Shooting Producer on the Song Saa Collective’s Regenerative Tourism Film, Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia

Song Saa Private Island from the drone

In June I worked as shooting producer on a short film about the Song Saa Collective in Cambodia’s Koh Rong Archipelago. Regenerative Tourism is part of Pacific Asia: Tourism with Purpose, a digital series that the UK production company Content With Purpose produces for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

The film looks at how Song Saa Private Island, a resort off the Cambodian coast, funds the marine conservation and community work of the Song Saa Foundation. I was on the job with Vicheka, my long-term assistant, who has worked with me on a lot of shoots.

A change of plan on Thursday evening

The shoot came together at short notice. One of the people due to be featured had returned to their home country for family reasons, so I had a call with Content With Purpose and Melita Koulmandas, the founder of the Song Saa Collective, on the Thursday evening to work out what to do. Morokot Long, the Song Saa Foundation’s marine conservation and community engagement officer, agreed to step in. A holiday was coming up and she was due to travel back to her hometown, so we had to film before she left.

We made the final decision that evening. I packed the kit that night, started prep at 5.45 the next morning, and Vicheka and I were in a taxi out of Phnom Penh at 6am. At the coast we took Song Saa’s speedboat out to the island, and we filmed on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 June.

Arriving at Song Saa Private Island

I arrived slightly discombobulated, convinced I’d lost an hour somewhere. Song Saa runs on Hong Kong time, an hour ahead of the rest of Cambodia, so the island’s clocks and mine weren’t aligned.

Working with Content With Purpose

Content With Purpose specialises in ethical production. To keep the carbon footprint of its shoots down, it hires local crews rather than flying people in, which is how the job came to me in Phnom Penh. The production manager was Amy Allport.

Three interviews, two cameras

Content With Purpose wanted a two-camera interview setup, and I ran the interviews myself. The Sony A7 IV was A camera, with the A7S III on the second angle. I lit with a Zhiyun Molus X100 and recorded sound from a Sennheiser MKH 416 on a boom and a Sennheiser G4 radio mic, both going into the Sony XLR-K3M adapter, belt and braces.

The two-camera setup for Sideth Chun’s interview at the Discovery Centre.

Melita Koulmandas, Song Saa Collective

Melita Koulmandas is the founder and CEO of the Song Saa Collective. We interviewed her in one of the island’s villas, a stilt house looking out over the sea.

“I first found myself out here 20 years ago, in 2006,” she says. “When I first arrived, you could see what on the surface appeared to be this incredible, stunning, pristine environment was very rapidly in decline. Fish stocks had been pushed close to collapse. It was becoming more and more challenging for these fishing communities to provide for their families.”

She started working with the local community and the fisheries, and the house reef around Song Saa became, in her words, “the starting point for Cambodia’s first marine reserve.” The Song Saa reserve was the first marine reserve to be registered in Cambodia.

The two islands of Song Saa and the house reef between them

“Within 18 months we saw the fish stocks start to come back,” she says. “We saw baby barracudas, we saw spotted stingrays, and I was able to witness regeneration happening in real time.”

Interviewing Melita Koulmandas in one of the villas on Song Saa Private Island.

Morokot Long, Song Saa Foundation

Morokot’s interview was shot on the beach in the late afternoon, with the sea as a backdrop. She runs the foundation’s seagrass surveys, which she describes as “very detailed, metre by metre.”

Setting up Morokot Long's interview on the beach as the sun sets.

“Seagrass bed is one of the most important marine habitats,” she says. “It sustains a lot of life. It acts as a nursery ground for the juvenile fish, protects our coastline from waves and erosion. It also acts as a carbon sink.”

Morokot Long on the beach, with the second camera on the left.

Sideth Chun, Song Saa Foundation

Sideth Chun is the foundation’s community liaison officer, and we filmed his interview at the Discovery Centre. Morokot told us he’d recently qualified as a scuba diver. “When the local community takes this as their ownership, people like to protect what they care about and what they love,” Morokot says.

Sideth runs workshops on coral species for children in the community and takes them swimming. “They see the coral growing and they’re really interested,” he says. “They said they want to be like the part of the marine science and take care of their own marine environment.”

Interviewing Sideth Chun at the Discovery Centre.

