Masha Nordbye is an award-winning Television/Documentary Producer, Director & Writer, Book author, Photographer, Expedition Leader and Explorer, who has traveled through more than 145 countries on all 7 continents, and worked on over a hundred documentary and film projects. In addition, she has participated on many diverse assignments around the world from reality series and Live Award Shows to programs for Non-Profit Foundations and volunteer work. She also speaks Russian and German.
Ms Nordbye has worked on productions for companies that include the three major networks, National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, PBS, History Channel, A&E, TLC, and other cable channels. For one series, she directed over 35 feature segments through 12 countries for The Travel Channel; and for another, spent 7 months, based in Hong Kong, filming in ten countries throughout Asia as a Producer/Director/Writer for Discovery Channel, Asia. She has also worked on reality shows from the U.S. to South America & Asia. In addition, Masha is an Expedition Leader and Cultural Lecturer for Geographic Expeditions, and her treks include a six-week journey across all the ‘Stans’ of Central Asia; a two-month journey along Marco Polo’s Silk Route across China and Central Asia; through Siberia and Lake Baikal regions (she has filmed over 15 Docs throughout the former Soviet Union and written 5 books on Russia); Outer Mongolia, parts of the Middle East, and sojourns across Tibet, Nepal, India , Myanmar (Burma) and Bhutan; she is also one of the first women in history to stand atop the North Pole. Masha was the Producer/Director for the 13-part Adventure-Travel television series Pathfinders: Exotic Journeys, sponsored by Nissan. Additionally, she had Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, flying on the trapeze in ABC Networks's Adventures with the Duchess, and covered erupting volcanoes from Hawaii to Mexico & Iceland for The World’s Most Dangerous Volcanoes. Masha is an avid scuba diver, and was the Producer/Writer for the series, Our Ocean World, sponsored by the Save Our Seas Foundation, filmed in over 20 countries. She was also the Producer/Director/Writer for the HD Special, The Blue Revolution, on the state of world's oceans and marine life. Ms Nordbye has worked on 3-D productions, feature films, reality programming, and for many international wildlife organizations, including WWF and WildAid. Her latest is the Feature Documentary, The Flight Fantastic, on circus and trapeze. (See more under Main Menu-left-under The Flight Fantastic).
Masha is also a cultural lecturer on Tibet and Tibetan Buddism, and has been visiting Buddhist regions for many decades. She has also worked throughout areas of the former Soviet Union for over 30 years. (Scroll to bottom of page for a listing of her work throughout Яussia and the former Soviet Union.)
2022
The Creative Cauldron of the Caucasus
Click on Link to Read: The Creative Cauldron of the Caucasus Article posted on March 1, 2022
The vast region of the majestic Caucasus that stretches between the Black and Caspian Seas has long served as a creative inspiration to many of Russia’s greatest talents. I’ve long been attracted to these arresting lands that so keenly captivated writers from Pushkin, Lermontov and Tolstoy to Mandalstam, Mayakovsky and Pasternak. So after many months of research and planning, I set out to travel parts of the Caucasus, including Georgia and Armenia—controlled by either Russia or the Soviet Union for nearly 200 years—in a quest to touch upon the area’s fascinating history, untamed landscapes and fabled lure...
Trips: Jan/Feb: Sailed across areas of the Caribbean, including Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Grenadines, Curaçao, Bonaire & Aruba... and then stuck onboard with COVID on a ship sailing around the world.... more soon to come!
June/July: To circumnavigate Greenland by ship, beginning in Iceland... to Norway...
2021
TRAVELS IN TERRA AUSTRALIS Article posted on May 1, 2021
Click on link to read: Travels in Terra Australis
WINNER: Lowell Thomas Award For Excellence In Travel Journalism:
See Books & Magazine Articles in left-hand column to read the full article.
TRAVEL IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE 
Winner! SOLAS GOLD Award for Best Travel Writing
AND...
WINNER OF LONELY PLANET'S TRAVEL WRITING COMPETITION!
