No one doubts that cinematographer Rachel Morrison is one of the best in the film industry. She was nominated for an Oscar for her cinematography skills on the recent film “Mudbound” and she is the DP for one of the biggest films of all-time, “Black Panther.” That isn’t to mention her work on “Fruitvale Station,” “Dope,” or “Cake.” But believe it or not, with all her credentials and accolades, Morrison still found it difficult to find work at one point. And it wasn’t because of her skills. According to Morrison, it was because she just had a child.
In an Instagram post, the filmmaker congratulated herself for finishing production on her latest film, “Against All Enemies.” She didn’t mark the occasion because she just finished a normal production. Morrison was bringing up the fact that she is over 8 months pregnant and completed the film, while also planning to hop into another project immediately.
“I just wrapped a feature [‘Against All Enemies’] at 8+ months pregnant. Now I’m on to a commercial and I plan to keep shooting for as long as anyone will hire me knowing in a few weeks I may have to replace myself if I go into labor on set…,” said Morrison.
This situation makes her think back to her first child and the difficulty she had finding work after he was born. “Physically speaking I could have gone back to work within a week of having my son. At the time, I lost many jobs because people were nervous to hire me so soon after the birth…” she continued.
Ultimately, the cinematographer says that her pregnancies, and motherhood in general, give her a unique perspective that has improved her work. She concludes, “Pregnancy and motherhood in general is not a disadvantage and the craft doesn’t suffer as a result. If anything the added experience and enhanced empathy has made me a better cinematographer and filmmaker.”
With all the attention that female filmmakers have been getting lately, it’ll be interesting to see if Morrison struggles this time, like she did before, attempting to find work post-partum. Because let’s be real, based on her previous work, studios should be lining up to court her immediately.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmTLKlwHqPF/