Matthew France-Macias

BFA Film & Media Arts Major, Spring 2022

Expected Graduation: May 2022

Since a young age, I’ve always known I wanted to be in a creative field. With my late uncle Michael France pursuing screenwriting, I knew telling and structuring stories was something I needed to do with my life. I wouldn’t be here pursuing this degree and field at University of Tampa without that influence. From my start at this institution, in this program, I’ve learned so many things and grown so much. Over my time at UT I’ve grown as a writer, editor, director, and overall filmmaker thanks to professors such as Taylor Curry, Aaron Walker, Gregg Perkins, and Elena Cifuentes. My skills and knowledge evolve every single day thanks to these professors, as well as countless other classmates and faculty I’ve come across during my time here.

I know for a fact my two biggest strengths in filmmaking are as follows: screenwriting and directing. Even outside of family history, my desire to create and tell stories has always been my biggest desire. This desire is compounded by another passion of mine: post-production. Through my time at UT, I’ve grown and become proficient in many different softwares such as Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Davinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, and Logic Pro. My strengths in all these softwares, as well as my skills in writing and directing, have been greatly improved since my start at the school in January 2020. With each of the films I’ve directed and edited, along with the scripts I’ve written, you can see my growth—as well as my fascination with experimental filmmaking.

Every time I start a new script, film, or project, I always try to do something new while building upon my past work and knowledge—a mindset I can thank my time at UT for helping me develop. Classes such as Screenwriting I & II (Curry), Advanced Post-Production (Walker), Media Arts: History and Theory, and Sound in Media (Perkins) helped me grow this mindset as well as my inspirations as an artist and filmmaker. Filmmaking is something I’ve always wanted to pursue, and I’m grateful for the tools, skills, and knowledge I’ve developed thanks to the time I’ve spent here at the University of Tampa.

In terms of a plan for my future and direction as a filmmaker, I know my ultimate long-term dream and goal is to move to LA and pursue feature screenwriting and feature directing, with the hope of directing an original film that I’ve written myself. My short term goal for right now is to focus on post-production, helping edit within the local film space in St. Petersburg. For both goals I’m always nervous about the outcome, but I’m excited and ready to put the work in.