What are your post-graduation plans? 

I’m going to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

How did you make your decision? 

Yeah, so actually, probably until COVID, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I just sort of did a lot of different things, had a lot of interests. But I’ve always been very creative. I’ve loved art, I’ve loved music, I’ve loved performing. When the pandemic happened, I wasn’t really able to do any of the collaborative arts that I used to do like music and singing and performance and stuff. So I really turned into my visual art and did a lot of painting.

And then, just sort of as a form of escapism, I started watching a ton of movies. I kept a list of them all. I have a notes app list of all 167 movies I watched during lockdown. And so it sort of like just became like a passion watching movies and then turning my own experiences into screenplays and being like ‘oh like this sort of combines all of my interests it’s really collaborative, it’s really creative, and it’s also just everything that I’ve done with all the other arts with storytelling.’ It’s really that in such a pointed way.

So that really led me to filmmaking. And then the choice to go to film school? I didn’t know what I wanted to do—except that I knew I wanted to make movies.

How would you describe your post-grad search? 

Everywhere I applied to school, I made sure they had a film program that I would be able to really study production. A lot of places will do Film and Media Studies, which is more of the critical thinking about it, but I really wanted more of the technical training of a production degree.

Everywhere I looked, I was looking for a film program, but I also was looking for places where I could explore other aspects, because I think it’s really important to be in any sort of arts that you’re very well rounded and have a worldview. So I think I’m definitely going to take on some sort of minor in environmental science or ecology or something, just because I think that at least for me, the environment and the study of sustainability goes right hand-in-hand with filmmaking. In order to be the best filmmaker I can be, I also have to be a well-rounded student.

What advice do you have? 

I would say get started as soon as you possibly can. I know it took a lot of stress off my back knowing that I had stuff like creative projects in my back pocket that I could pull out to submit. So I wasn’t scrambling around while also trying to apply to college trying to make short films.

I mean, it sounds dumb, but like, watch movies, but don’t watch the movies that you think you have to watch. Watch the ones that you’re really interested in. Because like, I still haven’t seen “The Godfather.” I watched “Pulp Fiction” on an airplane. But when you find a niche of movies that you really like, it inspires you to be a lot more creative than watching what you have to watch.

So find what you’re interested in because that’s ultimately what’s going to inspire you to be creative.

And then, for me at least, write everything down. If f you have an idea for any sort of movie… I have a whole notes app that’s movie ideas. And even if it’s just a sentence, those are ideas that you can develop later and turn into something sick.