On the water and in the air

Between interviews, we went out on the foundation’s boat with Morokot, Sideth and the dive team as they kitted up. I used the A7S III on the gimbal for the moving shots on the boats.

Filming the dive team as they kit up.

I shot the aerial footage on the DJI Air 3, covering the island, its boardwalk and the house reef. I’ve written more about flying drones in Cambodia and the permissions involved.

Flying the Air 3 from the deck on Song Saa Private Island.

Tourism that pays for conservation

Six years after Melita first arrived, she designed and built Song Saa Private Island to support the conservation work, alongside an international not-for-profit foundation.

“The resort commercial business became the engine,” she says. “It provided infrastructure for the conservation work, provides housing for the marine scientists and the team to live in. It brings awareness to this area through media and PR. And then through guest donations, grants, fundraising through the foundation, we’re able to conduct data-driven research.”

It’s the same link between visitors and conservation that I saw on the Tonle Sap, where protected bird sanctuaries bring income to communities through eco-tourism. Melita summarises this perfectly at the end of the film: “Tourism has to move from extraction to contribution.”

Staying on the island

It’s not often I get to stay somewhere like Song Saa, and I think Vicheka enjoyed it even more than I did. We didn’t have time to make much use of the island’s facilities, but we did eat at the restaurant. My highlight was an Asian-style confit duck salad with green mango, where the acidity of the mango cut through the saltiness of the duck.

The overwater villas on Song Saa Private Island.

Handover and release

At the end of the shoot, I uploaded all the footage to Content With Purpose’s Drive for the edit. Pacific Asia: Tourism with Purpose was previewed at PATA Travel Mart 2026 and launched in Bangkok on 8 September 2026. The films are free to watch on Content With Purpose’s site, alongside partners including the Hawai’i Tourism Authority and Travelife.

Thanks to Melita, Sideth and the Song Saa team, and to Morokot for stepping in at short notice. If you’re after a shooting producer for a travel or conservation story, I’ve also produced, directed and shot segments for the BBC Travel Show. You can see more of my work as an NGO videographer in Cambodia.

Working on something similar? Drop me a line, I’d be happy to discuss how I can help.

On location in Stung Treng – Filming a case study for UNICEF’s Generation Future Programme

It’s always good to get out of Phnom Penh on assignment and working as an NGO videographer on an assignment for UNICEF was no exception.

 I’d made a video case study about Panha just as she started started a role as a team leader as part of the Code for Girls project.

It was always the plan to make a follow up video of Panha to see the progress she had made over the

Panha spoke about the new skills she had learnt. ‘Now, I can use code in my designs

to make all kinds of models,’ she said.

We also interviewed Lida, Panha’s IT teacher. She spoke about the progress Panha had made.

‘It makes me very happy to see Panha undergoing such a positive transformation. She has gone from a girl with basic typing skills to a girl who is confident in writing code,’ she said.

Panha also spoke about the training she had provided to her team members.

‘Over the past 6 months, I have trained my team members in STEM subjects. We’ve learned about using a 3D printer and coding,’ she said.

Chaily, one of Panha’s team members was very positive about the training Panha has given her.

‘Panha has helped to improve my drawing skills, and she’s improved my leadership

and teamworking skills,’ she said.

Panha has had to overcome difficulties to provide the best training she can.

‘Even though I’m a very shy person. My confidence has improved,’ she said.

Panha plans to set up a dedicated STEM room at her school and wants to study computer science at university. She has even inspired Chaily to pursue a university course in civil engineering.

I wish both Panha and Chaily the best of luck in the future. It’s important that increasing numbers of girls enter the STEM sector as they are currently underrepresented. Hopefully they can both continue to be role models and inspire other girls to pursue their goals.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any video projects you’d like to discuss.

Filming 2 social media videos about youth-led, climate change initiatives for UNICEF

As part of Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap, I was asked to produce 2, short social media videos to showcase the young people’s climate-led initiatives.

 The request was made on the second morning of the shoot, which didn’t give us much time, but the UNICEF communications team had a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve and everyone was in agreement that the young people’s campaigns were impressive. It was important to give young people a voice and the videos would be a strong tool for advocacy.

 We decided to make two short videos. One about Fantastic 5, a group of five girls who had created an app to educate people about plastic use and deforestation.

