Walt and Myrna Berlet's Berlet Film Company, specializing in nature films, was one of the
last to make academic films in the 16mm medium ('Canada Goose',
approximately 2000). Walter Berlet (b. Sept. 26, 1910 – d. September 6, 1995)
began experimenting with 8mm film while operating a dry goods store in Casper,
Wyoming, and performing occasional lectures for the Audubon Society. His first
film 'The Living Wilderness', was made for the Society in 1960. While in
Casper, he met Myrna (b. May 30, 1940), a Minot State University biology major
intending on teaching as a career. She soon changed career paths, and they
became an inseparable film team, with Walt doing camerawork, and Myrna writing
most of the scripts, and handling the lion’s share of the editing.
After Walt’s passing in 1995, Myrna continued making nature films.
She marketed through standard channels as well as through the Berlets' website, but
discontinued selling films in 2005, primarily due to thin profit margins and constantly changing
curricula.
Filmography
In addition to the following Berlet-produced 16mm titles for sale to
classrooms and libraries, Walter and Myrna produced 15 films to be used for
lectures. They also supplied footage and consulting for a series of
Canadian television programs, many of which were produced by KEG and Ellis
Productions of Toronto.
Titles produced and distributed by Berlet Films
All About Bears
Bluebirds, Bring Them Back
Buffalo Still Roam
Canada Goose Story
Coots, Coots Everywhere
Great Blue Heron Story
Greater Sandhill Crane Story,
The (1979)
Habitat Diversity
Kirtland's Warbler, Bird of Fire
Legacy for a Loon
Life of the Bighorn Sheep
Meet the Grebes
Meeting Baby Animals
Pelicans, Pelicans, Pelicans
Remarkable Mountain Goat
Roseate Spoonbill
Sea Animals Ashore
Seasons in the Desert
Seasons in the Mountains
Seasons in the Prairie
Seasons in the Woodlands
Seasons of the Elk
Seasons of the White-Tailed Deer
Shoreline Habitats
Trumpeter Swans Return
Turkeys in the Wild
Two Little Owls
Wetland Homes
Wetlands, We Need Them
Titles Distributed by International Film Bureau
Adaptations for Survival: Birds
Adaptations for Survival: Mammals
Amphibians: What, When & Where
Animal Behavior: Fall
Animal Behavior: Spring
Animal Behavior: Summer
Animal Behavior: Winter
Animals and the Sun
Birds and Their Young
Butterfly and Moth Field Studies
Critter the Raccoon
Deer Family of North America
Desert Ecology
Ecology of Pronghorn, Mountain Sheep, and Mountain Goats
Fall and Winter Come and Go
Four Seasons Series:
- Fall Is Here
- Fall Is Here (Second Edition)
- Spring Is Here
- Spring Is Here (Second Edition)
- Summer Is Here
- Summer Is Here (Second Edition)
- Winter Is Here
- Winter Is Here (Second Edition)
Life Zones of the Central Rockies
Mountain Life Zone Communities
Peanut the Pinto Horse
Petey the Pelican
Population and Pollution
Ride a Wagon Train
Sheep, Shearing and Spinning
Spring and Summer Come and Go
Watching a Wood Carver
Zoo Animals in the Wild
Titles Distributed by Journal Films, Inc.
Farms in the Fall
Farms in the Spring
Farms in the Summer
Farms in the Winter
Visit to a County Fair
Visit to a Honey Bee Farm
Visit to a Maple Sugar Farm
Visit to a Nature Center
Visit to a Pond
Visit to Snow Country
Visit to Wild Bird Island
Visit to Wild Rice Country
Visit With Farmer Joe
Visit With the Ranchers
