Michael Kobert and Dona Donato are co-founders of Giggling Gorilla Productions – a production company with a mission of creating media that stirs the soul.

They believe in the power of film to make profound changes in the world and their passion is to spread messages of love, sustainability, consciousness, unity, health and hope.

Michael brings wisdom from 22-years of experience in wildlife husbandry and conservation and his proficiency in the visual mediums to express storytelling in impactful ways.

Michael developed his passion for animals at the tender age of four after a chance meeting with a California King snake led to a lifelong pursuit of anything to do with wildlife.  An accomplished animal manager and trainer, Michael uses his knowledge and experience to help others appreciate and respect the natural world and all of its residents.  Michael spent over twenty-two years working with both the San Francisco and San Diego Zoos. He is a respected professional zoologist and animal manager as well as an accomplished animal trainer with over 22 years in the San Francisco and San Diego Wildlife Parks.  His resume includes more than 400 types of animals, ranging from the smallest species of snakes to the largest cats. Michael ended his wildlife facility career as the Animal Care Manager (ACM) for the San Diego Safari Park.  As the ACM, Michael was responsible for more then 2,100 animals, 800 acres of display,  sixty-three staff members and an operating budget of $3.5 million.

Adept at both sides of the camera Michael was known for his regular appearances as the featured keeper on Discovery Channel’s hit series The Keepers.

Dona is an Emmy-nominated producer and director of television, video and live events.  She is passionate about animals, sustainability, compassion, traveling to exotic places and making the world a better place.  Her extensive background in video production, live event production and marketing drew her to want to share these life enhancing messages to the world through the broader platforms of television and web production.

The founders thank our dedicated team members and consultants for lending their passion and talent to our projects

Rick Prickett – Systems specialist and Film Competitions director

Denise McConnell – Contributor, Speaker and Artist-in-Residence

Travis Fox – Emmy / Telly winner Television projects Producing partner