Taking risks.
Ashlei Payne, the founder of TracingThought Productions, is an award winning filmmaker and photojournalist, eager to go beyond the already told story.
After graduating from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Photography, she worked for many newspapers, and freelanced as a photojournalist until she left to travel the world.
“The people I would meet while traveling left gems of influence on my life. I constantly wondered how they gained their wisdom. Realizing the only way to trace the roots, was to live with them longer, learn, adapt, and share. Using my favorite tool: the camera, I could bring those intimate stories to life.”
From the formidable rainforests of Borneo to the countryside of Kashmir, Ashlei lives with her subjects for extensive periods to immerse herself in the lives of others and help share their stories with the world.
Her documentaries are based on local and indigenous people's points of view and presented without bias. They have won numerous awards including Austin International Art Festival (2021), Las Vegas International Film and Screenwriting Festival (2021), and Outstanding Performance for Best Director at the New York International Film Awards (2021).
She and the TracingThought team are currently filming in Borneo, Indonesia and Avannaata, Greenland. You can read about the upcoming films here.
TracingThought Productions LLC
TracingThought Productions (formerly TracingThought) was created on the islands of Indonesia in 2019. It is an independent outlet for visual journalism, focusing solely on documentary filmmaking and photojournalism. Frequently collaborating with non-profits and like-minded journalists.
TracingThought Productions thrives on the energy of environmentally conscious stories, stands in partnership with Indigenous communities, and leaves the opinions to the people telling their stories.
We make films and visual content that maintain a neutral ground and allow the viewer to judge the topics at hand.
Next stop
Countries visited
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Companies We’ve Worked With
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To film a documentary right, you need money to ensure everyone’s time is accounted for.
Your contribution helps fund TracingThought’s mission. Please email us if you have any questions.
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