Samantha came into the TV and film industry after having a spent time living and travelling abroad in Israel, Cyprus, Australasia and South East Asia. She initially studied hair dressing, make-up and wig making with hopes of working in special effects make-up and puppetry. At the time, the industry was a closed shop, so she went off travelling and studied science and technology and computer science with the Open University.

Finally, her calling was back to the world of TV and film where she began running in post production, then art directing on short and low budget films. From there, her passion brought her to the visual arts. Samantha has now worked in the camera department for 18 years on high-end TV drama, (House of the Dragon S1, The Great S3) and occasionally films and commercials. She has been a 1st AC/focus puller since 2015 and is progressing to the next grade of camera operator.

Samantha continually keeps up to date with the technology and equipment needed by an operator, practicing her skills and training with the ACO (Association of Camera Operators) and The GBCT (Guild of British Camera Technicians).

The courses and workshops in which Samantha has participated are: The GBCT steadicam course with Pete Robertson BSC (Atonement, The Little Mermaid); focus pulling workshop with Dean Thompson GBCT (Belfast, No Time To Die); lens workshop with Richard Bradbury GBCT (The Diplomat, Killing Eve).

The ACO’s camera operator masterclass workshop with Danny Bishop (All quiet on the western front) and Pete Robertson BSC; steadicam workshop with Richard Willard (Manhunt, Wonder Woman 1984); geared head workshops and geared head on crane training with Sean Savage (Game of Thrones, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom).

She reinforces her training with regular hands-on practice on the latest equipment available at rental houses such as Panavision, Procam and Take 2. Samantha is a proud member of the Women Behind Camera group aimed at supporting women in the technical side of the industry and she has helped mentor women coming into TV and Film.

Samantha is currently a HETV Leader of Tomorrow. Participants in the three-year inclusion programme for mid-level professionals are nominated by senior colleagues in high-end TV. Her nominator Catherine Derry said: “Samantha has been working her way up for the camera department for many years and has expressed an interest in camera operating for some time now. She is extremely competent and a good collaborator. Samantha is more than capable of stepping up and excelling in her career.”

And by Neville Kidd DOP

“Samantha was chosen as she had such a complete understanding of the industry, her experience and knowledge showed us she was ready to step up. I felt she would benefit enormously from the programmes support and training, to have more responsibility and as a result the industry would benefit from her skillset, enthusiasm and leadership. A win win!”