Fall expeditions to the Caucasus: Armenia, Georgia... and on to Malta and SMOM (Sovereign Military Order of Malta), the smallest sovereign state in the world!
2020
ANTARCTICA & Argentina
Feb/March: 4000-mile Expedition across Antarctic waters... from Ushuaia, Argentina to
The Falkland and South Georgia Islands on through the Antarctic Peninsula...
Magazine Articles: .
IN SEARCH OF TERRA INCOGNITA
TO read the full article in Russian Life, click on Books & Magazine Articles in the left-hand column.
FILMING IN THE SEA OF CORTEZ, BAJA, MEXICO
October: Filming off Loreto, in Baja Peninsula, Mexico, along the Sea of Cortez aboard the Tangaroa with underwater cinematographers Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow. Check out: www.wildlifevoyages.com
CLICK on link to watch the film! https://vimeo.com/471731437
2019
Sept/Oct: Film & Photographic Expedition across MOROCCO & MADAGASCAR
CLICK to view: MAGICAL MADAGASCAR→ https://vimeo.com/372224845
A JOURNEY THROUGH MOROCCO→ https://vimeo.com/385744106
April/May: 5-week Film & Photographic Expedition, traveling over 3,000 miles across 5 African countries:
South Africa, Namibia (across the Namib Desert to Etosha NP),
Botswana (Kalahari Bushmen, Chobe NP, Okavango Delta),
Zimbabwe and Zambia, at Victoria Falls.
To view more photos, click on 'Photography' section at left.
White Rhino Tracking, Zambia Kalahari Bushmen Namib Desert Watering Hole, Etosha NP, Namibia
FOR VIDEOS, CLICK ON:
1. White Rhino Blues, Zambia
2. Black Rhino, Etosha NP, Namibia
3. Elephant Feeding, Chobe NP, Botswana
4. Kalahari Bushmen Light a Fire
5. Kalahari Bushmen Click Language
6. Kalahari Bushmen Trance Dance
WIth the San Bushmen, Kalahari Did I get LEECHES! Vic Falls, Zimbabwe
Paddling the Mokoro, Okavango Delta, Botswana Entering Zambia Sand Dune, Namibia
Watering Hole, Zimbabwe Elephant Sands, Botswana Fish Canyon, Namibia
Click on link below: 
March Birthday Trapeze Flying!
2018
AFRICA:
7-week film & photograpic expedition, driving nearly 3,000 miles across south eastern Africa.
*WATCH 3 FILMS BELOW ON THE ADVENTURES!
Kenya: Nairobi, Lake Nakuru, Eldoret, Kericho, Masai Mara.
Uganda: Kampala, Kalinzu National Park, Queen Elizabeth NP, Kisoro, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest--Mountain Gorillas, Lake Bunyonyi, Mbarara, Jinja,Lake Victoria.
Rwanda, including Kigali... and
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Lake Tana, Gondar, Debark, Simien Mountains, Yeha near Eritrean border, Aksum, Mekele, Lalibela--and Coptic Church celebrations during Orthodox Easter.
MOUNTAIN GORILLAS OF East Africa (2:14)
Frolicking about the Masai Mara, Kenya
KENYA, UGANDA & RWANDA (5:53)
ETHIOPIA ኢትዮጵያ
Video: 7:00
SEE PHOTOGRAPHS OF AFRICA IN MAIN MENU: "PHOTOGRAPHY"
BELIZE & GUATEMALA: Month-long photographic expedition across eastern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. Locations include: In Mexico: Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Chichen Itza Ruins, Cenotes, Chetumal.
In Belize: Belize City, Caye Caulker, San Ignacio, Santa Elena, ATM Caves, Caracol Mayan Ruins.
In Guatemala: Tikal National Park & Mayan Ruins, Flores/Lake Peten Itza, Rio Dulce, Antigua, Pacaya Volcano, San Jorge La Laguna, Chichicastenango, Panajachel, Sololá, Lake Atitlán and surrounding villages.
