Carrie Lederer
- Director
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Carrie Lederer is a boundary-pushing, award-winning director, producer, cinematographer, and editor -- and yes, even a host of the Travel Channel series Not Your Average Travel Guide. Her work lives at the intersection of storytelling and social impact, amplifying voices often left out of the frame.
Carrie picked up a camera in the 1980s to focus on environmental issues, a passion that led to her first job at CNN in 1991, when the network still had an entire department dedicated to the beat. She worked as an editor and producer from 1991 to 1994, covering environmental reporting, the Gulf War, and other major global events during the peak of 24-hour news. After several intense years in the newsroom, she sought a more hands-on way to contribute. In 1995, she joined the Peace Corps and spent three and a half years in the Comoros Islands and Senegal as a media specialist and environmental educator. These experiences deepened her global perspective and grounded her commitment to purpose-driven storytelling.
Her career since has spanned continents, causes, and formats, with credits across History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Showtime, CNN, ABC, NBC, OWN, TLC, MTV, A&E, ESPN, Roku, and more. For many of these networks, she directed, produced, and shot documentary and reality series, often dropped into subcultures across the U.S. and beyond to draw out authentic, human-centered stories. On Not Your Average Travel Guide, she wasn't just the host - she also produced, shot, and edited each episode, bringing her signature one-woman-band style to a national audience. She has also created social impact films for the United Nations, Smithsonian Institution, and U.S. State Department on global topics including HIV/AIDS, biodiversity, and climate change.
Carrie served as producer, cinematographer, and editor on several award-winning documentaries, often leading field production as a one-woman crew. Her credits include Tibet in Song (Sundance Special Jury Prize), A Face for Yulce (Freddie, Hugo, CINE Golden Eagle), About Face (Audience Award, Stony Brook), In the Wake of Zaca, and Counting on Democracy. After decades of directing in the field, Wild Horses at the Door (2025) was her first independently directed short submitted to festivals. It premiered to critical acclaim and won both the Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Documentary Short.
In addition to her documentary and television work, Carrie is an actor who has appeared in commercials, independent films, and on stage, and regularly performs live improv in Portland. She also works as a voiceover artist on commercials, narrative projects, and, truthfully, anything that lets her get behind a mic. When she's not working, Carrie is often exploring with a still camera in hand - traveling, hiking to new mountain heights, skiing, scuba diving, riding her bike no-handed, singing, and dancing. She has a lifelong passion for exploring cultures, learning languages, and connecting with people around the world.
Carrie picked up a camera in the 1980s to focus on environmental issues, a passion that led to her first job at CNN in 1991, when the network still had an entire department dedicated to the beat. She worked as an editor and producer from 1991 to 1994, covering environmental reporting, the Gulf War, and other major global events during the peak of 24-hour news. After several intense years in the newsroom, she sought a more hands-on way to contribute. In 1995, she joined the Peace Corps and spent three and a half years in the Comoros Islands and Senegal as a media specialist and environmental educator. These experiences deepened her global perspective and grounded her commitment to purpose-driven storytelling.
Her career since has spanned continents, causes, and formats, with credits across History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Showtime, CNN, ABC, NBC, OWN, TLC, MTV, A&E, ESPN, Roku, and more. For many of these networks, she directed, produced, and shot documentary and reality series, often dropped into subcultures across the U.S. and beyond to draw out authentic, human-centered stories. On Not Your Average Travel Guide, she wasn't just the host - she also produced, shot, and edited each episode, bringing her signature one-woman-band style to a national audience. She has also created social impact films for the United Nations, Smithsonian Institution, and U.S. State Department on global topics including HIV/AIDS, biodiversity, and climate change.
Carrie served as producer, cinematographer, and editor on several award-winning documentaries, often leading field production as a one-woman crew. Her credits include Tibet in Song (Sundance Special Jury Prize), A Face for Yulce (Freddie, Hugo, CINE Golden Eagle), About Face (Audience Award, Stony Brook), In the Wake of Zaca, and Counting on Democracy. After decades of directing in the field, Wild Horses at the Door (2025) was her first independently directed short submitted to festivals. It premiered to critical acclaim and won both the Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best Documentary Short.
In addition to her documentary and television work, Carrie is an actor who has appeared in commercials, independent films, and on stage, and regularly performs live improv in Portland. She also works as a voiceover artist on commercials, narrative projects, and, truthfully, anything that lets her get behind a mic. When she's not working, Carrie is often exploring with a still camera in hand - traveling, hiking to new mountain heights, skiing, scuba diving, riding her bike no-handed, singing, and dancing. She has a lifelong passion for exploring cultures, learning languages, and connecting with people around the world.
