Maya Craig

Maya Craig is a Documentary Filmmaker and freelance Director of Photography based in San Francisco and working internationally. She has been a National Geographic Explorer since 2019 looking at the global climate and geopolitical impacts of a warming Arctic, a journey that has brought her to Alaska, Svalbard, Iceland, and across Europe to film with scientists, policymakers, and indigenous communities living and working at the forefront of climate change. As Director of Photography for Swiftwater, Maya has filmed for a number of documentaries focused on restoration of Western landscapes including Guardians of the River (EarthXFilm Impact Award 2021), Bring the Salmon Home (Jackson Media Awards nominee 2022), and The Lost Salmon (Emmy nominee NW 2023). She is also a DP and producer on feature documentary Laikipia, about conservation and pastoralism in Northern Kenya, which has been supported by Doc Society, Threshold Foundation, Sundance, and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Her first documentary Water Town, about a water privatization conflict in Northern California, was broadcast nationally on PBS and helped lead to the City of Weed, CA securing its water rights after a five year legal battle. As a freelancer, she has directed and shot for brand collaborations with Patagonia, Google, Freethink, LA Times, CNN’s Courageous Studios and others. Maya is a fellow at the Royal Geographical Society, and holds an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from Colorado College and a Master’s in Documentary Film from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.