Chloe Derian

BFA Film and Media Arts

Spring 2022

Few people experience the reassurance and confidence, from the moment that they could speak, of being absolutely certain of their purpose. When questioned on the confidence required to direct Citizen Kane, Orson Welles stated, “Ignorance…sheer ignorance. There is no confidence equal to it. Its only when you know something about a profession that you are timid or careful.” After forming full sentences before I was 2, I discovered how powerful my voice was and that it was possible to translate my thoughts to the rest of the world. Meaning my parents would not get a moments rest for the rest of her life. At the ripe age of 6, just beginning to really push the boundaries of my story telling, I wrote 5 novels, 2 of which were “published” by my teacher. From that moment on, every moment I could, I spent on expanding my story telling, especially writing.

I spent most of my childhood reading, then rewriting movies, commercials, to writing plays when I turned 12, and planning the entire production down to the chair and popcorn rental, then recreating my favorite movies and stories, The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet, at 14. In High School I took all of the advanced classed In writing and film I could. Outside of school I spend all my time searching for inspiration, which lead to me interning for my aunt at a costume company in New York. Shortly after, I was hired and worked closely with costuming, directors, actors, etc for 4 year and absolutely fell in love. At this point I found a love for digital photography and using images to portray emotion. Suddenly, all of the pieces I collected fit together perfectly in my first and only Film class my High School had.

At the University of Tampa I found endless resources to really push myself and experiment with this new medium. The second I got my hands on a camera and complete freedom to portray my stories, I felt, and still feel that I can and will conquer the world. Of course as Welles so wisely stated, my ignorance to the actuality of the Film Industry is and was what pushed and inspired me to be the best filmmaker I could be.

Through my years at UT, I have taken classes that have enlightened me and set a fire underneath me, and some that really tested my abilities and patience. With the growing knowledge and of course constant changing conditions in my environment and self, I was really forced to do some self exploration. At times, I admit, I have been incredibly discouraged and plagued with the “small fish in the huge pond of super talented filmmakers hungry for the same things as me”. However, classes like Cinematography, Narrative and Documentary and Production, and every screenwriting course I have taken, nearly all of them, I have been able to not only learn exponentially but also find my own style. This was only furthered by professors support, Syntheia Salvagio, Warren Cockerham, and especially Aaron Walker. I find constant inspiration, learning experiences, and nonignorant reassuring confidence from their instruction, to which I am incredibly grateful.

Through their courses I have been able to “narrowed down” my passions in filmmaking to writing for short films as well as directing, producing, and cinematography. I have found love for psychological thrillers as well as dramas and using non-conventional film making and writing techniques as well. I take inspiration from David Fincher especially and include dreamlike sequences, as seen in my Thesis film, Moroaica.

In the future I will continue to my story telling literarily, and visually as a independent filmmaker, hoping to branch out and be able to find a group of creators with similar wants, or a production company to further enable my creation. I can positively say despite and obstacle I will encounter, I will write and film my stories and explore myself and the world around me.