Mark Vins
Mark Vins is a wildlife filmmaker, host and co-founder of Brave Wilderness, sharing animal encounters and conservation stories from rainforests to the ocean.
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Latest
Mark’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Film
YouTube Originals
Brave WildernessOverview
- Work
- Wildlife filmmaker, host and co-founder of Brave Wilderness
- Roots
- Grew up in rural Ohio and studied filmmaking at Ohio State University
- Creative partner
- Met Coyote Peterson at Ohio State University
- Conservation
- Re:wild ambassador
- Feature debut
- Reef to Ridge, premiered at TIFF in 2026
Mini bio
How it started.
Mark grew up in rural Ohio and found early inspiration in independent films he saw at festivals while in college. At Ohio State University, he and fellow filmmaking student Coyote Peterson bonded over their love of nature. That shared interest became the foundation of Brave Wilderness.
Finding an audience.
As Brave Wilderness’s director and co-founder, Mark helped turn close encounters with wildlife into accessible online stories. The channel’s series included Breaking Trail, which won a Youth/Teen Emmy in 2015. He also stepped in front of the camera, exploring marine life and testing bites and stings for the team’s Bite Sting Index.
Conservation in action.
Mark’s work with Re:wild connects animal encounters to the people protecting threatened habitats. He hosted and co-directed Brave Mission: Rewild the Planet, a YouTube Originals documentary made with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way that follows Virunga National Park’s rangers and mountain gorillas.
Onto the big screen.
His debut feature, Reef to Ridge, follows a ten-day Galápagos expedition from underwater habitats to Wolf Volcano. Mark said the team spent nearly four years in post-production. The film premiered at TIFF in 2026, followed by a U.S. premiere screening scheduled at Boston’s Museum of Science.
Creditschronological, newest first
- 2026Reef to RidgeFilmmaker and on-screen expedition leader
- 2026Wild FilesHost
- 2021Brave Mission: Rewild the PlanetHost, creator, co-director, co-writer and executive producer
Awards
Quotes
Our strikeouts matter just as much as the home runs because we learn something from every single upload.Mark Vins, Onside
In an August 2026 interview ahead of Reef to Ridge’s TIFF premiere, he explained how making YouTube videos helped him develop as a filmmaker.
Trivia
- Frogs are among his favorite animals, according to his Re:wild ambassador profile.
- He names Jimmy Chin as a filmmaker he would love to meet or collaborate with.
- His personal YouTube channel includes director’s cuts of wildlife expeditions and the scuba diving series Aquanaut.
- During a nighttime jungle search for an eyelash viper, he and Coyote instead encountered a juvenile ocelot that played with them for hours.
Find Mark
Follow Mark for wildlife encounters, new films and conservation projects.
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