- Campus:
- IU Bloomington
How did you end up at IU?
I come from a family of Hoosiers! My father studied non-profit management at IUPUI and it was always my parents’ plan to send me to IU. We moved to Bloomington when I was in middle school and my mother took on various roles at the University while pursuing a Bachelor’s. I studied Media Production with a focus on film as part of the first undergraduate class of the Media School. My mother and I actually ended up graduating from our undergrads the same year! My grandmother is a Mexican immigrant, so it was an incredible experience to share the title of “first generation college graduate” with my mother. We are both currently pursuing graduate degrees.
Could you explain some of the responsibilities of your role at IU?
As a Video Producer for the Kelley School of Business, I work on the creative marketing team. From a broad perspective, our job is to market the incredible opportunities and resources the Kelley programs have to offer students, and to showcase the success and momentum of Kelley students, faculty, and network. In more specific terms, I work on a small team of videographers and photographers to capture media that supports these goals. My job consists of everything from shooting, editing, and producing videos, conducting interviews, and creating compelling stories.
Have you faced any challenges in adapting to new technology in your field? How did you overcome them?
When I started in this role, I was very comfortable editing, but my experience with the technical aspects of operating cameras and other equipment was limited. My undergraduate degree gave a basic understanding of many aspects of filmmaking, but nothing compares to consistent practice. Filmmaking is so oriented in teamwork, and I have been really blessed to join a team that is always focused on learning and improving. I know that for me, approaching new skills with a willingness to learn and the acceptance that you will make a lot of mistakes along the way has made all the difference. My team at Kelley has supported me in adapting to these new skills, and I can say I am an infinitely better filmmaker than I was when I began this role.
Is there a role model you look up to in your personal or professional life?
My role at Kelley has provided me with several people that have not only acted as professional role models but have become very dear friends as well; the two other videographers on my team, Patrick and Zac, as well as one of our freelancers, Will.
Last year we attended a conference for digital storytellers and content creators in Las Vegas, and when I sat down in my first session, I looked around a room of about eighty participants. I was one of three women in that room. I knew that the filmmaking world was male-dominated, but I did not realize the vastness of the gender disparity. That experience caused me to reflect on how blessed I am to work with a team of men who have helped me learn and grow while always treating me as the intelligent, capable woman that I am. These men have decades of experience on me, and consistently choose to uplift my work and pass their experience on so that I might benefit from it. Women face the challenges of sexism, both subtle and overt, in any industry, and I have certainly seen my fair share of it, and so I feel very grateful to work in a space where my work is commended, appreciated, and collaborative. We all learn things from one another every day, and we have a lot of fun doing it!
What did you want to be as a child?
This will probably come as no surprise, but I loved to make home movies as a child. My father is a huge film lover, so we watched a lot of movies together. He was the amateur filmmaker of the family, and I commandeered his massive video camera at a young age and corralled the neighborhood kids to be in my little films. I’m sure they’re in a box in my parents’ attic somewhere and are adequately cringey!