Hollyland delivers dependable wireless communication and monitoring tools, ensuring the crew stayed in sync, even across rivers and glaciers.

Meet Jaron Schneider

Jaron Schneider is a director and award-winning commercial filmmaker, as well as the Editor in Chief of PetaPixel and host of the PetaPixel Podcast. His career spans commercial campaigns, documentaries, and branded films for clients such as Cartier, Verizon, and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute. With a background in both filmmaking and journalism, Jaron brings a sharp eye for detail and a commitment to capturing authentic stories.

Filming No Guarantees in Alaska

For his latest documentary No Guarantees, Jaron led a crew of six on a ten-day journey through Alaska after three months of intensive preparation. The project was filmed aboard The Boat Company’s vessel Liseron and across remote wilderness between Juneau and Sitka. With limited space on the ship, every piece of gear had to be chosen carefully, adding weight to the decision of what to bring into the field.

The film itself set out to explore the human connection to nature through the practice of fly fishing. This required capturing not just landscapes but also intimate, personal moments that revealed character and meaning. To succeed, the team often had to spread out across rivers or split between the ship and small skiffs, facing unpredictable weather and near-freezing conditions near glaciers.

Behind the camera, the stakes were just as high as the story being told. Months of preparation went into coordinating logistics, planning for unpredictable conditions, and building a workflow that would keep the crew agile in the field. Once in the wild, there would be no retakes. Every moment had to be captured as it unfolded. This ambitious undertaking demanded not only artistic vision but also equipment capable of withstanding some of the harshest filming environments on earth, delivering the stability, mobility, and confidence that the story required.

Challenge & Solution

Filming No Guarantees in Alaska meant navigating challenges that shaped every decision on set. From life aboard a historic ship to unpredictable weather and remote locations, the crew had to adapt constantly. Hollyland’s systems supported them through each of these obstacles, keeping both workflow and storytelling intact.

Working within Tight Limits
The crew spent ten days aboard The Boat Company’s vessel Liseron, where space was at a premium. Every piece of gear had to be chosen carefully, and there was no option to bring redundant systems. Once the ship set sail, they had to make do with what was on board. Long shoot days stretched from early morning until late evening, often in damp and cold conditions. Equipment had to last the day without pause, because stopping to swap batteries or troubleshoot would cost valuable time and disrupt the pace of filming. In this environment, the Solidcom SE Pro headsets proved essential. Lightweight enough for comfortable all-day wear, they delivered the endurance to power through extended days while providing consistent communication from start to finish. “The Solidcom SE Pro delivered incredible range and kept working even after taking the full brunt of Alaska’s relentless rain,” Jaron recalled.

Maintaining Oversight in the Field
With two cameras rolling at once, Jaron needed oversight of both operators without physically moving between them. In a documentary setting, there are no second takes; once a moment was missed, it could not be recovered. The Pyro S provided a dependable solution. Its long transmission range and stable feed allowed Jaron to switch easily between camera perspectives, staying fully aware of what was being captured in real time. “With the Pyro S, I could swap between camera feeds instantly and give feedback on shots as they happened.” Quick to set up and straightforward to operate, the system kept the crew nimble, cutting down on technical delays and letting the director focus on the unfolding story rather than troubleshooting gear.

A Wireless Ecosystem in Action
When the crew spread across rivers or split between the deck of the Liseron and small skiffs, distance and weather could have easily broken coordination. Voices were often carried away by wind, visibility was reduced by rain, and the director was rarely close enough to oversee both cameras in person. In these situations, Hollyland’s ecosystem kept communication, monitoring, and direction working as one. The Solidcom SE Pro maintained clear and stable dialogue between team members, allowing instructions to cut through noise and distance without delay. The Pyro S ensured camera feeds reached the director instantly, giving him a continuous view of what each operator was capturing, no matter how far apart they were.

By working together, these systems created more than just separate solutions—they formed a unified wireless workflow that held the crew together. Communication guided the team, transmission carried the images, and monitoring preserved the creative intent. Even in Alaska’s most difficult conditions, the production moved with confidence, and fleeting moments that might otherwise have been lost were captured with precision.

Takeaways

For No Guarantees, Hollyland’s wireless ecosystem turned the challenges of Alaska into a manageable workflow. Clear crew communication, stable long-range transmission, and reliable monitoring worked together to keep the team aligned and the story intact. As Jaron put it, “Thanks to both of these systems, I could see what was being captured and talk to both camera operators, allowing us to properly coordinate our shots. This would not have been possible otherwise.”