who we are

Owners

We started Pioneer with the idea of starting something fresh and blazing a new trail. Ashley had an artistic eye long before Pioneer's inception, exploring rural landscapes and old structures with friends, and taking photos along the way. She then started and grew her photography business fresh out of high school. Delivering beautiful memories to families from weddings and portraits. Her self-driven business mindset has helped forge Pioneer into what it is today. I (RD) had a somewhat less direct path to video.

Looking back now, my interest in documentary and video is apparent. From filming short nature docs with my parents’ camcorder in my backyard in Maryland to extreme sledding on my iPhone, my intent to document has always been there. So after picking up our first video camera in 2016 from B&H, things felt natural. Ashley and I are largely self-taught in our craft, finding inspiration from our travels and adventures into the nature that surrounds us. Being from Maryland meant that my knowledge of the South, especially Mississippi, was unknown.

The greatest adventure in my life has been meeting my beautiful southern wife and moving South. Deep South. To a place where the mail runs (the mail carrier has delivered the mail), I found myself 7 miles down a dirt road called Bovina Cut-Off, and I gained my freshman 20 (or 30) from the best food I've ever had. Mississippi has always been enchanting to me in its own way. From the Spanish moss to the sweet smell of pine in the air. After being here for the better part of a decade, I've met some incredible people and had the privilege of documenting their stories. The South is certainly a place that likes to tell a good story.

After the formation of Pioneer in 2016, we started documenting those stories on video (and sometimes audio) more and more. Ashley and my interest in a good story is something that drives our passion for documentary filmmaking in the present day. We have a long list of documentaries we’d love to make- from underground tunnels to fascinating people and old stories. We hope you’ll follow along, and we’re ready to tell yours, too.

-RD