Premieres Wednesday, October 2 at 8|7c on PBS (check local listings.)

Follow an Alaskan professor as he raises and studies a day octopus in his home, making remarkable discoveries about its extraordinary intelligence, personality and skills. Octopus behavior has fascinated humans for centuries; their unique shape and skillsets often provide the inspiration for extraterrestrials in science fiction. New in the world of cephalopod research is the extent to which these intelligent animals are individual personalities – able to recognize faces and interact with other individuals – all of which is an odd adaptation for an animal thought to live an asocial existence.

Production Credits Print

OCTOPUS: MAKING CONTACT

NARRATED BY
DAVID SCHEEL

WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY
DAVID ALLEN

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
DAVID ALLEN

DIRECTED BY
ANNA FITCH

EDITOR
RICHARD WILKINSON

ADDITIONAL EDITOR
SARAH CANNON

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
ERNIE KOVACS

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
JOHN SHAW

MUSIC COMPOSED & CONDUCTED BY
FRASER PURDIE

ASSISTANT PRODUCER
DAVID JOHN

LINE PRODUCERS
CHRISTIAN HOLLAND
GEORGE CHIGNELL

ADDITIONAL CAMERA
SOREN SIBERETS

DUBBING MIXER
MATT COSTER

COLORIST
DAN GILL

GRAPHICS
ELOISE GARLICK

ONLINE EDITOR
EDWARD GIBBS

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
CHRISTOPHER GENT

RESEARCHER
SAM WIGFIELD

PRODUCTION COORDINATORS
NAOMI SUMPTER
JADE WHELDON

DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER
GABY BASTYRA

ARCHIVE
PETER GODFREY-SMITH
MATTHEW LAWRENCE
DAVID SCHEEL
 STEFAN LINQUIST
MARTIN HING
 STEPHANIE CHANCELLOR
ELORA KOOISTRA
NHNZ 
GETTY IMAGES/BBC MOTION GALLERY
IDEACOM 
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
NATURE FOOTAGE 
KQED 
NEWSFLARE 
JUNKIN MEDIA 
CNN 
COLIN MASLEN 
SHUTTERSTOCK

SPECIAL THANKS
LAUREL SCHEEL
MATTHEW LAWRENCE
DALE SANDERS
BRET GRASSE
 JASON COPP 
THE MARINE LIFE CENTER, BELLINGHAM, WA 
MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, WOODS HOLE, MA
ALASKA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY 
KEVIN IZUMI 
WEYMOUTH SEA LIFE ADVENTURE PARK 
THE TONMO COMMUNITY
 NATHAN HOLLENBACK

FOR THE BBC

EDIT ASSISTANT
ALAN NEAL

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
JOANNA MANLEY

PRODUCTION MANAGER
PAULINE GATES

SERIES PRODUCER
HOLLY SPEARING

SERIES EDITOR
ROGER WEBB

FOR NATURE

SERIES EDITOR
JANET HESS

SENIOR PRODUCER
LAURA METZGER LYNCH

COORDINATING PRODUCER
JAYNE JUN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
JAMES F. BURKE

LEGAL COUNSEL
BLANCHE ROBERTSON

DIGITAL PRODUCER
HEATHER TONER

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
KAREN HO

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
CHELSEY SAATKAMP

BUDGET CONTROLLER
JAYNE LISI

ONLINE EDITOR
STACEY DOUGLASS MOVERLEY

ADDITIONAL VOICEOVER
ALLAN PECK

RE-RECORDING MIXER
JON BERMAN

ORIGINAL PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
The Arnhold Family
 Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III 
The Fairweather Foundation 
Kate W. Cassidy Foundation
 Kathy Chiao and Ken Hao 
Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust
Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation
Rosalind P. Walter 
Sandra Atlas Bass 
Doris R. and Robert J. Thomas 
Bradley L. Goldberg Family Foundation
The M. & H. Sommer Foundation
 The Sun Hill Family Foundation
Corporation for Public Broadcasting

SERIES PRODUCER
BILL MURPHY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
FRED KAUFMAN

A PASSION PLANET LTD PRODUCTION FOR THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC AND BBC IN ASSOCIATION WITH WNET