WANDERLUST BY NAME
Founded in 2017 Wanderlust AF has become an industry leader in adventure filmmaking. Our shoots for global brands and broadcasters take us from the banks of the Amazon river to the sands of Arabian deserts.
THE BEGINNING
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Founded in 2017 Wanderlust AF has become an industry leader in adventure filmmaking. Working with clients from Coca-Cola, to OM System (Olympus) cameras and sailing clothing industry leader Musto.
ABOVE & BELOW
LONDON + SYDNEY
THE INSPIRATION
southern hemisphere
Wanderlust is, as the name suggests, a specialist in travel and adventure. Often we were tasked with finding spectacular locations to fit a brand aesthetic and invoke Wanderlust in an audience. So, it seemed fitting to open our Southern Hemisphere office in Sydney, Australia with the Pacific on our doorstep.
FOUNDER + FILMMAKER
meet Ellie
In 2017, after ten years making big hit TV like The Apprentice and 24 Hours in A&E I took my skills into short form content, social media was on the rise and brands were lacking storytelling in their films, I developed a way in which to market their products ‘through the back door’ if you like and our winning formula was formed. After working for global clients as a freelancer I founded Wanderlust Action Films.
Along my journey it became apparent when crewing productions how few female filmmakers there were in the adventure space, I had spent so long trying fighting for my foot in the door that I hadn’t stopped to look around me. Now that I am established and own my space in this genre I feel it’s my duty to change that and to help women get their foot in the door in the adventure world.
I do this by – committing to a minimum of 50% female crew on all productions, offering internship opportunities, yearly free training days with me, online training courses and adventure courses in the field.
I also still work for global documentary production companies as a Director, I am known for my adventurous spirit and sturdy sea legs. In 2022 I directed a feature length documentary for Atlantic Productions and Nat Geo following the creation of the world’s first digital twin of the Titanic wreck. Release date tbc but the news of our project reached over 5 billion people, if you were one of the 2 billion that missed out, have a read here:
Scan of Titanic reveals wreck as never seen before – BBC News
Over the years I have built a trusted team and trained them in our identifiable style, to ensure that our content is consistent for our clients.
“The content that the teams produce is consistently engaging and beautifully shot. You get a partner when you work with Wanderlust and I can wholeheartedly recommend them.”
OUR COMMITMENT
WANDERLUST WOMEN
When our founder Ellie Cartwright was looking for crew she was struck by how few women there were in the adventure space, or how few she knew…
“I feel it is my duty, as a successful female in a field largely dominated by men, to support more women into this career and help them on their path. I made the commitment in January 2022 that from now forward all shoots would be ideally a full female crew, at a minimum 50/50 and if I couldn’t find women to shoot in our Wanderlust style I would train them up!”
ALICE
Alice got in touch in November 2021, a water-babe and waterspouts instructor she was a fantastic fit, Alice in Wanderlust we called her. She had some experience in filmmaking but wanted to properly understand the camera and how to shoot awesome stories. She came onboard with Wanderlust and Ellie gave Alice video training and production training on shoots all over the world, she has since gone on to shoot and produce solo shoots with some awesome global clients.
GEORGIA
Georgia and Ellie built up a relationship over the course of a few years supporting each others work online. A fantastically skilled photographer and videographer she needed no training in that department but Producing was a skillset that needed honing. Georgia has since been trained by Ellie in documentary interview shooting and producing techniques and has been wonderful addition to the team filming for major brands this year.
OUR VALUES
We are, and always will be, a company with equality at the forefront of our ethos. We strive for equality in who we work with: brands big and small, in who we hire, providing opportunities for those with less experience, and equality in nature looking at how we can reduce our impact on the planet.
We approach our business holistically and action change where balance needs to be restored.
We are committed to ensuring a company culture which cares for our clients, our crews, our environment and our future.
Together, we are stronger.
How do your values align?
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL
We love to explore. But we don’t love the impact global video production has on our footprint.
So, we are working towards building a more sustainable production process. By training up local videographers in our Wanderlust AF style this will enable us to reduce the number of foreign filmmakers we fly into jobs. By sourcing local freelancers on location and engaging them earlier in the pre-production process. Enhancing our remote production process so our staff don’t need to travel into the office each day. And for the time being, whilst we build this sustainability strategy, offsetting our carbon emissions and choosing environmentally friendly travel partners.
We also sweat the small stuff, our team are supplied with water purifiers in countries with non potable water, ending our use of plastic bottles.