For three decades, Film Independent's Project Involve has fostered filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, helping many of them such as Jon M. Chu and Effie T. Brown make the leap to long-lasting careers. The program gathers a diverse group of emerging film professionals for a nine-month program of industry mentoring and creative collaboration. Thirty new fellows were welcomed into the 2022 class, six cinematographers among them. Those cinematographers Michael Tanji, Akina Van de Velde, Phillip Jackson, Lidia Nikonova, Gemma Doll-Grossman, and Garland McLaurin each joined a writer, producer, director, editor, and executive in developing and making a short film.
Five of those projects The Bluest Hour (shot by Nikonova), Expectant (Doll-Grossman), The Words of Cayetano (Tanji), No Vows, No Cows (Jackson) and Sabor (Van de Velde) were live action, while the sixth, Muro (McLaurin), was animated via stop motion. As a principal sponsor of Project Involve, Panavision supplied each of the live-action productions with a camera and lens package. The final projects reveal fresh and eclectic imaginations at work, heralding a new generation of artists into the medium.
Origin Stories
The six cinematographers brought a multitude of personal and professional experiences to their projects, as each came to their craft in a unique way. For Akina Van de Velde, who spent the last 10 years creating video content for clients such as Adidas, Buzzfeed and Cond Nast, photography was her gateway to cinematography. My parents traveled a lot for work when I was growing up, so I had the lucky opportunity to grow up in many different countries, she says. But sometimes it was lonely as a kid trying to learn a foreign language or adapt to a new environment quickly. Pretty early on I recognized my love for photography could transcend cultural or language barriers and that there was a common ground behind all the people I met. Storytelling is an extension of that connection, of building bridges between cultures and people regardless of where we come from or our backgrounds.
Phillip Jackson has documented the Black Lives Matter movement with his camera and shot the comedy feature Three Ways that premiered at the 2022 American Black Film Festival. His childhood passions sent him on the path to become a cinematographer. What inspired me to start my filmmaking journey was the love of watching cartoon TV shows and playing video and board games growing up, he says. Since the fidelity of those old games and cartoons weren't nearly as high quality as feature films, you had to fill in the blanks. Without knowing it, I was always making movies in my head. Getting to help shape those images now is a dream job.
Gemma Doll-Grossman on the set of Expectant.
Gemma Doll-Grossman graduated from Wesleyan University with degrees in biology and film studies and then received an MFA in cinematography from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Fluent in Italian, she worked in Italy for a few years, namely on Jonas Carpignanos Calabrian social-realist film trilogy. Doll-Grossman has lensed three features that are currently in post production, as well as the psychosexual short Scottys Vag, which will premiere at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival. She is committed to capturing untapped perspectives and utilizing experimental techniques.
Garland McLaurin served as the co-director of photography on Wes Moore's Coming Back documentary series and won a Peabody Award for co-producing and co-directing the 2013 PBS series 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School. What attracted him to cinematography was his fascination with that most integral element of filmmaking: light. I love what light gives you on a creative level, he says. As cinematographers, we are creative engineers or problem solvers, trying to bend the light and supply images that improve a story and satisfy your directors and audience. What keeps me inspired is the ability to grow creatively from project to project and the human connections we develop on set. I love studying light, images, art and good stories to enhance my development.
Michael Tanji at the camera during production of The Words of Cayetano.
Hawaii-born and raised Michael Tanji has a background in fashion filmmaking and recently branched into music video and narrative work, but he originally imagined himself in a profession other than cinematography. When I was younger, I thought I wanted to draw, paint, and become an architect for a living, but I realized I wasn't very good at any of those things, he says. When I took my first high school video class and held a camera in my hands, the process of image-making came easier for me. Shooting video really opened my eyes to this visual medium because there was so much more you could do with the image when it left the page.
Lidia Nikonova hails from Russia and has shot numerous films and commercials across the globe, most recently a documentary set to premiere on HBO Max. It was only after she was well into her career that she found cinematography to be her calling. I tried several lives before converting into film, she says. I was a photojournalist and I also studied film theory, so I was interested in image-making and storytelling through images, though not necessarily by working with actors or writing dialogue. I'm one of those kids who grew up with a camera, so it was kind of natural. I just took a long way to get to the point where I knew, Okay, this is it.'
Visual Approaches
During preproduction, the cinematographers for the five live-action projects came to Panavision Woodland Hills to select and prep their camera and lens packages. I'm beyond honored to have had Panavision's support on the project, Van de Velde reflects. Everyone was incredibly helpful from beginning to end in ensuring
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/01/2026
Music discovery should feel intuitive and personal. That's why we're continuing to give you more control, so you can ask for what you want, shape what y...
28/01/2026
Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify's Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify for Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion t...
28/01/2026
As demand for more complex live sports coverage grows, Balkan broadcast specialist MVP has upgraded its flagship HD1 progressive OB truck with the installation ...
28/01/2026
Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...
28/01/2026
28 Jan 2026
VEON Notes Kyivstar Group Publication of Selected Full Year 2025 Fi...
28/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host 2026 edition of its online event Demystifying EMC Rohde & Schwarz invites the global EMC community to join a crucial discussion on pre...
