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About
After studying a Degree in Marine Biology and practicing in the field Inka went onto complete a masters in Wildlife Filmmaking. Her first film ‘MY 25: The Ocean Between Us’ where she acted as self-shooting producer/director explored the complexities of marine protected areas and coral restoration, it was selected as a finalist at the Jackson Wild, United Nations and CITES World Wildlife day biodiversity Showcase and Wildscreen Official Selection.
Inka is currently working as a Assistant Producer on a Major Landmark Underwater Blue chip natural history documentary. Through this project she has had the opportunity to utilise her 10+ years of diving experience (HSE Media diver and technical diver) and Marine Biology background to direct benthic macro rebreather shoots & Open Ocean film shoots, operate deep sea cameras, work in Polar regions and work with a variety of leading scientists and camera professionals around the world to bring ocean stories to a global audience.
As an active advocate, social influencer and filmmaker in the Ocean conservation space Inka has delivered keynotes and panel discussion at Ultramarine, Sea 7, Wildscreen, Jackson Wild, Blue Earth Summit, Ocean Heroes bootcamp as well as several universities. She is a proud ambassador for Girls That Scuba, Paralenze and Fourth Element, an Ocean Ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society, the UK's leading marine charity, and a Partner Photographer at Girls Who click empowering young women to pursue a career in wildlife photography/film.
Her Goal is to make ocean conservation more accessible and to produce documentaries that share the beauty and wonder of our natural world whilst educating a new generation of ocean conservationists.
ScreenSkills Training Passport
Inka Cresswell has completed the following modules within the ScreenSkills Training Passport.
Experience
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Assistant Producer
‘Our Oceans’ release 2024 Oceans is a Major Landmark Underwater Blue chip natural history documentary. Through this project I have had the opportunity to utilise my 10+ years of diving experience (HSE Media diver and technical diver, rEvo rebreather diver) and Marine Biology background to direct benthic macro rebreather shoots & Open Ocean film shoots, operate deep sea cameras, work in Polar regions on remote topside shoots and work with a variety of leading scientists and camera professionals around the world to bring ocean stories to a global audience.
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Public Speaking / Ocean Advocacy
Keynote speaker at Blue Leaders High Seas Treaty High level event, Ocean Heroes Bootcamp • Panelist / Speaker , Ultramarine summit, Sea7 seminar series, Blue Earth Summit, Wildscreen and Jackson Wild. • Ocean Ambassador for the Marine Conservation Society • Contributing author in three books on women in the ocean conservation space released in 2023 (Women and Water, The Ocean and Us and For the Love of the Sea 2). • Oceans topic lead for the intersectional environmentalist and author of several articles on ocean health, conservation filmmaking and photography - all articles can be found on my website.
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Wildlife Photographer
• Selected as an Adobe Lightroom rising star photographer of 2021 • Judge for several international photography competitions. • Partner photographer at Girls Who Click where I mentor aspiring young photographers and provide photography workshops for teenagers. • Produced and filmed a commercial for Panasonic advertising their new camera the S1H • Photorapher for Ouisi nature boardgame
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Researcher
‘Our Oceans’ release 2024 Oceans is a Major Landmark Underwater Blue chip natural history documentary. Through this project I have had the opportunity to utilise my 10+ years of diving experience (HSE Media diver and technical diver, rEvo rebreather diver) and Marine Biology background to direct benthic macro rebreather shoots & Open Ocean film shoots, operate deep sea cameras, work in Polar regions on remote topside shoots and work with a variety of leading scientists and camera professionals around the world to bring ocean stories to a global audience.
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Self shooting Producer/ Director
Produced and filmed a commercial for Panasonic advertising their new camera the S1H. The project consisted of 2 short films 'Saltwater Veins' A film about our connection to the ocean and the beauty of our local waters. Produced in collaboration with LUMIX and a short Behind the scenes film about the functions of the camera and my journey in producing the film.
