In the Summer of 2024, I spent an amazing month in Rietspruit, South Africa, interning with PaintedDogs.tv, a wildlife film company that creates beautiful videos and live safaris. Brent Leo-Smith and Wium Dörnbrack, both filmmakers and guides, founded the team, combining their love for nature with camera work to create a wildlife media group in South Africa.
Every day, we went out on live drives at sunrise and sunset, filming for two hours right in the middle of the bush. During my first week, I mostly watched and learned how the team worked, how they filmed, entertained, and handled everything in the wild. By my second week, I got to film my first live safari with guide Andrew Rider, which was such an exciting experience. I learned how to set up the equipment, work with the light, and stay calm when things didn’t go as planned.
On days when we weren’t doing live safaris, guides Andrew and Matthew took me out to film extra footage for my showreel. It was a fun but challenging project that helped me grow a lot. I improved my editing skills in Adobe Creative Cloud and learned to use professional cameras, including the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III.
This internship taught me so much not just about filming, but also about nature, teamwork, and patience. It made me realize how powerful film can be in helping people connect with the natural world. This experience truly changed the way I see things and made me even more passionate about sharing stories from the wild.
You can watch my showreel and other projects on my YouTube channel.