 The second video featured 3 of the young people’s campaigns including Fantastic 5, YOSO, a project about solar power and campaign about reducing the use of plastic in the community.  

Fantastic 5

In Cambodia, it’s not uncommon for people to take videos and upload them to their own platforms. While it’s a complement for Apsara to post the video, the adverts for energy drinks they added aren’t really appropriate for the content!

Video showcasing 3 youth-led climate initiatives

Kitty Van Der Heidjen will be leading a UNICEF delegation to the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan and there will be representation from Cambodia.

My hope is that the videos can be shown at the conference and hopefully they can make a small change to give young people a voice at the table. It’s important that more resources are made available to support young people as ultimately the future of the planet is theirs.

You can see more examples of my NGO videos here and here.   

Videographing Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap for UNICEF

It was a pleasure to be contacted by UNICEF to make a video of Kitty Van Der Heidjen’s visit to Siem Reap. UNICEF’s communications department are always easy to work with. They have a clear vision of what they want to achieve. They provided me with a solid brief that we went over during pre-production so everyone was clear on what the outputs would be.

 Kitty Van Der Heidjen is the Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships for UNICEF. She visited a school in Siem Reap to see how UNICEF has been supporting the life skill development for young people.

 In the morning we visited a school and the students made presentations about their campaigns to raise awareness about the environment and climate change.

 Kitty was impressed by what she saw. ‘I have been completely amazed by what I saw. In front of me on the podium, I had 12-year-olds, mostly girls, by the way, who were talking about climate change,’ she said.

‘They were talking about what they saw in their community. They were talking about what they saw in their community in terms of how that is impacting their lives. and the need to collect waste and the need to recycle waste,’ she added.

 Kitty was also impressed by the tree planting campaign run by the students, ‘They were talking about planting trees and making sure that the trees were well-maintained, so that we could actually do something about climate change.’

 In the afternoon we visited the communities to see the positive changes the young people’s projects had created.

 ‘A big part of what they are doing is not just talking about this in their classroom, but really talking to their parents, talking to other classmates, talking to their communities and making change happen,’ said Kitty.

 It was a challenging shoot as Siem Reap was suffering from a heatwave and a severe drought that was taking away vital income from the communities surrounding the school.

 ‘The village pond, where they would take tourists to go on a boat ride is gone,’ said Kitty.

While the situation is dire, it was great to see youth-led initiatives making such a positive impact in their communities. Hopefully UNICEF can expand their work in this area both in Cambodia and globally and Kitty can mobilise more youth to join the Green Rising movement.

You can see more examples of my work with UNICEF here and here.  

On Location in Stung Treng with UNICEF – NGO filmmaker on a case study

While filming an overview video for Generation Future, part of the assignment was to work as an NGO filmmaker to focus on Panha, a girl who joined the Code for Girls programme to work as a student volunteer. 

Code for Girls is a project for girls to to learn about coding and engineering, which are both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. 

It’s important to encourage girls to participate in STEM subjects as they’re often seen as subjects more suited to boys.

‘Most of the time, girls’ parents don’t let them study STEM subjects,’ says Panha. 

‘After completing high school, I’d like to go to university. I’d like to study IT or engineering,’ she adds.

Panha has been interested in robotics since she was young and Code for Girls is a great opportunity for her to learn more.

‘I’ve been interested in this since I was 10. I found out about it on YouTube. There are so many things to watch,’ she says.

‘It’s predominantly men who make robots, but I think women can make them as well. If male students can study IT, why can't girls?’ she adds.

This has been a great opportunity to learn new skills.  

‘The most interesting part was drawing a 3D model on the computer. After creating our designs, we got to print them on a 3D printer.  I’m really happy, because I’ve never done anything like this before,’ she say.

Over the coming months, Panha will work with her project leaders and peers to train other students as part of the project. 

‘I’d like to be able to provide training for girls like me. to improve their skillset and for them to

understand how to put what I teach into practice,’ she says. 

‘I would like to encourage all girls to be confident in studying STEM subjects. They can be role models for the next generation of girls to look up to,’ she adds.

I look forward to catching up with Panha in a few months’ time, when we’ll be making a follow up video to see the progress she’s made and how she’s managed to train and empower other girls in her community.

You can read more about the other Generation Future video I made here.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need an NGO filmmaker to work on any upcoming projects