Discovery’s 'Shark Week' where the people are as cool as the sharks
By Michelle Tompkins-On July 1, 2016
Credit: TLC/Discovery Channel
Shark Week was launched in 1988, and was created by Tom Golden and team at the Discovery Channel. This annual event geared towards education and conservation grew in notoriety and became a much-watched event for more than just shark enthusiasts or the curious…It became a breeding ground for curiosity and awed. Some popular episodes such as Air Jaws: Night Stalker, Sharks vs Dolphins: Face Off, Killing Games and Nuclear Sharks, raised the bar for interest and intrigue.
This year, for the 30th anniversary, the producers are raising the bar even higher with more shows lined up than ever before that will begin on Sunday, July 22.
The episodes may premiere during each Shark Week, but the best of them play often, year after year and are usually worth a second look. But, if it weren’t for the people involved, it would be like watching Jaws without the sound.
Credit: TLC/Discovery Channel
It is the people, both behind and in front of the camera who make Shark Week an essential event. It is scientists and scholars, bite victims, photographers, hosts and everyone in-between, who make Shark Week so compelling.
Click next to find out who they are and why they are so inspiring!
Michelle Tompkins is an award-winning media, PR and crisis communications professional with more than ten years experience with coverage in virtually every traditional and new media outlet. She is currently a communications and media strategist and writer, as well as the author of College Prowler: Guidebook for Columbia University. She served as the Media Relations Manager for the Girl Scouts of the USA where she managed all media and talking points, created social media strategy, trained executives and donors and served as the organization’s primary spokesperson, participating in daily interviews with local, regional, and national media outlets. She managed the media for the Let Me Know internet safety and Cyberbullying prevention campaign with Microsoft, as well as Girl Scouts’ centennial Year of the Girl To Get Her There celebration in 2012, which yielded more than 800 million earned media impressions. In addition to her extensive media experience, Michelle worked as a talent agent in Los Angeles, California, as well contracting as a digital content developer and her writing has appeared in newspapers and online. She is passionate about television, theater, classic movies, all things food and in-home entertaining. While she has lived and worked in NYC for more than a decade, she is from suburban Sacramento and gets back there often to watch the San Francisco Giants on TV with her family.