came to shove--he got the last laugh.

Couffer isn't bitter, however; he seems to be a pragmatist, and realizes how fortunate he was to do something he genuinely loved and get paid for it. He also has kind words for Walt himself, and marvels at the fact that whenever he chanced to run into the boss, he always knew exactly what Couffer was working on at the time and had a ready supply of questions.

His other far-reaching adventures crisscross the globe and provide insights into the process of working in remote locales, with all sorts of wild creatures, and always coming home with Hollywood-grade material. For some of the animal films--or second-unit work involving animals--preparation work might begin a year ahead of time, raising anything from an eagle to a lion to be able to work in front of a camera. Couffer occasionally got to work with humans, as well, as director of such films as Ring of Bright Water and Living Free. Over the years he became a good writer, which is evidenced by this absorbing, highly readable autobiography.

Some of his funniest stories involve disastrous shoots like Sheena (1984), for which Couffer shot second-unit action under the direction of John Guillermin, who functioned best in an atmosphere of chaos. Another second-unit shoot, for Sydney Pollack on Out of Africa, reveals the darker side of the movie business, where personality clashes take precedence over getting good results on screen.

Couffer delves into his personal life, with some degree of discretion, and tells us how his long trips away from home put strain on his first marriage, but also shares some wonderful times he spent with his son where they got to share the fun of being on location and learning about nature.



Review by Stan McClain, Filmtools President

We've seen many books published by cinematographers who have given us great insights to their lighting techniques, but this is the first autobiography I've ever read that was written by a dedicated Wildlife Cinematographer.

Besides being a cinematographer, Jack Couffer has written several books of fiction so his life's adventures do truly read as an entertaining and spirited story about his sixty years in our business. He has always been one to shun the spotlight, which adds to his persona as one of our industry's most highly accomplished "unsung heroes."

Jack got his start by switching majors during the late 40's and enrolled into the USC Cinema Department from a suggestion by Conrad Hall. Three of his mentors included Slavko Vorkapich, Floyd Crosby and Ralph Woolsey. Back in those days the union was difficult to join and Jack found himself supplying "Stock Footage" to Disney for many years and at very cheap rates. Disney would give him assignments, a couple rolls of film and a pat on the back. His dedication to his love of nature cinematography was the cornerstone of his career; not the paycheck. Jack earned the respect of his fellow peers when his friends Haskell Wexler and Conrad sponsored him into The American Society of Cinematographers.

Jack shares his experiences throughout the sixty years from his work on note worthy films including; The Living Desert, Out of Africa, Living Free, Jonathon Livingston Seagull ( where he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography), The Ghost and the Darkness, The Incredible Journey, and Never Cry Wolf to name a few. Whether Jack was filming in the Arctic, Antarctic, Tahiti, Africa, or America, his ability to get up- close and personal with wild animals is presented through the lens with awe and magic.

The book is an absolute delight to read. It's entertaining, enchanting and his wording is vividly painted onto every page. Thumbs up!


Reviewed by:
Stan McClain
President, Filmtools
Past President; SOC


Review from "The Burbank Leader" by Brian McGackin
Everyone in Hollywood has a story, right? Countless aspiring actors, filmmakers and crewmembers have flocked to Los Angeles over the years looking for fame, fortune and glory via the silver screen. Each one brings with them a history, a memoir waiting to be written.

While the lives and stories of those who are lucky enough to be born and raised around the film industry may not always seem as glamorous on the surface, often their adventures can be the most interesting. Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Jack Couffer ("Jonathan Livingston Seagull," 1973) was born in Upland and raised in Glendale but is probably better known for his work shooting outside of Los Angeles County.

In his new memoir, "The Lion and the Giraffe: A Naturalist's Life in the Movie Business," Couffer recounts his decades-long career filming wildlife, beginning with his early interests in nature and the animal kingdom. He writes in depth about his years at the USC film school; remembers fondly his work with Walt Disney Studio's "True Life Adventure" series and with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford on "Out of Africa"; and describes his own years spent living a simple life in the wilds of Kenya.

Through all of Couffer's industry tales and adventures, he retains a special kind of charm not usually found in this type of memoir-as-life-story book. The author delves into his personal history with alarming detail, even going so far as to acknowledge events and mistakes that might not paint him in the best light, such as early extramarital affairs. He does all of this with a simple grace, however, admitting that he has made mistakes, but choosing not to harp on them. Instead, Couffer highlights the people around him, the stories and impressions he was able to take from those influences, and the wildlife adventures he had throughout the years.

I was surprised at how strongly I was drawn to "The Lion and the Giraffe." While I very much enjoy Discovery Channel and its many specials -- 'm writing this review just ahead of Shark Week -- I've never taken much of a personal interest in wildlife photographers or cinematographers themselves. Couffer presents himself quaintly, as a guy just doing his job because he enjoys it, which makes the book all the more intriguing. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, though: This is Couffer's 12th book.

If you're a fan of film, television, wildlife or just enjoy a well-written memoir, I suggest taking a look at this one. It's bursting with suspenseful encounters, charming anecdotes and a narrator you can't help but enjoy spending the afternoon alongside. Follow Couffer as he travels to Canada, Arizona, Texas, Kenya, the Galapagos Islands, and, the most dangerous location of all, Hollywood.


ISBN: 1593935382