The Serengeti Rules

The Serengeti Rules is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Nicolas Brown, and based on the book by Sean B. Carroll. The film explores the discoveries of five pioneering scientists—Tony Sinclair, Mary E. Power, Bob Paine, John Terborgh, and Jim Estes—whose decades of research laid the groundwork for modern ecology and offer hope that environmentalists today may be able to “upgrade” damaged ecosystems by understanding the rules that govern them.

The film was produced by David Allen. Executive producers are David Guy Elisco, John Battsek and Dennis WC. Liu. The Serengeti Rules received support from Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation. The Serengeti Rules premiered April 21, 2018 at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically in select theaters in North America beginning on May 10, 2019 at the Quad Cinema in New York City. The Serengeti Rules aired as an episode of the PBS series Nature on October 9, 2019.

The Serengeti Rules features the song “Society”, performed by Eddie Vedder, and written by Jerry Hannan.