Snorkeling & scuba diving from Caye Caulker to Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Shark Ray Alley, the magnificent Blue Hole, along the world's second largest barrier reef. Das Da Fi Wi Chikin-- in Bileez Kriol!
Heading 100 miles west to Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Stone Sepulchre) near the town of San Ignacio. Here one enters the Mayan ceremonial site considered the underworld of Xibalba, and walks and twists for over a mile through the many stalactites/stalagmites with only headlamps to light the way. Eventually the narrow passageways lead to a massive opening filled with 1200-year-old ceramic pots and crystallised skeletons, human sacrifices made to the gods to bring on rains during severe droughts.
The ruins of Belize's largest Mayan site is Caracol, one of the most powerful cities in the Mayan world. It stretched over 70 miles at its peak (AD 650) with a population of over 150,000. Chaac was the God of Rain & Thunder, and Ixchel the Goddess of Fertility & Birth.
Towering in the tropical rainforest of Guatemala's Tikal National Park are five Mayan granite temples, the tallest being The Temple of the Great Jaguar, at 154 feet. TIKAL was one of the most powerful capitals of the ancient Mayan kingdom from AD 200-900. More than 1500 years prior to the Spanish Conquest, the Mayan developed a sophisticated hieroglyphic script and calendar & counting system. Near Tikal is the colorful town of Flores.
The original capital of Antigua was destroyed in a 1773 earthquake, but many of the old colonical buildings have been restored. The "Chicken Buses' are rennovated Yellow School Buses, bought in auction each year in the United States. The Pacaya Volcano is active, and one can have an adventurous hike up the mountainside to the lava flows.
"ChiChi" (Chichicastenango) is the most colorful market in the country.
And a traditional Mayan village is located nearby at San Jorge La Laguna.
Panajachel is located on the beautiful Lake Atitlán. At 50 sq miles and over 1000 feet deep, the Lake is surrounded by three large volcanoes. The surrounding area is dotted by many villages, many of which are populated by Mayans who carry on traditional weaving practices, as in Santiago Atitlán, and San Juan La Laguna, which is also known for its colorful paintings and murals.
To purchase Mayan products: AThreadofHope.org
CIRCUS!
THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC had a special screening at the Circus Fans of America's convention in Normal, Illinois (once known as the Trapeze Capital of the US), at the town's historic Art-Deco theater, followed by a Q&A with Richie & Tito Gaona and Tom Moore & Masha. Hosted by Illinois State University and the Circus Hall of Fame, the University's Milner Library also exhibited its renowned Circus & Allied Arts Collection. And Gamma Phi Circus performed--the longest-running collegiate circus in the US, started by Clifford 'Pop' Horton in 1929!
THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC:
A Story of Legend & Legacy on the Flying Trapeze, Assoc. Producer.
(Read more about this Feature Doc under 2017/2016): After showing with much fanfare at film festivals and movie theaters around the world, this feature documentary is NOW available to rent or own on VIDEO ON DEMAND (VOD) platforms:
iTunes Movies: bit.ly/tffitunes
Amazon Streaming: bit.ly/tffamazon
GooglePlay: bit.ly/tffgplay
Vimeo OnDemand: bit.ly/tffvimeo
And review the film online. We’re 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Audience score!
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_flight_fantastic www.theflightfantasticfilm.com
SILA: The Gatekeepers of the Arctic, Assoc. Producer, Special daily screenings were held at the Helmhaus Museum in Zürich, Switzerland from September through November.
The award-winning feature documentary examines the impact of global warming on a once-thriving Inuit culture now struggling to survive on the world's northernmost frontier. See 2017 for more information about this feature documentary. www.gatekeepersofthearctic.com
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE MAGAZINE: CLASS ACT
See more information under 'Books & Magazines' along sidebar.
"Masha Nordbye has compiled a comprehensive 785-page guidebook to Russia's most famous cities and the beautiful countryside and ancient towns around them. "
2017
NOV: Leader/Lecturer on EXPEDITION ACROSS MYANMAR (Burma) for Geographic Expeditions.
