As part of my ongoing series about womxn who work in primarily male-dominated industries, this week I’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Sammann, a science filmmaker!

Introduction

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Stephanie Sammann, and I am a writer and filmmaker for a science media company. We create the YouTube channels Real Engineering and Real Science! 

What is the best part of your job?

I love that every few weeks, I get to dive deep into a science subject of my choosing. Whether it’s something in the news like coronavirus, or something that just interests me a lot like genetics, my job is to dig deep and really understand it. It’s like doing a mini-thesis every 2 weeks!

By the end, I feel like I have learned a lot, and get a lot of satisfaction from going through the weeds of scientific papers and finding a simple way to explain it. Sometimes it makes my head want to explode, but ultimately knowing that I might help someone better understand a science topic is very fulfilling. 

How did you get to where you are today?

It has definitely not been a straight line. I went to college and majored in biology and minored studio art. Secretly, I wanted to be David Attenborough and make science documentaries, but I didn’t think that was an option, so I just went down the science route. I quickly realized that life in the lab was not for me, but I still loved the concepts and loved writing about it even more.

After college, I did my master’s degree in London in something called ‘science media production’ - a course to learn about science filmmaking. It was very cool, and I made a lot of connections but with no visa to stay in the UK after my course, I came back to America. There I worked in advertising for several years, which I really enjoyed. During this time, I honed my editing skills. From there, I started doing freelance commercial work, mostly in animating and editing for real estate clients, fashion clients and various small businesses.

Somewhere in there, I moved to Ireland. Eventually, I got hired as a freelancer by the company I work for now, helping to edit Real Engineering’s videos. And soon after that, I was also writing, animating, producing the videos alongside my now boss Brian. While I really enjoyed producing the engineering videos, my background is in the life sciences so I approached Brian about the idea of launching a new channel that would focus on biology and life science, and he was on board.

I got hired as a full-time employee, and we launched Real Science last year. I now do all the writing, the voiceover work, and general production for it, with help from editors and animators. The company is growing and it has all been a bit of a whirlwind this past year. We are now also working on a podcast series, and hope to make some long-form films soon too. So my path has not stayed in the science documentary world the whole time, but I found my way back to it eventually, with a lot of skills that I was able to learn from the commercial world. 

What did you find to be the most challenging part of getting started?

When I was freelancing, the hardest part was definitely the mentality that I had to say “yes” to everything. And in a way, when you are starting out, you kind of do.

When you have no clients, no money, little experience, you just have to say yes, and get through those difficult, sometimes lame projects. But the thing is, you do learn so much during that phase. You learn how to turn a lame project into something better. You learn how to manage your time. You eventually learn how to spot the bad clients you don’t want to work with, and how to spot the really good ones.

My current company started as a client, and I knew that I had stumbled onto something great when I started working with them. But it took those years of experience to be able to see the opportunity that existed there. 

In terms of my current job, the hardest part of getting started was definitely the anxiety that came with having to do voiceover work. Ever listen to your own voice in a recording and hate it so much? It’s like that... But all the time, for my whole life now. I’ve gotten used to it but it still burns my insides a little. The other part that was and is still hard is the fact that my work is so public. If I think too hard that millions of people are watching these videos it makes me want to barf a little. And any mistake, any insecurity I may have, you better believe those Youtube commenters are going to point it out, relentlessly. I’ve had to grow a much thicker skin. Which, in the long run, is probably a good thing. 

Communication and Projects

When you're working on a project, what is something that makes your job easier?

Communicating! And feedback! I hate being needy to my team, but when they review what I’ve done and just say whether or not they like it does wonders for my confidence going forward. Hear that guys?? Give me more feedback!!! 

If you come across a problem or delay, how do you let your client know?

I usually just try to tell them as soon as I am aware there is a problem, to give everyone as much notice as possible. If I do that, it’s usually fine to delay a video by a week if we need to. 

How do you go about condensing high-level information so that it's accessible to people?

That is the fundamental question really! For my videos, I do it by asking myself a million questions, like a toddler. If I state a scientific fact or explain a piece of data, my next question to myself is why? And then from that, why? And then from that, why? I do this until 1) I am sure that I am correct in saying what I am saying and 2) I am satisfied that the viewer will understand the concept I am trying to explain. 

What is the best project you've worked on?

One of my favorite projects was when Brian and I went to Barcelona to film La Sagrada Familia, to explain the engineering feats of the church in a Real Engineering video. That one came out really good I think.

I also really liked making the deep-sea diving video series for Real Science, about saturation diving and liquid breathing. I have also loved making our recent podcasts, and interviewing some really interesting people, like deep-sea divers!

The Gender Question

Do you have an idea of the percentage of men to women in your industry?

I don’t know for sure, but it definitely skews male very heavily. And our audience is even more extreme. I think Real Engineering’s viewers are 99% male, 1% female. For Real Science, it’s 77.2% male and 22.7% female. 

Have you noticed any inherent differences in the way clients or potential clients interact with you compared to male colleagues?

Once or twice I have felt tokenized as a woman in this field, but not by anyone that I work with. It’s definitely a lame feeling when someone insinuates you have only achieved what you achieved because you were given the opportunity because you are a woman. However, I strongly know that this isn’t the case, and the guys I work with are nothing but awesome and professional.

What do you think we could do to make sure we don't pass bias down the line?

I was always encouraged by the people around me to do what I wanted to do - the fact that those things were usually done by men didn’t cross my mind because of the support that I had.

I think we just need to continually support women who have an interest in these things, to try to not let any of the negative voices sway them against it. 

Do you have any advice for young women entering the industry?

If you want to do it, just do it. Just practice, and get good at whatever it is you are trying to do. Being good at things is just a matter of doing it over and over and over again, studying, practicing, observing. It’s so hard to find talented and responsible people. So if you just become good at what you do and be responsible, you will excel. That’s the advice I would give anyone entering the industry though, men or women, and that’s the point.

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Check out the Real Engineering and Real Science YouTube channels if you want to find out more about Stephanie’s work. And click here to read the rest of the interviews in the series.

If you’d like to take part, feel free to get in touch.