Meet Emma Younan | camera assistant, photographer, writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emma Younan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emma, how do you think about risk?
You’ll never try harder than when you don’t have a backup plan. If I’d known that in case film doesn’t work out, I could just go to my comfortable second option, the comfortable office job I don’t like but don’t hate, which will get me nothing but a paycheck and bad posture from the office chairs, I wouldn’t have tried nearly as hard as I do when I had no job, a film degree collecting dust, and rent due tomorrow. Someone with no safety net, who is entirely self-reliant on their income to cover all their expenses, whose only option is creating their art, that person has to be successful. Every day I tell myself I’ll write another screenplay. And every day I go to work on set for 12 hours, come home exhausted, and fall into bed. I have not opened Final Draft in a while. But if I had gotten a “safe” degree instead of going to film school, meeting creative people and getting into the camera department, then I’d be telling myself that one day I’d work on a set, if it weren’t for my 9 to 5. Taking risks gives me the adrenaline push I need to actually put in the work to reach my goals.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I work in the camera department and take film photos, but I am not a technical person. Some people in film class seemed to have a knack for it, something that helped them understand what an F-Stop is when they were first explained it, or what size screw you’ll need to attach your onboard monitor onto the camera cage. I had to have the concept of aperture and ISO explained to me several times, and only when I started using a film camera did it finally click. I found most of the technical stuff very difficult to learn. Writing is more of a natural instinct. It’s more free and allows for creativity, but you have to have stamina. Whether it is churning out page after page of a 120 page screenplay, or trying to work my way up on bigger sets doing jobs that I moved way past on the small sets I’m used to – I’ve learned that patience and consistent work is key in getting where you want.
It can be frustrating because I want to be 1st AC on big sets now, in this moment, but the reality is that it’ll take years for me to get there. And that’s good. I need experience and I need to earn where I am trying to go, frustrating as it may be. Something I’ve struggled with a lot recently is how other people treat me on set. Many of the older people share their experience with me, but there’s some people, especially men, who like to talk down to me and make it very clear that they neither respect me, nor do they think I deserve to work in the same space as them. I am hoping that the more experience I get, the more I can be respected by the other crew members – and one day make sure the next generation of young women can be respected on set. I am very proud of having learned what I know with hard work and consistency, and no one can take that from me – no matter how hard they try.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First, I’d take them to Board House Coffee on Santa Monica Blvd. Get an iced matcha with oat milk and ask for Rose syrup. Or better, the pistachio latte. Life changing. Once we’ve done that, I’d go to the silverlake flea market on saturday. There’s good finds and silverlake is often overlooked by people visiting LA. Then I’d go to DTLA, go to that little thrift store in Chinatown up an inconspicuous staircase. For lunch, get snacks in Little Tokyo (onigiri from Nijiya or Bao buns from a street vendor) , along with Matcha from Cafe Dulce. DTLA has several art deco theaters that I’ve already photographed, but some of my photos left me unsatisfied. So we would go on a photo walk on Broadway, capturing the glamorous signs of the Los Angeles and Globe theaters, and whatever other street photography catches the eye. And if we want to look at photos, I’d suggest the Peter Fetterman gallery. Their exhibit “New York, New York” helped me find my style a few years back.
A challenge would be to try all the restaurants in Sawtelle Japantown, starting with Marugame Udon. And to go out, either Blind Barber or Davey Wayne’s. Speakeasies are always fun, especially for people from places where that doesn’t exist. To round out the week, we’d go home to my family for our my dad’s sunday night dinner. Lebanese shish taouk, hummus, tabbouleh, toom, and homemade fries. Best meal you’ll ever have.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Nothing I’ve achieved would be possible without the unwavering support of my parents. When I was 14, before I ever thought of going into film, my father told me I had a talent for telling stories and that I should think about being a director. Both my parents were nothing but supportive of my decision to go to college for film. They drove me to classes when I didn’t have my license yet, let me take our living room furniture to class to use as production design. My first project as 2nd AC was a low-budget indie consisting of mainly night shoots. I lived too far out to carpool with anyone, so my dad would get up to pick me up from set at 4am. If we did overtime, he would wait for me in the car. I was only able to gain experience and learn because of the support of my family. Now that I no longer live at home and don’t get to see my parents as often, I realize that the most important thing they taught me is to believe in myself. I am eternally grateful for their support.

Website: https://www.emmaskamera.com/

Instagram: @emmaskameraa, @emmayounan

Image Credits
Personal image by Timas Deppert during the Berlinale. All other images by Emma Younan.