National Geographic Greenlights Next Installment of “Shark Beach” Franchise with Anthony Mackie, Featuring The Award-Winning Actor as He Dives Fin-First Into Shark-Infested Waters

From Emmy® Award-Winning Nutopia, the One-Hour Documentary Follows the Experienced Fisherman and Boater as He Travels Throughout the Gulf of Mexico To Investigate the Human-Shark Conflicts Impacting Local Fishing Communities and Uncovers the Greater Environmental Shifts Taking Place

National Geographic announced today the greenlight for the next installment of the SHARK BEACH franchise, featuring award-winning actor Anthony Mackie as he uncovers the delicate dance between humans, ecosystems and the sharks that serve as keystone species for our environments. SHARK BEACH WITH ANTHONY MACKIE will kick off the fan-favorite summer event SHARKFEST, which celebrates the captivating science and stunning cinematic visuals of the apex predators. The first installment, SHARK BEACH WITH CHRIS HEMSWORTH, followed Hemsworth as he embarked on a personal mission to investigate how we can live more harmoniously with sharks.

SHARK BEACH WITH ANTHONY MACKIE follows Mackie in his hometown of New Orleans, where he grew up boating and angling and still practices the sport to date, a passion he now shares with his four sons. In this film, Mackie investigates a fishing phenomenon called depredation, in which a shark preys upon a fisher’s catch and consumes it before it can be retrieved. Across the globe, more and more fishers are encountering sharks, and a worrying number of sharks are taking their catch. After an increase in shark sightings in his hometown, Mackie sets out to learn more about these concerning cases from local fishing communities in Louisiana but discovers these human-shark encounters may be pointing to larger environmental issues across the greater Gulf of Mexico.

Throughout the one-hour documentary special, Mackie is on a personal mission to keep the peace between coastal communities and sharks. He comes face-to-face with the ocean’s apex predators, swimming with several enormous sandbar and silky sharks and tagging a formidable 7-foot bull shark. Aided in his quest to assess the ever-changing environment and seek solutions to restore balance between humans, sharks, and fish, Mackie ventures out alongside experts, conservationists, community leaders, and fishers, including shark scientist Jasmin Graham, assistant professor at Florida International University Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou, shark researcher Dr. Marcus Drymon and others. Together, they embark on an action-packed adventure through the Gulf of Mexico and Florida, working to understand this phenomenon and revitalize the place he calls home.

“Anthony Mackie absolutely blew our minds with his enthusiasm and curiosity throughout the filming of this new installment of SHARK BEACH,” said Janet Han Vissering, senior vice president, of Development and Production, National Geographic. “We’re so honored to be able to work with him and Nutopia on a passion project that brings him back home and underscores the importance of maintaining balance with nature so that humans and animals can continue to coexist on this beautiful planet.”

With New Orleans as the backdrop, SHARK BEACH WITH ANTHONY MACKIE also highlights the unique connectivity that flows between coastal Louisiana and the city, with one directly supporting the other’s robust culture, cuisine and livelihood. Known for its biodiversity – including wetlands, forests and grasslands – Louisiana is an angler’s paradise but is continually threatened by devastating human activity and climate change-induced storms, impacting how humans and animals are forced to interact.

SHARK BEACH WITH ANTHONY MACKIE is produced in partnership with Nutopia. For Nutopia, Arif Nurmohamed, Nicola Moody and Jane Root serve as executive producers, and Geoff Daniels serves as executive vice president, Unscripted. The one-hour special is directed by Matt Kay. For National Geographic, Tracy Rudolph Jackson serves as executive producer, Janet Vissering is senior vice president of development and Production, and Tom McDonald is executive vice president of Global Factual and Unscripted Content.