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Underwater Camera Operator
Primary Underwater Camera Operator for Eyes on the Seas blue shark episode. This shoot was completed free diving using the Panasonic GH5S and Nauticam housing This episode aired on BBC2 at 19:00 24/09/19
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Self shooting Producer/ Director
'MY 25: The Ocean Between Us' is an intimate story of how our oceans have changed during the lifetime of a 25-year-old marine biologist. From traditional fishing practices to state of the art wet labs and coral restoration work, the film shows the importance of learning from different cultures and generations and how there is still time to change the fate of our oceans. This film is currently playing at a variety of international film festivals. It was selected for the official selection at WildScreen 2020 and Woods Hole Film festival, was a finalist at the World Wildlife Day Biodiversity film Showcase hosted by Jackson Wild, IUCN and CITES at the United Nations headquarters and was the winner for the Short doc category at Brighton Rocks film festival. Produced a 15-minute student film about marine protected areas and shifting baselines. This production was shot in 3 international locations and required extensive underwater and topside filming in remote locations. As a part of this student project, I completed all research, industry standard risk assessments, developed treatments/ pitches, Created a digital campaign for funding, editing (Adobe Premiere), colour grading (DaVinci), foley/sound recording / track lay (Pro tools), scripting and worked with University of Bristol students to develop a bespoke score. Student film 'MY 25: The Ocean Between Us' During production, I acted as Primary underwater and topside camera operator using a variety of tech including Ronan S gimbal, DJI Mavic Drone, Osmo, Underwater camera housings shooting 4K 10 bit / underwater lighting systems as well as Super 8 Underwater film cameras.
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Camera Operator & Filmmaker / Marine Biologist
The watermen Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to ocean conservation. I am currently working for the watermen project as a young ambassador. During our recent expedition to Revillagigedo Archipelago I assisted the team by using my photography and film making skills to capture the research efforts and document the scientific procedures. During this expedition I also used my training as a marine biologist to process and record biopsy samples and give presentations to participants about shark tourism. This opportunity allowed me to develop my free diving skills and learn first hand about shark tagging procedure.
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Project Assistant
'Great white shark 3D' is an imax documentary that focuses on the relationship between humans and sharks. I worked on this project during it’s filming in Gansbaai, South Africa and Los Angeles, California. During filming I was able to learn about shark behavior and ecology directly from shark specialists such as Dr. Chris Lowe and Mike Rutzin. I Assisted in location research. Assisted behind the scenes in set up and sound recording. Documented behind the scenes activities in the form of time logs and behind the scenes photography. Worked as a runner assisting in the daily runnings of a film shoot and assisted in buying props. I also took shark identification photos whilst filming in Shark Alley, Gansbaai.
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Project Assistant
'The Last Reef' was an IMAX documentary that focused on coral reef relationships and the current threats effecting coral reefs. During my time working on this project I worked as a project assistant where I assisted in location research, assisted behind the scenes during filming in cancun and worked on camera during the shooting of the ‘Gardener of Hope’ (La Jardinera de la Esperanza) statue in Piunta Nizuc. Working on this project allowed me to gain hands on experience of working in a production company and gain valuable behind the scenes knowledge of how marine documentaries are filmed and produced.
Education and training
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Work well series
ScreenSkills Funded
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Addressing unconscious bias: basic awareness in the workplace
ScreenSkills Funded
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Introduction to mental health awareness at work
ScreenSkills Funded
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Tackling harassment and bullying at work
ScreenSkills Funded
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Group coaching for Leaders of Tomorrow cohort 2
ScreenSkills Funded
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Training Course REDucation
REDUCATION® is real-world training taught by industry professionals. REDUCATION is tailored for all skill levels, from students to working professionals. REDUCATION instructors teach application knowledge of RED's entire RAW workflow process, from digital acquisition through post production.
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Diving at Work Regulations 1997 HSE Media Diver
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Coronavirus basic awareness on production training
ScreenSkills Funded
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Masters Wildlife Filmmaking
This postgraduate degree has been co-designed by UWE academics and producers, directors and production managers from the BBC's world renowned Natural History Unit (NHU).
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Bachelor of Sciences Biology emphasis in Marine Biology
Certificates
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Work well series
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Introduction to mental health awareness at work
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Tackling harassment and bullying at work
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Addressing unconscious bias: basic awareness in the workplace