How to Live on Earth is a visionary feature documentary that explores our vital connection to nature and its role in our future. Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch, this ultimate ‘how-to guide’ features inspirational, cutting-edge stories and powerful cinematography from around the world to reveal how humans are learning to team up with nature to solve our biggest challenges. Heart-warming, entertaining, energising, the film presents a hopeful vision of a future within reach – one in which nature thrives, and so do we. Coming to select cinemas from 26 June 2026. Launching globally on YouTube later this year.
How to Live on Earth Documentary Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch
Featuring an exclusive end track from Grammy-winning artist Imogen Heap, the film will launch 20 September 2026
- Published:
- Updated: September 1, 2026
- By: Creators Faire Editorial
Jonnie Hughes, Executive Producer & Co-Founder of Open Planet Studios, said: “We created How to Live on Earth to be a catalyst for a much bigger conversation about our relationship with the natural world. We’ve seen a growing appetite for hopeful stories that give people optimism and agency, and the global premiere on YouTube is a chance to turn that momentum into a truly shared moment. Imogen Heap’s extraordinary creative response to the film is a wonderful example of what we hope it can inspire in others. We invite audiences to share, question and imagine what a different relationship with nature could look like.”
Commenting on the collaboration, Imogen Heap said: “This all sparked from a conversation with my dear friend, Dan O’Neill, a wildlife biologist and one of the featured experts who shares their experiences in How To Live On Earth. After watching the film, which I absolutely loved, I was deeply inspired to write this track. I’m so honoured to be a part of it and can’t wait for audiences to hear ‘Chapter 4’ for the first time during the film’s global premiere on YouTube.”
WHO
HOW TO LIVE ON EARTH is an Open Planet Studios production, in association with Villars Institute Foundation and Silvania. The film is directed by Fredi Devas, produced by Fredi Devas and Jonnie Hughes, and executive produced by Jonnie Hughes and Colin Butfield. Director of Photography is Stuart Dunn, with the main theme by Hans Zimmer and Jacob Shea for Bleeding Fingers Music, and an original score by Jacob Shea and Ho-Ling Tang.
About How to Live on Earth
How to Live on Earth is a visionary feature documentary that explores our vital connection to nature and its role in our future. Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch, this ultimate “how-to video” features inspirational, cutting-edge stories and powerful cinematography from around the world to reveal how humans are learning to team up with nature to solve our biggest challenges. Heart-warming, entertaining, energising, the film presents a hopeful vision of a future within reach – one in which nature thrives, and so do we.
How to Live on Earth will premiere globally on YouTube on 20 September 2026. Find out more at: howtoliveonearth.net.
About Imogen Heap
Imogen Heap, a British artist, has spent 30 years self-producing music, releasing four solo albums and one with Frou Frou. She has collaborated with Taylor Swift, Deadmau5, and others. Her songs appear in films, TV, and are widely sampled in rap and dance. Heap has won two Grammys, an Ivor Novello, and pioneered the MiMu gloves for gestural music control. She’s passionate about using techonology to connect family life and creativity, enhancing her workflow and balancing personal and professional worlds.
About Open Planet Studios
Open Planet Studios is one of the world’s leading producers of impact films. Founded by Colin Butfield and Jonnie Hughes, it specialises in groundbreaking content to drive change.
Its award-winning team has worked on landmark TV and film productions, including Ocean with David Attenborough (National Geographic), Breaking Boundaries (Netflix), David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet (Netflix), The Earthshot Prize: Restoring Our Planet (BBC, Discovery+ and PBS), and Seat At The Table (YouTube Originals). In 2025, Open Planet Studios produced its first 360° immersive experience, Our Story with David Attenborough.
The studio regularly produces content for major UN events, including David Attenborough’s speech on the opening day of COP26 in Glasgow, for which it was invited to join the UN’s SDG Media Compact in 2023. Through its award-winning, not-for-profit impact library, Open Planet, the studio empowers storytellers globally with free, trusted, world-class content of our changing planet.
About Villars Institute Foundation
Established in 2022, the Villars Institute is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to accelerating the transition to a net-zero and nature-positive economy and to restoring the health of the planet. Located in the heart of the Swiss Alps, the Villars Institute serves as a platform for systemic change and a hub for intergenerational collaboration. It also curates artistic, cultural, and educational activities that promote systems leadership, planetary health, and ecopreneurship.
About Silvania
Silvania is a visionary investment platform that specialises in high-integrity nature-based projects worldwide, directing investment into ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots where the potential for climate, biodiversity, and community benefits is greatest. Led by a highly experienced team and working with leading edge conservation and restoration partners, Silvania does more than provide capital, its mission is to demonstrate nature as a new and investable asset class. It invests globally in local communities, governments and partners to design, implement, and manage projects across their full lifecycle, ensuring measurable ecological integrity, durable community benefits, and lasting environmental impact.
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