Inner Burma: Including Yangon, Bago, Thanlyin, Golden Rock, Bagan, Irrawaddy River, Mandalay, Helo, Pindaya, Kalaw, Green Hill Valley, and Inle Lake.
MONTH OF DECEMBER IN WESTERN, JAPAN, AND KYOTO & MT KOYA AREAS.
The Flight Fantastic, Associate Producer
Theatrical Feature Documentary, 92 minutes Scroll Below to 2016 to see more detailed information!
THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC at the SMITHSONIAN CIRCUS ARTS FESTIVAL in Wash. DC
Marking its 50th Anniversary in 2017, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival brings the rich history of American Circus Arts to life in Washington DC. Join the Flying Gaonas, along with Tom Moore & Masha Nordbye, on the trapeze outside at the National Mall and catch a screening of THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC!
Big Top Tent and Trapeze Rig on set up on National Mall for Smithsonian's Circus Arts Festival
Feb/March:
Travel & Photographic Expeditions in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador and Colombia.
Hiking Quilotoa Volcano at 13,000 feet, with its 3-km wide caldera, the westernmost volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes; with giant Galápagos Tortoise on Santa Cruz Island; marine iquana; sitting on the dock of the bay with a Sea Lion on San Cristóbal, the Galápagos' easternmost island; riding by motorcycle in Medellín, Colombia; hiking the coffee plantations of Central Colombia; Cartegena, founded in the 16th century, on Colombia's Caribbean Coast.
The first picture is of 'Lonesome George,' the last living member of his species (from the Isle of Pinta), who died on June 24, 2012 at over 100 years old.
SILA: and The GATEKEEPERS OF THE ARCTIC, Associate Producer
Scroll below, under 2016, for more detailed info and a list of other international and national screenings.
The award-winning feature documentary examines the impact of global warming on a once-thriving Inuit culture now struggling to survive on the world's northernmost frontier.
Screenings: The Environmental Film Festival GREEN SCREENS in Santa Monica and Palm Springs, California.
Additional screenings in Santa Barbara, CA and at Scripps at UC San Diego.
And at the BIG SKY Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana. BIG SKY is the premiere venue for non-fiction film in the American West, and hosts over 200 international artists and draws an audience of over 20,000.
RECENTLY broadcasted in Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
AND now available to purchase! www.gatekeepersofthearctic.com
MARCH : ALL New Updated Printing of Masha's 785-page travel book (See more details under 2016)
Available on: www.amazon.com CLICK HERE for Book and Author's Page
2016
An article on Masha and her trapeze flying is featured in Anthology Magazine
*Read the full story in 'Articles on Masha' in the Main Menu
ONE ON ONE WITH MASHA NORDBYE
For the October summiting trek to the top of HALF DOME in Yosemite National Park, please see BLOG.
Masha's latest 785-page Russian Travel BOOK:
Moscow, St Petersburg & The Golden Ring Writer/Photographer, published by Odyssey Publications, Hong Kong, and distributed worldwide.
Available on: www.amazon.com CLICK HERE for Book and Author's Page
See Listing under Books in the Main Menu
The Flight Fantastic, Associate Producer
Theatrical Feature Documentary, 92 minutes
The Flight Fantastic presents the incredible realm of the Flying Trapeze through one of its most famous families from the golden age of performance in America. It presents myth, legend, and legacy of a magical and fascinating world, with some of the greatest aerial athletes and artists in circus history. (Director Tom Moore, Editor Jonathan Lucas with the Flying Gaona Family)
Currently being shown in U.S. Theaters and at National and International film festivals.
The Flight Fantastic website, click here!
THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC's U.S. premiere was at the Sarasota, Florida International Film Festival.
