Director Sachi Cunningham is a pioneer water photographer at San Francisco’s notoriously treacherous break, Ocean Beach. An award-winning filmmaker and photojournalist with degrees from Brown University and UC Berkeley, she is a rare female voice in the field of surf storytellers.
Her work has taken her from the deserts of Iraq to the shores of the Amazon for outlets including PBS Frontline, the NYTimes, LA Times, and top surf magazines. She mentors young filmmakers as a professor of journalism at San Francisco State University. A cancer survivor and mother, Cunningham has been included in both Surfline’s list of top filmmakers and Surfer Magazine’s list of top water photographers. Through her unique perspective, she gives viewers unprecedented access to this story.
THE FILM
SheChange will be a feature length documentary film about the fight for gender equity in the sport of big wave surfing.
WATCH THE TRAILER
SheChange is an intimate journey with four of the best female big wave surfers in the world as they fight for equal access and equal pay in one of the most dangerous sports on earth. Their surprising, history-making victory is only the beginning of what becomes their ultimate mission: equity for women in the world of professional sports – and beyond.
SheChange follows the journey of four trailblazing athletes who broke the glass ceiling of this machismo sport and laid the foundation for gender equity in all halls of power for generations to come. Beyond the perilous surf story of women riding mountains, this is an emotional journey about the fight for equality, the right to dream big and compete on the world stage. It is a story about friendship, resilience and the power of women coming together into a self described orca pod of #badassbigwavebitches.
THE TEAM
Sachi Cunningham | Director
Louie Psihoyos | Executive Producer
Louie Psihoyos is an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and Executive Director of the Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS). He is recognized as one of the top still photographers in the world, having created iconic images for National Geographic for 18 years, and hundreds of covers for other magazines. Psihoyos’ first documentary film, The Cove, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film of 2009 and over 75 other awards around the world.
His second film, Racing Extinction, follows a team of artists and activists as they expose the hidden world of extinction with never-before-seen images. The film premiered on Discovery in 220 countries and territories on the same day, and was nominated for an Emmy, an Academy-Award, and sparked the #StartWith1Thing movement. Psihoyos most recently finished directing The Game Changers, a documentary about vegan extreme athletes, executive produced by James Cameron.
Adriana Cargill | Executive Producer
Adriana Cargill is the founder and CEO of Wave Maker Media, a podcast production company. She’s reported and produced stories for KCRW, NPR's All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Latino USA, Southern California Public Radio (KPCC), Marketplace, LAist, KUSC Radio, VICE News, The Chicago Redeye and more.
She was also a producer on the documentary film The Seventh Fire, which centers on the lives of two Native American gang members in northern Minnesota. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2015, and was shown at the White House followed by a panel discussion with journalists, filmmakers, federal officials, and the film’s protagonists.
She graduated with her master’s in journalism from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism in December 2015 as a Bloomberg Scholar. She’s also studied non-fiction narrative podcast storytelling at Sundance Collab and the SALT Institute. In 2021, she was chosen by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.
Katie Zacarian | Producer, Executive Producer
Katie “KZ” is the co founder and CEO of Earth Species Project, a nonprofit dedicated to using artificial intelligence to decode nonhuman communication. KZ has focused her career on creating technology solutions to support those fighting to address complex multisectoral challenges in biodiversity conservation. In 2019, she was honored with the Next Generation Conservationist Award by The International Seakeepers Society for her work.
In addition to planetary health, KZ is dedicated to issues of equality and justice. She graduated with an honors degree in African and African American Studies from Harvard University. She is a lifelong athlete, dedicated surfer, and underwater photographer.
Adrienne Hall | Producer
Adrienne Hall is an Emmy Nominated, Webby and Clio Award Winning filmmaker specializing in documentary storytelling. Her films have screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, TriBeCa, SXSW, TIFF and HotDocs. Adrienne started her career in non-fiction working alongside Psihoyos on The Cove and Racing Extinction. She has since started her own boutique documentary outfit, Sound Off Films.
With Sound Off, Adrienne has mostly focused on environmental, cause-based storytelling but has also produced a range of entertainment content including films for ESPN's 30x30 series and concert docs for major popstars. In addition to long-form films, Adrienne works with the world’s biggest brands, agencies and nonprofits to tell cause-based stories. Adrienne co-founded Mosaic of Change and partnered with UNESCO, Millennium ART and Obscura Digital to produce content to celebrate UNESCO's 70th anniversary at their HQ in Paris, France. As a lifelong athlete, with dreams of competing professionally, Adrienne is incredibly passionate about equal representation and pay for women in sports.