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Thats my headline, I decide: Elephants Reveal the Best Reason to Embrace Your Wrinkles.
National Geographic
Its raw, its powerful, andits mesmerizing.
Wrinkles: They do a body good.
You know what Im saying.
Wrinkles: They do a body good.
But all that is starting to change.
And so we made a decision, Han Vissering says.
If an all-female crew wasnt possible, then at least a female-led one was.
Queensmentee and filmmaker Erica Rugabandana
Queensmentee and filmmaker Erica Rugabandana
It certainly hadnt been for a lack of interest.
Even Chloe Sarosh, our showrunner, is a young mother.
But we said, To hell with itwere going to make this work.
Queensdirector and producer Faith Musembi and director of photography Sophie Darlington film elephants from the vehicle. Nearly 70% of documentary directors are men.
What that meant was providing a support system unlike anything a show of this caliber had ever seen.
Six babies were born during the four yearsQueenswas in production.
Wed be like, Okay, you hold the baby, Ill take the shoot.
From left: Jen Guyton, Faith Musembi, Chloë Sarosh, Erin Ranney, Justine Evans, Sophie Darlington, and Vanessa Berlowitz at the Los Angeles premiere ofQueens
Thats been the tradition, and its something that lots of guys have loved doing, she tellsGlamour.
Youre going off on an adventure.
So, how do we make that work?
And I think it was just that wehadto take the risk.
There wasnt the option [of this plan not working].
Once we committed to being female-led, we just had to get on and do it.
And for Musembi, a local Kenyan producer and director, it effectively changed everything.
Queensdirector and producer Faith Musembi and director of photography Sophie Darlington film elephants from the vehicle.
Nearly 70% of documentary directors are men.
From there she was connected to the team fromQueens.
They were actually going out of their way to find people like me.
And I was ready, she says.
Still, it took quite some timeand several rounds of interviewsbefore Musembi was hired.
I had sleepless nights thinking, Oh, my God, is this really happening?
And then telling myself, Dont get excited.
But when the official call came, Musembi was more than ready.
One of the episodes was filmed in Amboseli, which is anational park in Kenya.
And my mom grew up so close to there, Musembi says.
So she spoke Swahili to the elephant researchers.
They liked her 100 times more than anyone.
The access we got because Faith was there provided so much more value.
Thats what happens when you bring in a new voice to this genre.
You get different stories and better stories.
And Faith is a perfect example of that.
I have to shout out the men who also believed in diversifying, she says.
They would always help with training an assistant camera woman on the team.
It felt so different from anything Ive ever worked on before.
Equally as exciting is that Wildstar is also now nearly 70% female.
Its become a place where women feel safe and protected and will get opportunities, Berlowitz says.
So what is the official word from National Geographic president Courteney Monroe about continuingQueens?
We made room and we got a better show for it.
All episodes will stream on Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, March 5, 2024.
