Wild Connect: Where Biodiversity Meets Blockbusters
Father and Son duo, William Todd-Jones and David Todd-Jones
Wales-based nature-tech company Wild Connect specialises in biodiversity monitoring and sustainability consultancy, offering a combination of scientific rigour and easy-to-understand reporting to help clients make nature-positive decisions.
They achieve this by collecting data from all verifiable sources—soundscape recorders, camera traps, satellite imagery, eDNA sampling, weather stations, tracking collars, and boots-on-the-ground surveying. When combined and analysed, this data helps audit a client’s environmental impact—making it easy (and even fun) to be planet-positive.
Breaking Into Film and TV
Though operating since 2019, it is Media Cymru support that is now allowing Wild Connect to branch into the creative sector, with a specific focus on film and television productions.
This backing enables them to research and develop tools that integrate sustainable practices into creative projects—without prohibitive costs. From ecological surveying to habitat assessment and wildlife monitoring, Wild Connect will help productions comply with increasingly stringent environmental regulations while also navigating the unique demands of screen storytelling.
Trusted by Forward-Thinking Clients
Wild Connect works with production companies, studios, green media agencies, and environmental organisations. They also collaborate with universities and local authorities, offering guidance on biodiversity credits, compliance frameworks, and habitat management. Their services are both scientifically robust and practical to implement—designed to support a new era of environmentally responsible production.
A Father & Son Team
William Todd-Jones, ‘Todd’, brings 40 years of experience in the film industry, including credits on Labyrinth, Harry Potter, and His Dark Materials. It was during Labyrinth that David Bowie—watching materials being thrown out—asked him, “Can’t we recycle any of this?” That question helped spark a lifelong mission.
David Todd-Jones, a biologist and electronics innovator, leads on technology development, including the company’s flagship product: the Nature-Impact Surveying Toolkit (NIST).
The pair also share a conservation legacy—both having run the London Marathon in the same 15kg rhino costume (33 years apart) to raise funds for Save the Rhino International.
The pair also share a conservation legacy, both having run the London Marathon in the same 15kg rhino costume (33 years apart) to raise funds for Save the Rhino International.
David (L), Todd (R)
Growing with Innovation
David now leads the development of Wild Connect’s Biophone technology and NIST platform, working with partners including UCL, Swansea University, University of South Wales, Cardiff Met, Wolf Studios, and Screen Alliance Wales.
Backed by Media Cymru, Wild Connect is now developing NIST as a user-friendly environmental auditing tool that helps productions track biodiversity impact, align with industry standards like BAFTA’s Albert, and enable crews to make more sustainable choices throughout a shoot. The toolkit is also designed to be scalable—opening the door to future use in other sectors like agriculture and construction.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Early hurdles included securing sustainable funding and navigating complex regulation while maintaining scientific integrity. These were overcome through partnerships with universities, conservation NGOs, and industry stakeholders—blending technological innovation with deep ecological knowledge and on-set experience.
Impact That Speaks for Itself
Wild Connect is showing that biodiversity monitoring doesn’t have to be an afterthought—it can be a creative cornerstone. Their innovative projects aim to position Wales as a hub for green media innovation, where storytelling and sustainability go hand in hand.
Read their feature in the latest issue of the Creative Collection Magazine.
