The Project

 “The Wild Is” with Photographer Jody MacDonald

National Geographic Photographer Jody MacDonald may just be one of the most interesting and inspirational people I will ever meet. (Seriously, you should read about her here.) So it was only fitting that we film with her in the similarly inspirational and seemingly untouched wild of Central Oregon.

I love the challenge of producing in a place where film crew and gear resources are limited. It usually leads to finding unique, and little known filming locations. While not always the most budget friendly, there are still tricks to the trade of traveling in crew and getting creative with available resources. For this particular project, we brought in all crew from Portland, except for two wonderful, local PAs and our fabulous location manager, Sandy Henderson. Sandy was an incredible resource for not only her knowledge of the surrounding landscapes, but also her connections to resources in town like catering, hotels, and the best place to get coffee for set each day.

As Jody says in the piece, the wild of Central Oregon felt like our playground. Thanks to the partnership of local permitting entities and Park Rangers, we were able to capture the beauty of forests, rock formations, rivers, waterfalls, desert plains, lakes, and dirt roads while maintaining respect for the land and its many creatures. The days were long and rather chilly, but they often didn't feel like work because we were surrounded by nature that took my breath away.

Our crew worked seamlessly together, each person pulling their weight and performing with dialed precision. From our Motocrane car / Grip team from Via Films, to our DP and 1st AC A-Team - Jordan Kelley & Jesse Tobler, and even our FPV Pilot Logan Lien — each are experts at their craft and wasted no time getting exactly what our Clients and Director Nolan Grose asked for, and more.