28/01/2026
Stadtwerke Wolfhagen Modernize Customer Management with AEP.energysuite from Arv...
27/01/2026
Click for Japanese version
Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...
27/01/2026
Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...
27/01/2026
With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...
27/01/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
27/01/2026
New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041
Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...
27/01/2026
Tuesday 27 January 2026
SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...
27/01/2026
RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to support a dynamic programme of cultural events taking place across Ireland this February. From visual art, film, music, ...
26/01/2026
Music videos play a huge part in how fans connect with their favorite songs, but...
26/01/2026
Wuppertal January 26, 2026
Riedel and Media Tailor Deliver Unified Broadcast a...
26/01/2026
26 Jan 2026
VEON Unveils the New Beeline Uzbekistan Network Operations Center, ...
26/01/2026
Bookish is created by and stars Mark Gatiss
Images available HERE
Following th...
26/01/2026
Monday 26 January 2026
New Sky Original Series explores Entertainment Juggernaut, The X Factor
Sky today confirmed it has greenlit a premium, definitive docum...
26/01/2026
Monday 26 January 2026
Sky confirms major investment to transform Livingston ca...
26/01/2026
Software for Stable Data Management and Lasting Business Success in Uncertain Ti...
26/01/2026
RT is today publishing a statistical summary of the Register of External Activities for the third quarter of 2025.
The RT Register of External Activities com...
24/01/2026
RT and Virgin Media Television kick off comprehensive free-to-air coverage of t...
23/01/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 29 July, 2025 - Yospace, the global leader in Dynamic A...
23/01/2026
Spotify's annual Best New Artist celebration honors the rising stars whose talent, creativity, and dedication have propelled them to the music industry'...
23/01/2026
Paramount is transforming its operations by unifying the media supply chains of their top brands into a scalable global pipeline.
This transformation enhances ...
23/01/2026
Every delay costs. When a subtitle fails QC, even the smallest issue can mean missed deadlines, extra vendor costs, or frustrated teams. The new Accurate.Video ...
23/01/2026
Find out where Sare and Suze are now on RT One and RT Player Thursday 29 January at 10.15pm
Hit drama SisterS, created by, written by and starring real-life ...
23/01/2026
Friday 23 January 2026
Sky appoints Lisa Clark as Commissioning Executive for SNL UK
Lisa Clark headshot
PNG (468KB)
Lisa Clark joins Sky as Commissioning E...
23/01/2026
RT is delighted to announce that the RT and F s ireann / Screen Ireland supported short film Retirement Plan has been nominated for Best Animated Short at th...
22/01/2026
Last November, Ed Sheeran returned to his musical roots for an intimate, one-nig...
22/01/2026
Every delay costs. When a subtitle fails QC, even the smallest issue can mean missed deadlines, extra vendor costs, or frustrated teams. The new Accurate.Video ...
22/01/2026
Thursday 29 January 9:35pm on RT 2 and RT Player
The dating show returns with something old, something new and a dater you may already know
Thursday evenings...
22/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz, Qualcomm, and Motorola demonstrate successful 5G Broadcast comp...
22/01/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
21/01/2026
Wednesday 21 January 2026
Backing Britain on the global stage: Sky becomes an o...
21/01/2026
Fox Corporation Executives to Discuss Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Resul...
21/01/2026
Baselight v7 brings colourists and post-houses smarter mattes, faster workflows and deeper control
FilmLight, known for its detailed colour toolset and longsta...
21/01/2026
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of Jackie Fox as its new Washington Correspondent. Jackie is a multimedia journalist with RT News and has repor...
19/01/2026
Monday 19 January 2026
Sky News reinvents News at Ten for the modern audience with The Wrap
Sky News today announces The Wrap, a bold evolution of its 10pm ou...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones is striking a new chord in piano miking with the debut of its DPK2015 Piano Stereo Kit, an out-of-the-box, plug-and-play miking solution that ta...
19/01/2026
DPA Microphones will present its 4099 CORE Instrument Microphone and redesigned...
19/01/2026
Trianel relies on Arvato Systems for future-proof data center operations
Moving to the cloud: Arvato Systems implements extensive IT migration project
Migrat...
19/01/2026
Celebrating 21 Years of the RT Choice Music Prize
RT Choice Music Prize
In association with IMRO and IRMA
Irish Album of the Year 2025 - Shortlist Announce...
18/01/2026
January 18 2026, 21:30 (PST) Dolby Cinema Arrives in Bengaluru: Dolby Laborator...
For three decades, Film Independent's Project Involve has fostered filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, helping many of them such as Jon M. Chu and Effie T. Brown make the leap to long-lasting careers. The program gathers a diverse group of emerging film professionals for a nine-month program of industry mentoring and creative collaboration. Thirty new fellows were welcomed into the 2022 class, six cinematographers among them. Those cinematographers Michael Tanji, Akina Van de Velde, Phillip Jackson, Lidia Nikonova, Gemma Doll-Grossman, and Garland McLaurin each joined a writer, producer, director, editor, and executive in developing and making a short film.
