Contributed By

Cameron Cushman

Cameron spent six years in the US Army as an Infantryman, including a twelve-month deployment to Afghanistan. After medically retiring from service, his path forward looked very different than what he originally planned.

Complications from multiple surgeries left him dealing with significant health issues and forced him to adjust to a new reality much earlier in life than he anticipated. That process took years, and a lot of it wasn’t pretty. Eventually, the outdoors became one of the places where he began finding his footing again. Fly fishing, hiking, and simply spending time outside gave him an outlet and eventually became a major part of both his personal life and his work. He credits the Devils River in Texas with saving his life and giving him the strength needed to carry on for his family.

As a filmmaker, he has spent much of his career working with Veterans, nonprofits, outdoor organizations, and brands to tell stories about real people and real experiences. He has worked alongside Veteran organizations for years, producing films and campaigns, documenting the people they serve, and advocating for the Veteran community through both his work and his own experiences.

His career has taken a somewhat unconventional path. After the Army, he went back to school, built businesses, worked in television and marketing, and eventually turned filmmaking into a career. Today, his work spans documentary, commercial, and narrative filmmaking, with much of it still rooted in the people, places, and communities that helped shape him.

Through all of it, Cameron has tried to hold onto a pretty simple idea, difficult circumstances don’t have to dictate what comes next and they have given him the strength to do things he may never have.