When Erin Ranney was a teenager, commercial fishing in Alaska, she overheard other older fishermen asking her dad how his crews always worked so fast.
His answer was simple: “Hire women.”
A few years later, early in her career as a wildlife cinematographer, Erin was at her first film festival in a major city. Surrounded by industry peers she assumed to be progressive, she was told by an older producer in a meeting that she didn’t look like she could work outdoors. She was wearing a dress.
To be perceived as having some sort of shortcoming because of…a dress…was a shock for Erin.
This is a woman who grew up between her grandfather's tree farm in Washington State and the family's remote commercial fishing outfit in Alaska. Most of her family worked blue collar jobs. Her grandpa was a logger, her grandma one of the few female bush pilots in Alaska during her career.
She was working the farm with a chainsaw and running her own fishing operation before she finished high school. During summer breaks from college, she spent weeks alone on the Alaskan coast searching for bears - dropped off and picked up by her uncle in his bush plane.
“If you have that mentality that women aren’t just as capable” Erin says. “Then you’re way behind an old logger! With my dad, uncle and my grandpa, there weren't any barriers, it never even occurred to me that there would be."
Erin with her Grandpa John MacRae and brother Derek
This no-barrier mentality has led to a successful career filming sequences for the likes of BBC, PBS, and National Geographic with credits on landmark series including Seven Worlds, Natural World, America’s National Parks, Blue Planet III and Queens. Her work has earned multiple accolades including an Emmy Award and a BAFTA nomination.
Though she’s faced her own challenges with sexism in the industry throughout her career, Erin has said that she has largely received lots of support from her male peers. Her first mentor was Mark Emery, a cinematographer based out of Alaska and Florida, who never once second- guessed her abilities or potential.
Cinematographers like John Aitchison went out of their way early in her career to provide support and constructive feedback and advice.
Rockaroni hybrid penguin chicks for Emmy-winning Secrets of the Penguins. For National Geographic & Disney
During COVID, after a live online talk where women in the industry compared notes, people wanted to keep the conversation going, so Erin and Sarah Jane Walsh started a Facebook group called Wildlife Camerawoman Community Group. Now with 700 members, the group is run by an umbrella nonprofit - the Wildlife Cinematographer Diversity Fund.
The nonprofit’s Board is a group a volunteers that include Erin, Sarah-Jane Walsh, Sara Matasick, Samantha-Lynn Martinez, Jackie Stearns, Faith Musembi, Jack Johnston and Christina Karliczek. Between running workshops, masterclasses, mentorship programs and other meet-ups, the group provides invaluable mental health resources and educational materials.
In their thoroughly researched and detailed Camera Credits Review, the group found that on ten major blue chip series, women made up just 8.6% of camera credits. 299 men and just 28 women.
Source: @wildlife.camerwomen
Erin says the work here is not to create opportunities for women just for opportunity’s sake. Productions should be hiring women because they have a deep pool of talented cinematographers to draw from, not to check a box.
“I’ve turned down roles because I’ve been told I’m the checkbox. If you’re going to tell me that’s why I got the job, then I don’t deserve the job. I want the job because I’m good, not because I’m a checkbox.”
This month, Erin travelled to Canmore Alberta to help lead the Wildlife Camerawomen Camerawomen Development Workshop. Twelve camerawomen gathered for workshops, gear sessions, and networking - the group’s second workshop a 2023 outing in Washington State.
“These workshops and opportunities would not happen if it wasn’t for all the hard work behind the scenes by volunteers like Samantha-Lynn, and the generosity of people like Sara, sharing her cinematography knowledge and skills to the cohort. It’s a huge amount of teamwork,” said Erin.
One of the twelve was Sophie Vino, a photographer from Vancouver Island. She filled out her application on the last day they were accepting them, during her son's nap. "I was like - should I nap or should I do this application? Screw it! This is so much more important than a little extra sleep."
She got in, but before she could say yes, she needed to make sure she could make it work. Her son has just turned one and is still breastfeeding.
Baby nearby, camera-in-hand. Sophie Vino.
Erin went to Sound Off Films, a sponsor from the 2023 workshop, to see if they could help with extra support. They immediately booked Sophie her own hotel room a five minute walk from the workshop. With her dad caring for her son during the day, Sophie was easily able to pop back and forth between sessions.
“They were so supportive. They just made it work so seamlessly for me. I really couldn't have done it without them."
Before the event, Erin checked with the moms on the Board about what would actually help. "We don't always have the answers," she says, "but we have a network of people who can help us come up with one. Like my uncle says, ‘there are no problems, just solutions.’ And when you have a supportive and collaborative community, it's easier to find them”
Tiare Boyes is an underwater cinematographer from Vancouver Island. She fished commercially for 21 years before picking up a camera. She has a two year old at home and a second baby due in February.
Looking to hone her skills as a topside camerawomen while connecting with her peers, she left the workshop buzzing. “Obviously you can tell I’m on a high. I’m so full of inspiration and hope and knowledge. I feel unstoppable!”
When Tiare was pregnant with her firstborn, she worried it might mean “the end of her career”. Having the support of a community rallying behind her helped her to know she wasn’t going to be left behind.
LEFT: Tiare at the workshop. RIGHT: Tiare’s Wildlife Camera Kid. Designed by Samantha-Lynn Martinez, t-shirts like these and Wildlife Camera Baby onesies are a gesture to help new moms in the industry feel less lonely and like they haven’t been left behind.
“I've worked in male-dominated industries exclusively." she says. "Having a group of women, not only who are going before me and that I can look up to, but a cohort of women who are growing with me, is incredible! "
For Erin, that's the whole idea. “Lift as you climb” is a phrase she repeats often. She even has it tattooed on her arm. It was a phrase that she learned from her boss, Ed McNichol, after her internship with him on the deep sea ship Nautilus Live.
"It doesn't matter what stage of your career you're at," she says. "You can always bring people up with you. I see it everyday with our board and our community"
Sara Matasick sharing her hard-earned knowledge and wisdom.
At DenSyte, we've experienced this firsthand!
Erin has been one of our biggest advocates since day one - getting the word out to cinematographers before she'd even met us. Recently, a producer came out of nowhere with a number of requests. When we asked how they'd heard about us, the answer was Sara Matasick - Erin's fellow board member.
We’re so thankful for the support and can’t wait to see what’s next for everyone involved!
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Workshop sponsors included Canada Camera Rentals/Bow Valley Films, Wildstar Films, Leopard Rock, Nuru Film Institute, Jackson Wild, Plankton Productions, River Road Films, RED, Mathur & Co, Act4Wildlife, Kühl, and Sound Off Films.
Chef Kaia Garcia volunteered to cook so everyone could stay in the field all day.