CREATIVE TEAM
NANCY OSTERTAG
Nancy is a writer and photographer in New York who grew up with cameras as an integral part of her family culture. "If photography is a language, I'm a native speaker." Nancy started her career as an intern for Annie Leibovitz after studying Philosophy at Rutgers. "I had no experience. I walked into her studio with a blank resume and asked for a job." In the mid-nineties, Nancy followed another passion and moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry. "I was one of those kids who watched my favorite movies repeatedly and could quote every line." She started shooting stills for Roger Corman productions, falling in love with the process of filmmaking. Nancy later worked as the photo archivist and staff photographer for the American Film Institute. "For seven years, I was immersed in a world of storytellers." It was at AFI that Nancy began collaborating with filmmaker Vanessa Ruane. Now on the East Coast, Nancy has spent the last fifteen years working for The Travel Channel, Discovery, and National Geographic. She is currently the photo editor for NatGeo's partner, Lindblad Expeditions.
VANESSA RUANE
My love of storytelling started with writing and acting. It eventually began to involve camera work, directing, and editing. As a child, I was an actress in NYC. I then traveled through Europe, writing and teaching English. In 1997, I moved to Los Angeles and began working as Writer/Producer Glen Larson's assistant. It was exciting to learn the writer's room and the pitching process. I spent six years traveling and learning directing while assisting Director John Badham. During those years, I also worked part-time as a photographer/videographer for the American Film Institute. I shot seminars, Q&As, the Film Festival, and the Life Achievement Award. Those years were full of learning, experimenting, and inspiration. In the early 2000s, I started making my own films and web series. I joined the Motion Picture Editors Guild and have worked in post-production for the last 15 years. In 2020, my work with Nancy Ostertag on Radicals was beginning to take shape, making me want to tell more of my own stories. We began writing and shooting short content, most recently collaborating in the Arctic and New Zealand for Lindblad/National Geographic Expeditions. In 2023, I wrapped up my sixth season with the FX series Snowfall, and the feature film I edited, Wingwalker, opened in theaters in October 2024.