Rising Stars: Meet Roo Smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roo Smith.

Hi Roo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path to working as a documentary filmmaker was one that has a lot of turns. In school, I always thought I’d graduate and work in the foreign service as a diplomat. I majored in political science, spent about 6 years studying Spanish, and 4 years studying Arabic, and took as many opportunities as I could get to familiarize myself with different cultures, political structures, and governance strategies.

After spending over 9 months of my undergraduate experience working at the State Department on foreign affairs I actually even received my dream offer to work as a diplomat. But, it didn’t seem right anymore. Although I thought government work was my life calling, it had become clear that filmmaking and photography was an opportunity to experience different cultures, make a positive impact, and pursue a more creative path.

Now, it’s been over 5 years of freelance filmmaking and photography and I’ve learned that this career path is a little different than I thought initially. I thought I’d spend my days getting inspired by an endless need to create films and capture photos. I believed that I’d take photos all the time, even in my spare time between jobs. I imagined that my growth and development as a filmmaker would come from tutorials and cinematography courses.

However, my success as a filmmaker won’t come from any of those things. I spent a lot of time on my business; networking, building pitch decks and thinking through potential passion projects to elevate me to the next level. I spend time on physical training because my work has increasingly required me to keep up with elite outdoor athletes; rock climbing, trail running, mountain biking, and yoga have become a part of my daily routine.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel very fortunate to have started working in the filmmaking industry relatively early and in an environment in which it was okay to fail and try new things. I didn’t study film in college but instead started taking on freelance clients and jobs my Sophomore year so, by the time I graduated, I felt I had built up a portfolio and network that really helped in building my career. I wouldn’t say it was easy to get to where I’m now since it took a lot of hard work and unforeseen challenges, especially on the business side of filmmaking, that required some grit and patience.

As a freelancer, I’m never sure where the money is going to come from – which for a while was really difficult to mentally prepare for. I wouldn’t make money for two months then suddenly would get one video project that paid for a whole year of rent. That sort of inconsistency was really challenging, as I personally never handled the unknown very well but I think that’s all changed now. The longer I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve seen that if you put yourself out there and continue to network, make passion projects, and hone your skills the magic comes in the unknown. There’s never a clear path to success and there will obviously be low moments but I really believe that if you’re passionate about what you do, it’s worth pursuing. Even if you have to work another job or are limited to just working weekends on your passions, I think the world needs more people doing what they love.

I think that’s the biggest element of my work that I want people to know. I tell stories of passionate people pursuing what they love in the outdoors. I’ve discovered that takes all shapes and forms, from documentaries about professional athletes to small-town teachers sharing their love of the outdoors with their students.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
One of the most important developments in my career has been to shift the priority away from the camera and onto developing myself into a better person. The more books I can read, the more I can take care of my mental health, the more miles I can run, and the more nights I spend performing songs I’ve written at local coffee shops – the better I’m going to be at filmmaking.

When I find balance, everything else falls into place. Being a more knowledgeable musician allows me to connect to a musician and outdoor athlete who is the star of a documentary I’m directing with Outside Magazine (coming in Winter 2022). Having a more empathic approach to my social interactions (a result of proactively taking care of my mental health) gives me a chance to be more personable to the athletes that star in a number of my different documentaries about adaptive outdoor sports.

When first starting out as a commercial/documentary filmmaker, becoming a technically sound camera operator or editor or director is important. If you don’t know how to properly expose an image or compose a shot, your films may suffer. However, as you develop you discover that filmmaking, especially documentaries, is about people.

My films are about human stories and the range of emotions that we can feel.

If I’m unable to tap into that because I’m too focused on the technical aspects of the filmmaking process, the quality of my work may not be where I want it to be.

However, when you show the people you’re filming that you care about them – that’s where the magic is made. As my career goes on, I’m hoping for bigger laughs and longer hugs, for sunrise hikes and pancake brunches in the alpine. I’m dreaming of powder days and glassy waves. For new friends and creating deeper connections with old ones. My job is to hold up a mirror to what I see in the world and I see a lot of goodness out there.

Moms are starting to mountain bike because their sons are interested. Teachers go above and beyond by building a giant wooden canoe for their students despite living in the landlocked state of Colorado. Mountain guides just want to give others a positive experience in the outdoors, just like they’ve had time and time again. Bachelor parties strip away the need to party and replace it with a need for connection so take a trip down the Colorado River to unplug. All these stories, all these uplifting moments of hope, joy, and adventure what filmmaking for me is all about.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
For me, the biggest joy in my career is community. When I first started working as an adventure filmmaker, I did so much of it alone. I would plan everything by myself, shoot everything by myself, and edit everything by myself. It was actually really lonely. Now, I feel so grateful to work and be surrounded by some amazing people. When I’m not working, I’m definitely a really social person so getting taking time to get involved in the Boulder community is incredibly important to me. I volunteer with the kids at my church, go to the climbing gym with friends, play music at coffee shops, and go on group trail runs.

I definitely feel really fortunate in what I get to do for work but, like every job, it’s necessary to have a healthy work/life balance. Even though I’m flying all over the world and working with some of the biggest brands, that doesn’t mean anything to me if I’m doing it all alone. This past year I traveled to Morocco, Mexico, Ireland, France, Hawaii, Ireland, California, Washington, and Utah and while those trips are amazing, true happiness for me comes during my moments back home when I’m with my community – my best friends, mentors, and collaborators here in Colorado.

I recently had a film screening at Patagonia for one of my films about an adaptive athlete in Colorado who teaches others with disabilities how to ski and while I got to meet so many amazing people and share a story I worked so hard to visually create, it was all my friends, former filmmaking partners, and community that I loved most about that. After having worked with Netflix, Outside Magazine, Patagonia, La Sportiva, Canyon, and some other big-name companies in the outdoor industry I’ve really come to discover that happiness doesn’t come from the prestige of big-name clients, it comes from being loved and showing love to the people closest to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://roosmith.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roosmith6/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6W3UN3as51vArhdm6qCCLg