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Interview 3
Carys is a TV director, Camera operator and Drone pilot. From sit-down interviews to action sequences, Carys has shot documentaries, obs docs, news, and sports footage. Her recent broadcast camera credits include:- The Real House Wives of Cheshire (Monkey Kingdom/ Universal) 2017. BBC Songs of Praise, Trust me I am a Doctor (BBC2), Passover: Why is this night different (BBC), Look North, North West Tonight. Carys is one of very few professional female drone pilots currently working in the media industry. She has expanded her skills with drones from TV work to also capturing impressive portraits, for example in her project A Girl from Above. Her photography has featured in exhibitions in London, Amsterdam, Birmingham as well as her home town of Glossop in Derbyshire.
[photo by Joolze Dymond, questions by Amy Norton]
Do you consider yourself a feminist? If so, what led you to realise?
For a long time, I didn’t realise that I was a feminist, it slowly dawned on me that feminism is about equality not just for women but for everyone regardless of who you are. For me it’s about trying to see other’s view points, obviously you can’t know exactly what it is like for a person and the particular challenges they face daily, but we need to address that some people are discriminated against and overlooked just because of their differences. We should celebrate all the uniqueness of individuals and societies collectively. I started a blog about drones - ‘The Drone Lass’ and I got lots of women contacting me to say that I was inspiring them. That was not what I set out to do, but then I realised that I didn’t really have many female role models in the areas of work I have chosen. I am not particularly inspirational I am just talking about what I do and how you, whoever you are, can do it if you want.
Name a woman who has significantly impacted your life and how.
So many, my Nanna, she had books about different religions and cultures and she used to say that everyone has a place in the world. This opened up conversations about how we should be kind to others as other places in the world had challenges. She was very forward thinking in her approach, embracing all religions and all culture. She was born in the 1920’s and brought up two daughters as a single Mum in the 50’s and 60’s, worked lots of jobs in retail there was no money for travel. She brought up my Mum and in turn my Mum taught me that strength, resilience and kindness in all areas of life will bring you contentment. To love those who are difficult to love.
Then the most inspirational man would be my Dad, never underestimate the need for men to be involved in the feminist conversation. My Dad is probably the most feminist man you could hope to meet. He told my sister and I that girls can do anything that boys can, he showed us how things work as an engineer, he loves to share that. I see him telling his grand daughters the same and showing them how things work, I hear him say girls can do anything and there is no such thing as I can’t do this. He is right, if you want to, you can, it might be harder work for you than someone else but some things are not easy and if it was easy everyone would be doing it.
Share a pivotal moment in your career.
I have experienced redundancy three times in my working life. Each time it’s scary, it feels personal, but each time it’s an opportunity to reset and change your perspective. Redundancy from the BBC was the best thing to happen and, after 5 years, has been a pivotal moment. I sat on the sofa feeling sad for two weeks and then thought I need to look at what I do and how I do it. I thought that there are a lot of people in my industry that say they can do it , when actually they can’t. In creative industries you get it a lot and to a certain extent we all feel we are winging it . Although this sounds arrogant - I can do everything on my CV so why am I not telling people I can? I am quiet in the way I do it, but I do tell people what I can do. Learn everyday and strive to make good work, be technical, be creative and learn from every mistake and job.
Could you talk about an incident in your career where you felt you were treated differently because of your sex?
Now that’s a difficult one to answer, as actually it was more about my age, when I worked in IT I was young and I was in charge of all data on servers and backing them up, closing them down for the the North East and North West of England in BT. I used to run meetings and they would say you are in charge of this project? Perhaps it wasn’t and age thing, but a sexist thing, it just didn’t register.
Often when flying a drone, the director will speak to my male assistant - we secretly love that as he always replies “don’t ask me, I can’t fly it!” We love the look on someone’s face when they think they have booked someone who can’t fly and then they realise that they have a woman flying a drone. To be honest this is happening less and less; in the early days a female drone operator was a novelty now I am glad to say there are more and more of us.
If you could have dinner with three women (alive or dead), who would it be and why?
Dawn French I think not only she is funny and a talented actress, I think she would have great tales to tell. Michelle Obama , cool sophisticated and a woman who has stood up and talked a lot of sense on the world’s stage. Joan of Arc - I would really like to meet her, she was bold, brave and principled and her story fascinates me.
What's the book that you always recommend to people and why?
This was a really difficult to one to answer, I read a lot. Currently I recommend anything my Matt Haig - his mental health books for understanding and his fiction for enjoyment.
Tell us about something that makes you angry.
The fact that people don’t vote, your vote counts. The lack of political engagement is what has lead us to this apathy we have now. I was taught how to read up on what mattered to me and vote for the manifesto closest to my beliefs on what I wanted for the country. No political party will match all your beliefs , don’t vote for the leader as that can change a week after they are voted in. Don’t vote on a single idea. There are women in their 30s and 40’s who have never voted. Indeed women have died to give us the vote, and there are places where you can’t vote.
Share with us your favourite album and why?
This is probably the hardest question as I love music, Fleetwood Mac ‘Tango in the Night’ as it reminds me of us three kids in the back of the car and my Mum signing along. That along with Queen, Elton John, Moody Blues and Carol King. All the sound tracks to road tips as a family, I thank my Mum and Dad sharing the music of their youth.
Could you give us an example of everyday sexism you have faced recently?
When talking about job titles in my area of work, you still hear people say cameraman - I think camera operator is great as it describes what we do and isn’t gendered. However, I heard a man say that he couldn’t call himself a camera operator as it doesn’t have gravitas, he was talking to me in conversation. I am still rolling my eyes at that one.
Is there an issue facing women today that you feel most concerned about?
Personal safety seems to be the biggest area of concern for all. Best bit of advice my Dad said to myself and my friends when we started going out drinking was stick together look after each other and if you have a row don’t let anyone go off on their own. It seems that is needed more and more in the times we live in. It shouldn’t be the case, we should be able to go where we like, wearing what we like, and when we want. Unfortunately it’s not the case.
What advice would you give to your eighteen-year-old self?
Ignore those that tell you you can’t, less self doubt. The kindness you give will sometimes mean you will be taken advantage of, so be kind but don’t let people think that means you are a doormat. Stand up for yourself.
Tell us something few people know about you.
I have overcome shyness and a highly self conscious outlook to be here, it was crippling and still rears its head occasionally . My antidote to it was to try stand-up comedy and I did it as a personal challenge that lasted 5 years. I did actually make people laugh in the end and made friends for life. Looking back, it was a totally a surreal time, but one that makes me go ‘wow I did that’.