Interview with Director Tom Moore & Masha Nordbye CLICK HERE
...Followed by screenings at other International Film Festivals from Byron Bay, Australia to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The Film had its U.S. West Coast Premiere in Los Angeles, California at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Blvd as part of the coveted American Cinemateque Series. http://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/movies/the-flight-fantastic-screening
A benefit screening was held at the 1100-seat Venice Performing Arts Center in Florida with all members of the Gaona Family.
The Flight Fantastic was also selected to open the DANCE ON CAMERA Film Festival at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, NY. Link to Lincoln Center
Additional screenings in New York were held at the Cinema Village Theater on E 12th St and DGA Theater on W 57th.
At Lincoln Center, NY
PRAISE FOR THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC
Director Tom Moore & Masha Nordbye
“The Gaonas light up the screen with their blazing charisma...You will love the circus spirit of the documentary.” Sydney Levine • Indiewire
“Exhilarating…THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC is both a lively biography of the Mexican Circus Family and a primer on trapeze as both art form and joyous expression…While detailing The Flying Gaonas’ fame and influence, the film emphasizes that they’re part of a continuum; trapeze performers who perfect their soaring artistry then teach earthbound Enthusiasts how they, too, can take flight.” Serena Donadoni • Village Voice
“Magnetic, propelled by archival footage and vivid recollections, THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC moves engagingly from the early days to the spotlight years. Tito Gaona’s quest to become the first aerialist to execute a quadruple somersault in performance makes an especially compelling segment, And the family’s work in more recent years to pass along the art form is a nice coda.” Neil Genzlinger • New York Times
“A big top dynasty gets its due…great fun.” John Defore • The Hollywood Reporter
“The film brings The Flying Gaonas vibrant legacy to life….and intersperses the history the Gaonas with anecdotes about loving cinema and the power of art in healing.” John Solis • Stage Buddy
“You’ll be in for one hell of an airborne ride…The film assembles an enormous collection…of trapeze history…which turns out to be every bit as fascinating as the aerialists themselves.” James Van Maanen • Trust Movies
“It may just be one of the artsiest sports or the sportiest forms of art which most of us take for granted. Yet, while seeing THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC we are all reminded of what an incredible undertaking the art of trapeze really is…Chalk up your hands, climb the tall ladder, swing, break, leap, flip and let is passion catch you. You will not be disappointed.” Tony Pinizzotto • Edge Media
In June, 2016, THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC screened in Los Angeles, California at four Laemmle Theater locations in Beverly Hills, Pasadena, North Hollywood and Santa Monica.
"Great performance footage enlivens this documentary on the history of the flying trapeze in general and the legendary Flying Gaonas in particular...Made without computer-generated imagery or elaborate special effects, 'The Flight Fantastic' will nevertheless have you doubting your eyes as you watch its action unfold...Footage of this sibling quartet and other memorable performers as they, yes, fly through the air with the greatest of ease never fails to elevate and enthrall..." Kenneth Turan • Los Angeles Times.
"The Flight Fantastic celebrates the thrill of live performance with extensive footage of The Flying Gaonas in their heyday, when the exhilarating trapeze performers' grace and daring had audiences staring upward in wonderment, eyes wide and mouths agape..." LA Weekly
"A wonderful mix of past and present day, this doc, featuring the famed 'first family of the air' circus flying trapeze legends The Flying Gaonas, is a real love letter to old school showmanship. Dissecting and putting on display the swinging favorites of the big top, 'The Flight Fantastic' has a real affinity for its super-human subjects--and it shows. The film jumps from history and grand past performances of utterly breathtaking feats of aerial magnificence to the now older Gaonas paying back by teaching their love of the trapeze and its wares to everyone from eager adults to camps of kids with illness and disabilities with such ease, grace and style that it all but mirrors the magic of its subject." Jason Coleman • Star Pulse
"Under the watchful eye of the 'Godfather' of the Gaona family, Victor and his offsprings, Armando, Chela, Richie and Tito, form the quartet that has seamlessly flown up to take its place in history, alongside The Codonas, The Flying Wallendas and, of course, Mr. Jules Léotard himself. The Flight Fantastic documentary took my breath away on more than one occasion because 'The Flight Fantastic' is a film that dares to fly and allows its audiences to soar to their own dreams. Not many films, and even fewer documentaries can boast such imagination and love. The Flight Fantastic can." E. Nina Rothe - The Huffington Post
THE WORLD LOVES THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC
Filmed by Masha around the world
PRESS HERE TO PLAY VIDEO: The World Loves THE FLIGHT FANTASTIC!
