My introduction to documentaries was through VHS tapes by the name of Trials of Life. That VHS player now has a blue Monsters Inc tape stuck inside of it, but I’ve been able to find other documentaries that hold my interest since then. Films such as Blackfish and Racing Extinction piqued my interest in environmental documentaries specifically because of the importance of what they have to say. I didn’t know really how to create films of my own or have access to any good cameras, however, growing up past 2010 gave me tools like my iPhone, GoPro, and YouTube which is really where I got started in filmmaking. I would put together trips of family vacations and became extremely interested in filmmaking and just how much of your perspective is shown when creating something. I began to take it more seriously as time went on, studying upcoming cameras, learning what different specs mean, and pouring hours into video researching. I wasn’t confident that it could be a stable career before college until a major moment happened for me. I received a Taco Bell Live Mas Scholarship for a two-minute application video I made talking about my passion for filmmaking. My family has always been nothing but supportive but hearing that support from an outside source that isn’t obligated to be polite to you really boosted my confidence behind the camera. From then, the positive feedback has continued from my peers and professors who challenge me to make better work after each time a project is finished. I got to learn the intricacies of filmmaking in class and got to put those techniques to work on other projects. While studying in school I have been able to receive that Live Mas scholarship two additional times, make documentaries for CMF Terminus and be twice nominated for Best Documentary at their festivals, I am Director of VFX at Noirtainment studios as well as an editor for their upcoming series Haisley, and I also have a position as an editor at Life’s Highlights studios here in Florida. University has granted me many great opportunities to not only express myself creatively but to give me real working experience and develop my career professionally.

Studying during the pandemic pushed everyone online for quite a while. I have always enjoyed editing but was doing a lot more of it now because all of my projects were being pushed online as well. Projects for classes such as Experimental Filmmaking with Professor Warren Cockerham were made solely through editing by recycling films already out in the world. Editing is such a fun part of film as you get to really decide what gets put into the film and have a heavy hand in how a story is told creatively. More recently as we become better handled against Covid, I have been able to have more time on set and behind cameras which I have really enjoyed and want to do a lot more of. I am currently in Documentary Production with Professor Aaron Walker and am really enjoying his teaching style and how much more confident I have become with the techniques we’ve discussed in class along with building a much broader array of films to pull inspiration from. I have always been interested in working the camera and getting to frame what the viewer sees and framing things through my specific and personal point of view.

I more often than not lean towards telling real stories. Not that fiction isn’t one of my most watched genres, but when I am telling a story, I would rather capture something true. This may stem from my weakness in screen writing. While coming up with stories is a struggle in and of itself, putting them onto paper is harder. I struggle with the “why” of storytelling when coming up with my own and how I can make people care about what I’m saying. I did take a screenwriting course led by Professor Cynthia Savaglio which I really enjoyed. She helped me break the mold of how I viewed a script and explored different kinds of scripts, some lending much more to visual learners like myself which made the process much easier and smoother.

After school I hope to be employed at a production studio shooting meaningful stories. The most important thing to me when making a film is storytelling and so finding a studio that reflects those values is my top priority. I want to be proud of the work I’m producing whether it’s directly mine or someone else’s. I really want to work on environmental documentaries as they have always been what I cared for most and know there are good opportunities for me in that field with both my major in film and media arts as well as my minor in environmental science. Using everything I have learned both in and out of school, I know at the end of the day that I will be successful.