American University School of Communication (AU SOC) is committed to developing hands-on learning opportunities for emerging filmmakers; both curricular and not. A new project, developed under the leadership of Professor and environmental filmmaker Maggie Stogner, does just that. It is a spinoff video series that builds on the success of Upstream, Downriver, Stogner’s award-winning documentary examining the state of America’s waterways 50 years after the Clean Water Act.

“I wanted to do a series of portraits, profiles of women working in the water justice, conservation, equity space,” Stogner said. As director of SOC's Center for Environmental Filmmaking, she has produced several impactful movies that provide students paid professional roles for which they are fully credited, buidling their portfolio as they earn a degree. After graduation, many alumni remain part of Stogner's go-to talent.

The first episode took the production team to Celestún, Mexico, where a women-led collective has learned to scuba dive to conduct coral restoration, fish species counts, and monitor illegal fishing in partnership with the conservation organization COBI.

Director of Photography and AU Alum Jess Wiegandt Gomez takes a selfie with the AU Center for Environmental Filmmaking crew, Brynne Rardin (right) and Glenda Charles (left), in Mexico.

This inaugural shoot also marked the first field use of SOC’s new, cutting-edge C400 cameras, which are available to students and faculty through SOC’s equipment room. The production team included (pictured above) Jess Wiegandt Gomez, SOC/MFA ‘23, as Field Producer/Cinematographer; graduate student Brynne Rardin, an experienced dive master shooting underwater footage; and Glenda Charles, a Mexico City-based sound recordist who was connected to the project through alumna Daniela Perez. 

The team spent a week documenting the women as they monitor reef systems and conduct species surveys. Their goal was to capture intimate, ground-level storytelling through filming dives, following the restoration process, and hopefully spotting and recording fish species in the region’s protected areas. This episode is one of two short-form “water warrior” stories being filmed for the series.

AU graduate student Brynne Rardin was the underwater cinematographer and topside assistant camera, working alongside Director of Photography Jess Wiegandt Gomez, in Celestún, Mexico. 

While the spinoff expands the project globally, its foundations remain deeply linked to the original Upstream, Downriver initiative, which brought students into watershed communities across the U.S. from the Navajo Nation and Mississippi River Delta to the Chesapeake Bay, Los Angeles River, Mobile Bay, and Columbia River Basin.

For Wiegandt Gomez, whose connection to waterways runs from competitive kayaking to environmental filmmaking, this new chapter fits naturally within her creative path. Her work on the original Upstream, Downriver, where she served as director of photography, built her technical skills and confidence behind the camera. She credits SOC for giving her collaborators, opportunities, and a mentor like Stogner, “who stays in people’s lives,” strengthening the community and valuable professional networks SOC is known for.

Her passion for water storytelling is also evident in her award-winning film A River Called Home, which documents a 350-mile paddle down the James River with fellow Eagles Grace Eggleston and Beth Ebisch. The film has screened at the Kennedy Center’s RiverRun Festival, the Annapolis Film Festival, and the National Paddling Film Festival.

The new Upstream, Downriver YouTube Channel Series extends SOC’s mission of experiential, impact-driven learning. Its women-centered approach to environmental storytelling aims to highlight communities often overlooked in global water justice conversations.

The original Upstream, Downriver: Uniting for Water Justice continues to screen nationwide most recently at NOLA Water Week and has aired over 2,000 times on American Public Television. Details about hosting a screening can be found at the film’s official site.