SILA: and The GATEKEEPERS OF THE ARCTIC, Associate Producer.
Masha Nordbye and Corina Gamma (Producer/Director), at the Beverly Hills, CA screening of SILA.
This 70-minute Feature Documentary explores two vastly independent groups on GREENLAND: subsistance Inuit hunters and international polar scientists, both witness to the transforming environment due to climate change. North American Premiere at the Montreal Film Festival, and UK premiere at London's Raindance Film Festival. With additional screenings in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Iceland (at the Arctic Council's 20th anniversary in Reykjavik), Italy, Mexico, Spain and the U.S--that includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, and at the prestigious Margaret Mead Film Festival at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. In 2017, SILA screened at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana and at other theaters across California.
At the Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City.
www.gatekeepersofthearctic.com http://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/festival/films-2017-final/P147
MISS USA, WME/IMG, Field-Segment Producer
Filmed in Las Vegas, the show was broadcast live around the world from the T-Mobile Arena and MGM-Grande Hotel on FOX-TV on June 5th.
EGYPT, JORDAN and ISRAEL
Petra, Jordan Giza Pyramids in Egypt Dead Sea in Israel
In March/April, Masha was on a 4000-mile expedition through Egypt, Jordan & Israel..The routes: JORDAN: Amman, Mt Nebo, Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum and across the Gulf of Aqaba to the Sinai Peninsula. EGYPT: Nuweiba, Dahab, Sharm el Sheikh, Aswan, Abu Simbel (near the North Sudan border), Felucca down the Nile, Luxor, Hurghada on the Red Sea, Alexandria (and Al Alamein near eastern border of Libya) and Cairo (and Pyramids at Saqquara & Giza). ISRAEL: Tel Aviv, Masada, Dead Sea, West Bank & Palestine (Bethlehem, Jericho), Nazareth, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee & Jordan River and Jerusalem.
2015
MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT(FOX-TV) Aired Live on December 20th
Field Director/Segment Producer & Interviewer. Filming took place in December for 3 weeks in Las Vegas, Nevada. Broadcast live from Planet Hollywood with host Steve Harvey and guest performances by BAND PERRY and SEAL with a televised distribution to more than 100 countries and an audience of half a billion people!
The infamous wrong annoucement by host, Steve Harvey, of Miss Colombia as winner!!!
Winner Miss Philippines, Runner-up Columbia www.missuniverse.com
Tibetan Everest Base Camp at 17,600 feet
In the Fall of 2015, Masha led the expedition, A Journey Across Tibet, for Geographic Expeditions from Lhasa, Gyantse, Xigatse, Sakya & Shegar in Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal via the North Base Camp of Mount Everest, with an additional trip to New Delhi and Bodh Gaya, India, the place of Buddha's enlightenment.
THE HIMALAYAN KINGDOM OF BHUTAN
Tiger's Nest (Taktsang) Buddhist Monastery built on a cliff at 10,240 feet
Masha then led a second journey to the Himalayan Kingdoms of Bhutan and Tibet, with an additional trip to the Sultanate of Brunei in northern Borneo. (Two months in Asia)
MISS USA, Field Director/Segment Producer.
Filming in the Atchafalaya Bayou Basin, Louisiana
June/July in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Aired on Reelz-TV.
