We were lucky to catch up with Erin Naifeh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

When I was in the 4th grade, our local high school put on a theatre show of Oklahoma. It was my first time in a theatre and I had fallen in love before it even started. That love was the mystery that something was happening behind the curtain. For me, that curiosity is like glue that never dries. Shortly after that incident, I began using my parents video camera to explore storytelling and like the curtain, what exists beneath our exteriors. I would write and create little scenes for my family to play. One of our famous movies was titled “The Babysitter From Hell”. Don’t worry, it was a comedy. I lived in a small town and there was hardly any information on filmmaking, definitely not equipment. My parents had this really big camcorder that took a VCR tape and all the editing had to be done in camera. I had to plan out what moments in the script were the wide shots and what moments were the close ups. When you rewind the tape back, it looks like a little film with the occasional “action” caught in between the lines.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I went to a small film school in Nashville, TN after I graduated high school. During film school, I looked endlessly on Craigslist for film related jobs. I would take as many as I could for the experience, a lot were freebies. I kept consistently asking people to give me a chance. It took about a couple years of doing that, but I found myself working on a major network television show as a Local 600 digital utility by the end of college graduation. So, it worked out! I’ve been a Local 600 1st assistant camera for the past 12 years. I’ve worked on a wide range of productions, from major studio movies to independent films. In 2020, I started exploring more of who I am as an artist and getting back to that person I was in the 4th grade, someone who loved telling stories and exploring the beauty in the shadows. Apart of the exploration involved, photography, directing and cinematography. I’m very proud of this movie Anchorage that I DP’d and collaborated on. It’s won 11 awards and 10 nominations out of 17 festivals. It’s had a US theatrical release and UK theatrical release. This fall it will be released on VOD. Also, I’m very proud and excited that I am in preproduction for a short film I wrote and will direct this fall.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

When I was still in college, I got this amazing opportunity to be a camera intern on a huge studio movie. In order for my professor to agree to me missing a semester for this, I had to write a weekly journal of my experiences on set.

To best answer this question, I’d like to share some excerpts from that journal:

Dec. 10, 2011

Week 1- First day on set Sept 28- Pulling up to set felt like I was entering a carnival. There were huge 18-wheelers, RV’s, and dozens of pop up tents. It was intimidating at first walking up to set. At the same time I was super excited.

Week 2 – I spent a lot of time running back and forth to the camera truck fetching equipment this week.

Week 5 – Good thing about to day is DP is pulling out B-camera. And they are letting me bump up to B camera 2nd AC! I got to slate in front of Nicole Kidman’s face.

Week 6- I’m getting more familiar with checking the PR’s and our timecards. I learned that if a crew member is from out of town they receive portal to portal.

Week 7- It’s been a fun experience so far. Getting to work with a film camera and 35 mm is absolutely amazing. I even got to shoot a grayscale! It was fun sitting on the dolly and having the 1st AC pull focus for you while operating.

Week 8- I’m learning how to be super detailed with every shot that we do. Especially when filling out the camera reports to give to the script supervisor. The first time the script supervisor called out Victor Roger 87 George Take 1. I wasn’t sure what the Victor and Roger were. But I found out that it meant visual effects and re-shoot.

Week 9- One of the best parts of today was lunch. We had prime rib and lobster tails. Bad part, shooting upstairs in a tiny little place.

Week 10 – Today was long. Way long. 20 hour long. Good thing I was on payroll. We went in to golden hour! The best part was getting to be officially the B camera 2nd. We shot at a cemetery early today. I always love marking the camera. Things went smoothly. All my camera reports for B camera were accurate and matched to the script supervisors notes. It was a great day to wrap the shoot!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to tell more stories about self discovery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.erinnaifeh.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinnaifeh/
• Other: My other account for filmmaking: https://www.instagram.com/erinnaifehfilm/

Image Credits
5N7A4018.JPG & 5N7A4047.JPG were taken by Lotta Photography (The 2 orange looking photos) The personal photo (MOS.jpg) and the other 2 behind the scenes pictures IMG_2159 copy & ETHAN0024 copy were taken by myself.