Women Behind The Camera's Operator Showcase
We are extremely thrilled to present you Women Behind The Camera’s Operator Showcase 2022. We are so inspired by all of these driven, determined and insanely talented women and can’t wait to see what’s next for each and every one of them. Keep inspiring us all!
Lucy Bristow ACO - Lucy is the first female member of the ACO (Association of Camera Operators). Working in the industry since 1986, she started out as a trainee and climbed the camera department ladder until 2000, when she stepped up to the role of camera operator. She has since worked on extraordinary projects and became a regular operator on Mike Leigh’s films (Peterloo, Mr. Turner, Vera Drake). She has paved the way for women in the industry and has been a huge inspiration for up-and-coming female camera operators!
Agnieszka ‘Aga’ Szeliga ACO Assoc. - Aga is a Polish camera operator based in the UK. As co-founder of Women Behind The Camera, she is deeply involved in her filmmaking community to promote diversity and inclusivity, and uplift the successes of her colleagues. She started out on independent, low budget projects and is now rocking it on the big TV and film sets such as the Game of Thrones sequel ‘House of the Dragons’ alongside Joe Russell (A Cam) for DOP’s Fabian Wagner ASC BSC, Alejandro Martinez, Pepe Avila Del Pino and Catherine Goldschmidt!
Catharine Brown ACO Assoc. - Coming from a still photography assistant background in the 90s, she eventually got the opportunity to work on music videos which led her to her first steps into the film industry as a runner/PA. She participated in a 16mm film course which, after meeting Tim Maurice-Jones BSC, got her her first camera trainee job on a Guy Ritchie film ‘Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels’. She worked her way through the camera department on music videos, commercials and features. She is now a successful camera operator, working dailies on TV/Film such as ‘A Christmas Number One’ for Catherine Derry, and ‘A Very British Scandal’ for Si Bell.
Kerry Arthur - In her 20s Kerry took a leap of faith and quit her career in design to start over and work in the film industry. She started as a camera trainee, worked her way up, and spent 11 years as a focus puller before stepping up to camera operating 5 years ago. Coming from a little village in South Yorkshire, she never thought she’d be able to work in film. But look at her now! Working on TV/Films such as Atlanta for Stephen Murphy BSC and dailies as B Camera Operator 2nd Unit on Ridley Road for Angus Hudson BSC.
Maiya Rose Friend of the ACO - Maiya started out as a trainee tech prep on the camera floor at Panavision. When she decided to go freelance, she went on with her first camera trainee job for Tasha Back and Rachel Clarke on World War Z, who have then, over the years, hired her as a focus puller and operator. As Maiya says: ‘Women supporting women!’. She found her niche in wire rigs and has operated for huge companies (Spotify, Netflix) and TV shows (Game of Thrones sequel ‘House of Dragon’).
Hazel Palmer - Other than a passion for wildlife photography, Hazel has an impressive palmaress in the film industry, operating for every genre and formats from documentaries to music videos, with a specialisation in helicopter and drone camera operating. She started as a camera trainee on the TV show Rebus, then moved to short-form work to be able to care for her daughter. She is currently collaborating with her partner and sound-artist on an Australian/UK art project called ‘Eco-Opera’.
Natasha Mullan - Irish born and bred Natasha ‘didn’t come from a film family background’ she says, but her passion for portraits and lighting drew her to this world. She studied in the UK and built her career in the US where she met Simon England, who showed her the ropes and took her on as an AC on huge projects like True Detective. Further down the line she got asked to work on a ‘snow movie, climbing up mountains’, which ended up being the renowned film The Revenant! She has been working as an operator and cinematographer, and shot her first feature ‘Auggie’ at the young age of 27. She has operated for none other than Hoyte Van Hoytema as well as for Adam Arkapaw on Apple TV’s upcoming WWII series ‘Master of the Air’.
Tanya Marar - Accustomed to the nomadic lifestyle, Tanya has worked on indies and documentaries in extremely tough and sometimes inhospitable environments over the last 12 years, before she decided to start operating on HETV and films. She has recently operated B cam for the blood unit on House of Dragon and is currently in the midst of launching her podcast ‘conversations with camera women’. Stay tuned for it!
Kate Mollins - Kate’s sister introduced her to the dark around and from that moment she fell in love with cameras and photography, which inevitably led her to the wonderful world of cinematography! She has fiercely worked her way to the top. Starting out as a camera trainee for Thomas English and Richard Bardbury, she then started focus pulling on successful shows and films such as ‘Top Boy’ with Rina Yang, ‘Lady Parts’ for Diana Olifirova and ‘Rocks’ with Rachel Clark. She recently stepped up to operating, working as B camera operator on a feature titled ‘Holloway Road’ DOP’d by Sarah Cunningham.