The MISS USA Beauty Pageant has been held annually since 1952. www.missuniverse.com/missusa
OceanGEMS (Girls Explore Marine Science), currently in production, a global educational series to inspire and educate youth on the world's oceans with leading female scientists and marine biologists. Filming areas include: New Guinea, New Zealand, Mozambique, South Africa, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico and Hawaii.... www.ocean-gems.org
MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT (NBC), Field Producer & Interviewer. Filming took place in January for 4 weeks in Miami, Florida.
Performances by Nick Jonas, Prince Royce and Gavin DeGraw. Broadcast LIVE in the US, with a huge worldwide audience Winner: Miss Columbia.
www.missuniverse.com
2014
EXPEDITION ACROSS ALL OF TIBET, CHINA TO THE FABLED MOUNT KAILASH
On Top the Summit Pass (18,600 ft) of sacred Mt Kailash, Western Tibet Guge Kingdom
July-September: China and Tibet. On a 1000+-mile expedition in China across TIBET to the far western part of the country to climb and circumambulate (to 19,000 feet) the sacred Mt. Kailash (one of the world's oldest and most sacred pilgrimages) during the Year of the Horse. Month of camping with yak packs! Route included from Lhasa, Tsedang and Samye west to Gyantse, Xigatse, Lhatse, Sakya, Dargyeling, Paryang, Lake Manasarovar, Darchen, Mt Kailash, and on to the far western ancient GUGE Kingdom. Also traveled along the Himalaya range near the northern borders of Bhutan, Nepal and India. (Mt Kailash is the Mecca for over one billion Buddhists, Jains, Böns and Hindus.)
INDONESIA
In the early spring, Masha filmed for a month in INDONESIA, underwater, from Bali to the Komodo Islands with Giant Manta Ray expert, Dr. Andrea Marshall, for scientific and television projects, aboard the Seven Seas, a refitted Indonesian Bugis Pirate ship! She logged more than 50 hours underwater and encountered the Komodo Dragons!
2013
MISS UNIVERSE LIVE IN MOSCOW (NBC), Field Producer.
Filming for 6 weeks in Oct/Nov in Moscow, Russia. Performances by Steven Tyler, Emin, and Panic at the Disco.
YES! Да This is the infamous pageant of Donald Trump in Moscow, and the 2016 secret meeting in Wash DC between Jared Kushner and Russian connections put together by the Agalarev family, who financially sponsored the Moscow Pageant.
Filming in Moscow's Kremlin
During the summer, Masha led several expeditions (with Geographic Expeditions) across Outer Mongolia and Eastern Siberia and the Lake Baikal region--over 4,000 miles from Buddhist Buryatia in Siberia to the Gobi Desert on the Chinese border.
Masha helped produce several shows for a National Geographic Television 
international adventure series in New Guinea and Turkmenistan.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/die-trying/videos/flying-over-fire
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/die-trying/videos/at-the-gates-of-hell
In 2012-2013, MASHA was the SERIES Producer/Director and Writer for the HD Documentary special, The Blue Revolution (filmed in over 15 countries), on the state of our world’s oceans and marine life, and what numerous countries, foundations and individuals are doing to create a new ocean ethic. Other educational materials and Childrens' books were also produced to go along with the series.
(See Book and Documentary sections under Main Menu)
2012
For the month of October, Masha was filming some of the world's most venomous sea creatures in Northern Australia (Great Barrier Reef) and Papua, New Guinea for a variety of television specials. She spent nearly 60 hours underwater!
*See a short film under Trapeze/Scuba in Main Menu.
In the summer, Masha led several expeditions for Geographic Expeditions across China, Mongolia and Siberia....
Masha was also the Production Leader in Oman and Dubai in the Middle East with New York's (ABT) American Ballet Theatre.
Other projects had her on assignment in French, Polynesia: Tahiti/Moorea/Raiatea/Bora Bora & the Society Islands.
Diving in Mexico's fresh-water cenotes
And filming off the coast of Mexico--diving included within fresh-water Cenote/cave systems and the Reef Art Sculptures of The Silent Evolution for a PBS special, Mexico: The Royal Tour, hosted by the President, Felipe Calderon.
