I’m a senior Filmmaking major graduating in 2022. I am so excited as I will be attending Columbia’s Semester in LA program this Spring! In case you’re uninformed about the program, it essentially helps set you up with an internship of your choosing, while you also take classes taught by industry professionals. I don’t have my match just yet, as we don’t get into that until October, but I’m so excited to get into the searching and application process.
Beginning my freshman year I was a Broadcast Journalism major and didn’t switch to Filmmaking until my second semester. What made me switch was seeing the 2018 A Star is Born that actually changed my life. I decided the day after that I had to get into film classes here because the story touched on topics of mental health disorders that I felt very passionate about, having struggled for a long time myself. I felt inspired and motivated because the person who directed it, Bradley Cooper, is someone local to where I’m from: Philly. It made me feel like I could do it if someone from where I’m from could. The Semester in LA is a very full circle moment for me because I hope to get an internship at Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillip’s production company called Joint Effort. They most notably produced A Star is Born and Joker.
I think it’s really important to step outside of your comfort zone especially when you’re going for a job as bold as filmmaking. For me, this looks like going completely across the country. Before Chicago, I had never been further west than Pennsylvania, so I’m looking forward to immersing myself in a different way of life. They say the East coast is fast and the West coast is slow. I’m ready to plunge into a slower, more grounding lifestyle while also pursuing a career that matters so much to me! If you are thinking about exploring somewhere new I’d say go for it!
Yours Truly,
CiCi