Heather Crompton ACO Assoc - Heather got into the industry as a script supervisor. Soon after she transferred to the camera department as an assistant in 2005 in Factuals, and proceeded to the TV drama and commercial world soon after that in 2006. Last year she stepped up to camera operating when she got hired to work dailies on projects such as ‘House of Dragon’ as C and D camera operator with Fabian Wagner, ‘The Reckoning’ covering for Tom Williams, and many others! On top of landing these incredible jobs, she is taking a steadicam course at Optical Support.
Esther Vardy - Esther was passionate about film from a young age, making films with her friends in her small village in Northumberland. After graduating in chemistry, she decided to pursue her filmmaker’s dream. She worked on daily live shows and locations ‘doing all sorts’ and ‘taught myself’ she says, from editing, to camera peds for live TV and sometimes camera operating. This wasn’t enough for her so she took a dive in the film & TV world as a camera trainee, loader, focus puller, and eventually got to operate on dramas. She has since worked on a huge variety of projects such as B camera operating on BBC ‘The Other One’, Netflix’s ‘The English Game’, and has recently wrapped B camera operating for DOP Tony Slater-Ling BSC.
Ashlea Downes ACO Assoc - Ashlea always knew that she wanted to work behind the camera. After going to film school in Cape Town, she called production companies every day until she finally got a job as a trainee on a big feature film! After a year of working in the South African industry, she got the incredible opportunity to go to Turkey to work on Skyfall where she met UK crew members. Since then she has worked on huge projects such as Kingsman and several Marvel films. After 9 years as an AC, she decided to step up to operating, and worked on His Dark Materials Season 3 as B Camera Operator/steadicam operator.
Claire Pi - Claire is a French operator and DOP living in the UK. She dropped her medicine studies to go study cinema at the University of Poitier in France. She worked her way up the ladder from runner to clapperloader. After having her first child, she threw herself into the world of documentaries, promos and other short form work, carving her own path through the industry to find some sort of work-life-balance. She is now a successful operator and also DOPs short-form content. Recently she has worked on ‘House of Dragons’ as C Cam operator and operated B Cam on Gangs of London (Season 2, Block 3).
Rachel Clarke - During her camera assistant years she had the incredible opportunity to work with Robbie Ryan BSC, Andrea Arnold, and to assist on huge films like World War Z, Captain America, and Black Panther. When focus pulling, Rachel shot short films on the weekends and days off. But her career shifted when DOP Helen Louvart gave her her big break as a camera operator on ‘Rocks’ where Rachel shot B camera, 2nd Unit and additional photography. She is now continuing her successful career as an operator on films such as Dune, The Batman for none other than DOP Greig Fraser ASC, The Kings Man for DOP Ben Davis BSC, and PIRATES for Director Reggie Yates.
Laura Van De Hal ACS mentee and ACO Associate - Laura grew up in a household that loved cinema, which inherently got passed down to her. After studying science, visual communication, journalism and documentary, she started out in the industry making short videos for a Parisian fashion magazine for free. Laura then found her way as a camera assistant on low budget features, which opened a path to commercials and music videos, until she decided to move to the UK. She stepped up to camera operating this year and recently completed work on a documentary for Abbey Road, ‘How We Made’ for Little Simz with DOP Will Billany.
Kat Spencer ACO Associate - Kat stepped up to operating in 2021 on projects such as Amazon’s Peripheral where she did C cam dailies for Roberto Schaefer ASC, AIC, Apple TV’s Wool for Mark Patten, and a Hackney Windrush project. She inherited her passion for film from her father who worked as a Production Designer on films including Thelma and Louise. After he died, Kat decided to pursue her passion and worked hard building her own network. She had an incredible career as a loader, working with big names like Robert Richardson. We can’t wait to see what’s next for her in her operating career!
Laura Dinnett - Originally working in Scotland, she relocated to London to continue building up her career and network. She has spent 13 years working hard and climbing the camera department ladder and has finally reached her goal of becoming an operator! She is currently working on Amazon’s 6 part drama ‘Anansi Boys’ as B camera operator alongside Andrei Austin for DOPs Neville Kid and John Lee. Laura understood early on the value of practicing your craft and being persistent, which is what brought her to start DP’ing some short content and work on building strong connections with rental companies and film labs when she was still a 2nd AC.
Kate Eccarius GBCT, ACO Associate and SOC - After spending some time as a film projectionist, at 16 she started splitting her time between the cinema and Panavision Melbourne, where she got hired as a camera prep technician. Later on she worked as a trainee, then a central and clapper loader, but in the ever-changing scene from film to digital, she was pushed to step up to focus pulling. She embraced this career path fully and thrived in it! She continued this path in Paris and eventually landed in London. In 2020 Kate was part of the ACO/BSC Mentorship program and was mentored by Oliver Loncraine. Since then she has stepped up to camera and steadicam operating, and is currently working as B camera operator on Apple TV’s ‘Invasion’ and Netflix’s ‘The Three-Body Problem’.
We are so inspired by all of these driven, determined and insanely talented women and can’t wait to see what’s next for each and every one of them. Keep inspiring us all!
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