2011
Masha was on assignment throughout Indonesia to film the world's MOST venomous sea creatures, including the lion, stone, devil, wasp and scorpion fish--sea snakes, cone shells, and one of the planet's most poisonous animals--the blue-ringed octopus. Locations included dive expeditions to Sulawesi in northeastern Indonesia-- at Buyat Bay, the Banga Islands, and the remote Lembeh Strait. Additional areas from Sumatra to Singapore.
Other assignments took her to Germany, Austria, Albania, Prague and St Petersburg, Russia.
In Paris, Masha filmed at the famed Cirque d'hiver (the Winter Circus) for the 150th anniversary celebration of Jules Léotard, the inventor of the trapeze, for a documentary on the Flying Trapeze. (She's an avid trapeze flyer herself.)
Masha is also on the production team (Producer/Director/Writer) for the award-winning HD series on:
Our Ocean World
Diving in New Guinea
Sponsored by the Save Our Seas Foundation. Marine life has been documented in over 20 countries, with shows filmed in South Africa (White sharks); England/Scotland (basking sharks); Cocos Island, Costa Rica (Hammerheads); the Revillagigedo Archipelago & Sea of Cortez, Mexico (Manta rays, Blue whales & Whale sharks); Bahamas (Reef sharks); Hawaii (Manta rays); Truk Lagoon, South Pacific (wrecks); Tonga, Micronesia (Humpback Whales)'; Okinawa, Japan (Underwater monuments); United Arab Emirates (Dugongs); Florida (Manatees); the Channel Islands, CA; and Alaska (Salmon sharks). The organization is also producing a series of Childrens’ Adventure Books about the oceans and marine life. (See Books and Documentaries under Main Menu).
Performing with the Russian Circus
WORK THROUGHOUT THE FORMER SOVIET UNION
Masha has been traveling to Russia for over 25 years with over a hundred trips that have taken her across all of Russia (and its former republics) from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, and the Baltics to the Stans....
Ms Nordbye has also helped Produce/Direct numerous TV specials and documentaries that were filmed throughout the former Soviet Union that include the National Geographic Specials, Voices of Leningrad and the Emmy award-winning Inside the Russian Circus; the ABC Special, Powers of the Russian Psychics; The Discovery Channel’s Baskhaus: Hard Labor in Siberia (on rafting across southern Siberia/winner “Best Film” Telluride Mountain Film Festival); The First Course, on the 20 years it took to build Russia’s first golf course by designer Robert Trent Jones, Jr; PBS’s The Making of the Moscow Circus and Verkola: A Village in Northern Russia;; and 20th Century Fox's feature film, Back in the USSR, starring Roman Polanski & Natalya Negoda. Additional shows include on Cosmonauts, MIG fighter jets, Siberian tigers, the Lake Baikal region, Kamchatka, and Mongolia. As a journalist, she covered the first Expeditsiya car race along the first roads connecting all of Russia, traveling 15,000 kilometers in the dead of winter from Murmansk, south across the Volga regions and eastwards across all of Siberia to Vladivostok.
With Tigers in Siberia
In addtion, Masha is the author/photographer of five published books on Russia and a multitude of magazine articles. She is the recipient of a Lowell Thomas Award for ‘Excellence in Travel Journalism.’ Her latest travel book is on Russia (785 pages), Moscow, St Petersburg & The Golden Ring. (See Magazine Articles and Books under the Main Menu).
Ms Nordbye has also worked as a camera/sound person for ABC Network in Washington, D.C. (including the White House), Paris, Moscow, and Los Angeles. Languages: Russian, German; some French/Norwegian.
She has participated with many environmental, endangered species and humanitarian projects throughout the world --from Los Angeles to Moscow and Kathmandu to Kenya.
Helping to drill a water well in the Maasai Mara in Kenya
Masha working on humanitarian projects with Paul Newman
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| Boris Yeltsin, Moscow |
At Star City, Russian Space Center |