Swiftwater is a documentary production company telling stories about the natural world. Our feature-length and short films have focused on water, river conservation, salmon recovery and environmental justice in the American West. We were founded after winning the RFP to produce the feature-length film following the removal of four dams on Northern California and Southern Oregon's Klamath River, a project launched in 2020 and currently in production. Since that time our team has filmed with tribes, scientists, ranchers, fishermen and conservationists in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Alaska to tell stories highlighting how science and indigenous perspectives are reshaping land, water and resource management in the era of climate change. Our team is specialized in verite cinematography, underwater filming, drone piloting and timelapse.
Shane Anderson
Principle Director / Producer
Shane Anderson is a filmmaker and cinematographer working in creative non-fiction. His work has been supported by the Redford Center, the Rogovy Foundation, Patagonia and many foundations in the environmental sector. His work has been featured on BBC, PBS, Netflix and news outlets worldwide.
An avid fisherman and conservationist with a background in fisheries biology and a passion for adventure, Shane carved out his filmmaking niche focusing on salmon recovery, river protection, and socio-environmental justice.
Over the past decade, Shane has produced and directed 7 award-winning feature-length documentaries and over 70 shorts viewed by millions worldwide through PBS broadcasts, streaming platforms, robust festival runs, high school and college classrooms, and environmental conferences. Shane has been honored with Trout Unlimited’s Communicator of the Year Award (2014), the City of Olympia Heritage Award for films(2021), Shane’s documentary GUARDIANS OF THE RIVER (2021) received the EarthX Impact Award,his most recent short, BRING THE SALMON HOME (2022), was a Jackson Media Award finalist. A RIVERS LAST CHANCE, CHEHALIS: A WATERSHED MOMENT, and THE LOST SALMON have been broadcast throughout the nation on PBS and have been showcased in dozens of impact campaigns and grass roots efforts across the country.
Maya Craig
Director of Photography / Producer
Maya Craig is a documentary filmmaker and freelance director of photography based in San Francisco. She has been shooting with Swiftwater since 2020 across a number of projects including Guardians of the River, The Lost Salmon, Covenant, and Bring the Salmon Home, which was a finalist for the 2022 Jackson Media Awards. She has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2019, looking at the global climate and geopolitical impacts of a warming Arctic, a journey that has brought her to Alaska, Svalbard, Iceland, and across Europe to film with scientists, policymakers, and indigenous communities. She is also a DP and co-producer on feature documentary Laikipia, about conservation and pastoralism in Northern Kenya, which has been supported by Threshold Foundation, Doc Society, Sundance, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Her first documentary Water Town, about a water privatization conflict in Northern California, was broadcast nationally on PBS and helped lead to the City of Weed, CA securing its water rights after a five year legal battle. Maya is a fellow at London's Royal Geographical Society, and holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and a Master’s in Documentary Film from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Jessie Sears
Production Coordinator/Stills Photographer
Jessie is an enrolled Karuk tribal member and is in pursuit of connecting with her indigenous roots and giving back to the community. She is passionate about environmental justice and is driven to leverage compassion through film. Since earning her communications degree from Portland State in 2016, Jessie has worked as a camera operator, camera assistant, media manager, production coordinator, and assistant director and producer.
Jason Hartwick
Photographer / Timelapse
Jason is a photographer, timelapse specialist and fishing guide based out of Humboldt County. A native to Northern California, Jason grew up camping, fishing, and exploring the outdoors, where he started taking photographs to document the old growth redwoods and last remaining wild salmon and steelhead. As a fishing guide for more than a decade, Jason is our trusted boat captain when we’re filming out on the river.
