Los Angeles-based gaffer (lighting designer) Yiming Pan is making waves within the movie trade, not just for her experience in cinematic lighting, but additionally for her dedication to fostering better gender range behind the scenes.
Her journey, which started in China and led her to Hollywood, is a testomony to her ardour, dedication, and unwavering perception within the energy of visible storytelling.
Yiming’s fascination with the artwork of sunshine and shadow started in her childhood. Her father, a images fanatic, launched her to the artwork type at a younger age, igniting a ardour that might form her future. She acknowledged early on the profound impression lighting might have on storytelling, a realization that fueled her want to discover the craft additional.
She honed her abilities at Florida State College’s School of Movement Image Arts, a nationally acknowledged movie college. This rigorous coaching offered her with a strong basis within the technical and creative points of filmmaking, getting ready her for the challenges and alternatives that lay forward.
All through her profession, Yiming has contributed her abilities to a wide range of notable initiatives. She served because the gaffer for Noseeums (2024), a movie showcased on the prestigious Cannes Market, demonstrating her capability to work on high-profile initiatives with worldwide attain. Her work on King’s Cup (2022–2023) additional showcased her talent in crafting lighting designs that enhanced the visible narratives. On Parasomnia (2024), which was government produced by Dan Clifton, she demonstrated her technical prowess and talent to collaborate successfully inside a staff. All of those experiences have solidified her popularity as a talented and dependable skilled within the trade.
Yiming’s dedication to her craft has been acknowledged with prestigious accolades. Her contributions to Don’t Blink contributed to the staff’s recognition with The Gotham Award, highlighting her dedication to impactful storytelling, and is a testomony to her technical and creative achievements.
Nevertheless, Yiming’s journey has not been with out its challenges. She has witnessed firsthand the stark gender imbalance within the movie trade, notably throughout the technical departments.
The Gender Imbalance in Lighting Departments: A First-Hand Account
“Lighting departments have historically been some of the male-dominated areas in movie manufacturing, each globally and particularly in China, the place I began my profession,” Yiming explains. “Early on, I nearly by no means noticed girls working in G&E. Even now, it’s nonetheless uncommon to see girls in these roles again house.”
She recounts the cultural boundaries she confronted early in her profession. “In some areas, girls in movie crews are even seen as taboo—I’ve personally witnessed beliefs {that a} girl sitting on an apple field or gear case might convey dangerous luck or be thought of ‘unclean.’”
Pan provides that: “These sorts of superstitions make it even tougher for girls to be taken critically or really feel welcome within the division. After I began, I consistently needed to show not solely my abilities however my proper to be there.”
Shifting to the U.S. marked a turning level in her profession. “It was a turning level—I lastly noticed girls thriving in lighting departments, which gave me the boldness to pursue gaffing professionally,” she stated. “Even right here, feminine gaffers are nonetheless the exception, however I’m proud to be a part of a brand new technology serving to change that narrative and open doorways for extra girls on this area.”
The Want for Range in Hollywood’s Technical Departments
Yiming believes that addressing the gender imbalance in Hollywood’s technical departments is essential for making a extra inclusive and consultant movie trade.
“Hollywood’s technical departments—particularly in areas like lighting, grip, and digicam—are nonetheless overwhelmingly male and lack significant range,” she asserts. “Whereas progress has been made on-screen, behind the scenes the numbers stay stark. For instance, in 2022, solely 4% of cinematographers and simply 8.8% of administrators on top-grossing movies have been girls. In lighting and electrical departments, the illustration is even decrease, with girls of colour being particularly underrepresented. As a girl of colour working as a gaffer, I’ve usually been the one particular person in that intersection on set.”
She emphasizes that this lack of illustration has a direct impression on the tales being instructed. “This lack of illustration isn’t only a numbers concern—it impacts how tales are instructed and whose experiences are centered. Extra inclusive crews convey richer views, extra nuanced problem-solving, and better authenticity to filmmaking. If we would like cinema that displays the world we dwell in, then the folks shaping the visible language of that cinema have to replicate it too.”
Overcoming Challenges and Discovering Neighborhood
Yiming candidly discusses the challenges she has confronted in her profession, together with cultural boundaries, language variations, and the sensation of being an outsider.
