A film made by a group of graduates of Montana State University’s Science and Natural Filmmaking program has led off National Geographic’s second annual Big Cat Week on the  Nat Geo WILD channel and will air in March.

Grizzly Creek Films “Stalking the Mountain Lion with Casey Anderson,” leads off programming for the seven-night Big Cat Week series that features powerful stories about nature’s fiercest felines and the people working to save them.

“American Cougar,” a film featuring Bozeman-based scientist Howard Quigley, also will air.

“Stalking the Mountain Lion” is the latest one-hour television production from Grizzly Creek Films.

Filmed in the backcountry outside Yellowstone National Park throughout the winter of 2010-11, “Stalking the Mountain Lion” features local residents Casey Anderson and cat tracker Tyler Johnerson as they track and film “the ghost of the Rockies” with never-before-filmed footage.

The show blends high-speed imagery, advanced camera technology and compelling natural behavior.

Grizzly Creek Films is a Bozeman-based production company formed by graduates of MSU’s MFA program.

The company specializes in natural history, commercial, documentary and narrative productions for clients in Montana and worldwide. MSU graduates working for the company include: Thomas Winston, executive producer, director and director of photography; Rick Smith, cinematographer; Eric Bendick, writer and producer; Anne Devereux, supervising producer; Stefanie Watkins, editor. Justin Lubke, editor, also graduated from MSU.

Two current MSU MFA candidates, Ian Johnson and Alan Franks, are production and research assistants.

Big Cat Week, which will be Dec. 11-17 on Nat Geo WILD, is an extension of National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative, a long-term commitment to halt the decline of the felines in the wild.

“Stalking the Mountain Lion” will be the first episode in the upcoming six-episode original series “America the Wild” set to air on Nat Geo WILD in March.

It will be the third consecutive season that Grizzly Creek Films programming has aired on Nat Geo WILD.