Cassandra Giraldo is an award-winning cinematographer and documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles.
She was previously a staff producer and cinematographer at VICE News from 2016-2020 where she learned to craft intimate and cinematic stories at the breakneck speed of a newsroom environment. In 2021, her team's coverage of the civil unrest in Chile for Vice News was nominated for a News and Doc Emmy for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish. She was also among a team of cinematographers recognized with an Emmy award for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Newscast as part of the Vice newsroom's extensive team coverage of the George Floyd protests across the U.S.
Cassandra began her career as a photojournalist, cutting her teeth as a newspaper photographer, and becoming a regular contributor at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times where she covered local and national stories. Various photography organizations including Getty Images, Instagram, NPPA, American Photography, and the Eddie Adams Workshop have recognized her photography, and a diverse range of editorial and branded clients approach her for photo assignments and collaborations including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, ESPN, The Marshall Project, Reveal, Nike, Wieden+Kennedy, Rivian, and Patagonia.
As a cinematographer, she excels in intimate character-driven story-telling and immersive vérité shooting. Her documentary production skills are guided by a camera in hand and are informed by her background as a photojournalist which allows her to put people at ease and to problem solve under various contexts. Her cinematography has appeared in various documentary series and forthcoming features for Peacock, Vice TV, and HBO, among others and she acted as director of photography for two seasons of the VICE series Transnational which was awarded both a GLAAD and Peabody award in 2022.
Cassandra is a graduate of the ICP's Photojournalism and Documentary Program (2012) and holds a Master of Science degree from Columbia Journalism School's Stabile program for investigative journalism (2017). She speaks Spanish and French and is a proud member of both Women Photograph and the Documentary Cinematographer's Alliance. She's also trained in battlefield first-aid after three hostile environment training sessions for journalists and has an FAA Part 107 drone certification. Cassandra is available for projects worldwide and is always available for a friendly coffee to discuss future collaborations - non-fiction, narrative, artistic, journalistic... I'm down to capture it all!
Get in touch: cassandrarian.giraldo@gmail.com
Gear list available upon request :)
She was previously a staff producer and cinematographer at VICE News from 2016-2020 where she learned to craft intimate and cinematic stories at the breakneck speed of a newsroom environment. In 2021, her team's coverage of the civil unrest in Chile for Vice News was nominated for a News and Doc Emmy for Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish. She was also among a team of cinematographers recognized with an Emmy award for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a Newscast as part of the Vice newsroom's extensive team coverage of the George Floyd protests across the U.S.
Cassandra began her career as a photojournalist, cutting her teeth as a newspaper photographer, and becoming a regular contributor at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times where she covered local and national stories. Various photography organizations including Getty Images, Instagram, NPPA, American Photography, and the Eddie Adams Workshop have recognized her photography, and a diverse range of editorial and branded clients approach her for photo assignments and collaborations including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, ESPN, The Marshall Project, Reveal, Nike, Wieden+Kennedy, Rivian, and Patagonia.
As a cinematographer, she excels in intimate character-driven story-telling and immersive vérité shooting. Her documentary production skills are guided by a camera in hand and are informed by her background as a photojournalist which allows her to put people at ease and to problem solve under various contexts. Her cinematography has appeared in various documentary series and forthcoming features for Peacock, Vice TV, and HBO, among others and she acted as director of photography for two seasons of the VICE series Transnational which was awarded both a GLAAD and Peabody award in 2022.
Cassandra is a graduate of the ICP's Photojournalism and Documentary Program (2012) and holds a Master of Science degree from Columbia Journalism School's Stabile program for investigative journalism (2017). She speaks Spanish and French and is a proud member of both Women Photograph and the Documentary Cinematographer's Alliance. She's also trained in battlefield first-aid after three hostile environment training sessions for journalists and has an FAA Part 107 drone certification. Cassandra is available for projects worldwide and is always available for a friendly coffee to discuss future collaborations - non-fiction, narrative, artistic, journalistic... I'm down to capture it all!
Get in touch: cassandrarian.giraldo@gmail.com
Gear list available upon request :)