“It has always been camera for me, since I was a small child,” says Operator Selene Richholt. Her mom and aunt were photographers, “so I was always watching them capturing the ephemeral and making it permanent. And my dad was a writer, so I was always around storytelling.” Richholt double majored in Film and English at Boston University, graduating magna cum laude in 2004. After earning her degree, she moved to New York City and landed a gig doing high-end event cinematography, shooting on film. “I was the entire camera department in one person – shooting, editing, ACing, directing, choosing film stock, et cetera,” she recalls. “I learned how to tell a story
in a situation that only happens once – no retakes.” It was great training for unscripted television, where capturing the action on fast-paced reality and live-event shows requires more than good camera work. “It’s different than other genres because audio is a huge part,” the 36-year-old explains. “We have to listen to what people are saying. I can’t tell the story if I can’t hear them. If I’m not listening, I’m just shooting b-roll.” It’s also a director’s medium. “We don’t have a DP a lot of times,” she notes. “The camera team is chosen by the director, so strong relationships with them are really important.” A major opportunity grew out of a
SELENE RICHHOLT, SOC OPERATOR
YEARS IN GUILD: 5 LOCATION: BROOKLYN HOMETOWN: SANTA FE, NM
fill-in role on Food Network’s Chopped, working with Michael Pearlman, DGA, who also helms Lifetime’s Project Runway All Stars. He brought her on full-time and they have since logged hundreds of days on set for a variety of projects. “I admire many things about Selene,” Pearlman says. “She’s a natural storyteller. She listens to people and instinctually knows what shots will best convey a story point. I direct a lot of multi-cam competition shows and there is a balance for an operator of following direction and then going rogue to find a new shot or capture something that would otherwise be missed. It takes confidence and also understanding of when you can pull off these kinds of moments. Selene excels at this and makes each show I do with her look better than it would without her. She tolerates the usual insanity of things that go wrong on set without losing her focus on what has to be done for the job. Selene’s operating is thoughtful, creative and solid at any millimeter on the lens. She’s a rock star!” The proof is in the pudding. In 2016, Richholt was part of the crew nominated for a James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award for visual and technical excellence for Food for Thought, Food for Life, directed by Susan Rockefeller. When not behind the camera, Richholt is committed to leading change within the Guild. “Unscripted is a wonderful place to be a woman in camera,” she says. “Still, I’d like to see more women’s representation in camera, specifically, and across Local 600 generally. When I joined in 2014, I was number 99 of female operators – now there are 129 of us. And there’s a lot of opportunity for our Union to gain a greater market share in unscripted. I want to be a part of making that happen.”
“ Selene’s operating is thoughtful, creative and solid at any millimeter on the lens. She’s a rockstar!” Michael Pearlman, DGA
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