“One of many largest issues I’ve needed to overcome in my movie profession is the sensation of being an outsider—each culturally and professionally,” she shares. “I began in China, the place technical roles like gaffer are closely male-dominated, and in some locations, even carry superstitions that discourage girls from taking part. I’ve skilled moments the place simply sitting on an apple field was seen as ‘dangerous luck’ just because I’m a girl. That form of mindset made it laborious to really feel like I belonged.”
Regardless of these obstacles, Yiming discovered help and encouragement throughout the movie group. “After I moved to the U.S., I confronted a brand new set of challenges: language boundaries, cultural variations, and beginning over with out connections. However regardless of all of that, I’ve met so many passionate, supportive friends who share the identical love for filmmaking.”
She continues, “I’ve additionally had the privilege of studying from skilled Hollywood professionals who have been beneficiant in passing down not simply the strategies they inherited from the technology earlier than them, but additionally their very own advanced insights. Lighting for movie is an artwork type that evolves with each period, and due to the folks I’ve met alongside the way in which, I’ve been in a position to develop inside it—not simply regardless of the challenges, however due to the group that helped me by way of them.”
The Essential Function of Ladies in Movie: A Shift in Perspective
Yiming articulates why it’s important to have girls each on and behind the display within the movie trade.
“For thus lengthy, girls have existed in movie as those being checked out—hardly ever those shaping the gaze,” she explains. “We’ve been the ‘second intercourse,’ seen by way of another person’s lens, our tales filtered or simplified. That’s why it’s so significant when girls step behind the digicam. Shifting from being the topic to the storyteller is greater than a profession transfer—it’s a quiet revolution. It’s the start of one thing extra equal, extra sincere.”
She believes that ladies convey a novel perspective to filmmaking. “When girls mild scenes, direct moments, or write characters, we convey a reality that may’t be imitated. We discover the quiet particulars, the neglected feelings, the unstated dynamics. We convey our lived expertise to the body. And that doesn’t simply change the story—it adjustments the sensation of all the set. It makes the method extra human, extra compassionate.”
Inspiring Future Generations of Feminine Filmmakers
Yiming is keen about inspiring better gender range behind the scenes.
“I goal to encourage better gender range behind the scenes just by exhibiting up totally—as myself, in a management function that ladies are hardly ever seen in,” she states. “Illustration is highly effective, particularly in areas the place it’s been lacking. I didn’t develop up seeing girls working in lighting, and for a very long time, I didn’t imagine I might belong on this area. Now, each time I step onto a set as a gaffer, I hope another person sees that it’s attainable.”
She actively creates supportive environments on set and advocates for hiring girls in technical roles. “I additionally make it some extent to create supportive, respectful environments on set—locations the place folks really feel secure to study, ask questions, and develop, no matter gender. When I’ve the chance, I advocate for hiring girls in technical roles and mentor youthful crew members who’re simply beginning out.”
Crafting a Lighting Technique for Function Movies: A Collaborative Method
Yiming describes her course of for creating lighting methods for movies like Noseeums, Parasomnia, and King’s Cup.
“I spend lots of time understanding the emotional arc, tone, and visible language that the director and cinematographer wish to construct,” she explains. “From there, I make investments closely in communication and prep—discussing every story beat with the director to understand its emotional intent, and collaborating with the DP to form the general visible type and pacing. I additionally break down each location and shot, creating detailed lighting plans and backup choices so we’re prepared for something on set.”
She emphasizes the significance of emotional readability in her strategy. “Throughout all initiatives, my technique is rooted in preparation and emotional readability—constructing a lighting design that not solely helps the story, however deepens the viewer’s emotional connection to it.”
Yiming Pan’s journey is an inspiration to aspiring filmmakers, notably girls, who dream of breaking into the historically male-dominated world of technical movie manufacturing. It isn’t simply girls on the display who stand out, however those that work behind the scenes to make the movies occur. Pan’s profession is a testomony to that. Her expertise, dedication, and unwavering dedication to range are illuminating a path for a extra inclusive and consultant future for Hollywood. As she continues to hunt initiatives that problem her creatively, Yiming stays a robust power for change, one mild at a time.
Observe @nicxoxe on Instagram.
