Veasna's Story - Working as an NGO videographer on a case study for VSO

This is the second case study I made on assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO.

The video tells the story of Veasna and the positive impact VSO’s RECOVER project has had on her livelihood.

As part of the project, Veasna received agricultural training and financial support to improve her growing facilities.

Held in the community with other vegetable growers the training shows Veasna best practices about what to grow, how to grow it and pest control.

Veasna has used the financial support she received to construct a net house for growing higher value crops.

VSO have also set up agricultural cooperatives. This gives the vegetable growers additional selling power as the cooperative can sell larger quantites direct to market.

They sign contracts to guarantee fair prices for their vegetables and a constant source of income.

A storage facility has also been built in the community so the vegetable growers can store their vegetables to cut down on wastage and to be able to control the sale of the vegetables they grow to the market.

It was great to see the positive relationship Veasna had with Ravuth, the trainer, and how she is looking to expand her growing activities in the future so she can support her young family.

Below is the final video:

And here’s the shorter version I made for social media:

You can see the other case study I made for VSO here and another video I made for WHO here. Please get in touch if you have any NGO video projects you’d like to chat about.     

On Assignment as an NGO videographer for VSO

I was contracted by the NGO VSO to work as a videographer to produce 2 case studies to highlight their RECOVER project.

The RECOVER project, funded by the EU, is a technical vocational education and training programme (TVET) designed to help people in rural communities recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to provide viable livelihoods for the almost 75 percent of people in Cambodia living in rural communities, to alleviate poverty and to prevent people having to migrate for work.

This video tells the story of Thavy. Thavy worked in South Korea, but when COVID-19 hit, she wanted to return home to be with her family.

Thavy enrolled in an agroprocessing course run by VSO where she learnt to make banana chips, which she now sells in her shop to supplement her income. 

The chips are a healthy snack enjoyed be people in her village. The TVET training has taught Thavy valuable entrepreneurial skills. She’s looking at adding new flavours and expanding her product line and it allows her to live at home and look after her elderly mum. 

Here’s the final video:

As part of the project, I also made a shorter version of the video for social media, which hopefully expands the reach of the campaign.

You can see more examples of my NGO videos here. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss any NGO video projects.

Shooting PD for the BBC on a segment about Phare for The Travel Show

Working as a shooting PD (producer, director) on a segment on Cambodia about Phare for The Travel Show was one of those occasions where I feel lucky to have the job I do.

The shoot started at Phare Ponleu Selpak in Battambang to document the performing arts school before heading to Phare Circus in Siem Reap to catch a performance.

I’d never been to the school or the circus, but I’d heard a lot about both, so I was eager to find out what it was all about. The school is in a cool spot on the outskirts of Battambang. The walls are adorned with lots of colourful artwork, there’s a large practice hall and they even have a big top where performances are held.

I interviewed one of the founding members and one of the teachers before fimling some rehearsals and a performance that was taking place for a group of visiting school children.

From Battambang, I travelled to Siem Reap to film some interviews with some of the graduates of the performing arts school and to see a live performance. It was a great end to the shoot and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Siem Reap who wants to see more than just the temples. Roll Up! Roll Up! Get Your Tickets Here…

Once again thanks to Nick at the team at Hanuman Films for giving me the opportunity. The segment is in the link below and starts at the 12-minute 28-second mark. You can see another segment I was shooting PD on about the Angkor Archaeological Park here and you can see more examples of my video production work here.

Working as a shooting producer, director on a segment about Cambodia for BBC’s The Travel Show. I filmed the school in Battambang and the circus in Siem Reap.

Producer, Director, Camera Op on a segment for the BBC Travel Show

It was an incredible opportunity to work as a producer, director and camera operator on a segment for The Travel Show, filmed at the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The segment was broadcast on BBC World News in over 200 countries around the world.

The team at Hanuman Films made a segment in May 2020 at the height of Covid, when there were no tourists at the temples. The idea was to catch up with the same three people they interviewed two years on to see how things had changed since the borders had reopened and tourists were starting to slowly trickle back.

Hanuman Films were busy on another project, so Nick graciously passed the work on.

It was a whirlwind shoot as I had to travel from Battambang, secure filming permission to film at the temples at the last minute, find Reaksmey, Korn and Ousa and film everything within the space of 24 hours.

Reaksmey and Korn were easy enough to find as we still had contacts for them, but Ousa had left he job at a stall at Angkor Wat and lived in a small village 20km away. When we finally caught up with her, she was heavily pregnant but very kindly agreed to film an interview and some b-roll with us.

It was a pleasure working with the team at The Travel Show. They did a great job putting the edit together in record time. Hopefully, I will get to work with them again in the future.

You can see more examples of projects I’ve worked on as a producer, director and camera op here and check out some more of the documentary projects I’ve worked on here.

A segment of the BBC’s The Travel Show, I produced, directed and shot at the Angkor Temples in Cambodia

Working as a camera operator and photographer for World Animal Protection

Nicolas Axelrod kindly recommended me to work as a camera operator and photographer for World Animal Protection.

After spending almost 4 years working in Mondulkiri on Last of the Elephant Men, it was great to go back to Sen Monorom to catch up with everyone and document the great work Elephant Valley Project are doing.

It was my first time working as a camera operator and a photographer at the same time. It was challenging, but overall good fun. I look forward to doing more of this in the future.