The Journey to Becoming a Filmmaker Before Film School - Notes from a 11th Grade Film Fellow

By Lola Kenet

On the first day of the Tribeca Film Fellows 2017 summer program, we all sat in a semicircle of bean bag and folding chairs, an area we would soon come to lovingly refer to as “the living room,” excited and not knowing what to expect. I was slightly nervous, as I’d heard countless horror stories of the cutthroat nature of the film industry. And while the Film Fellows program does expect a lot from its students, cutthroat is the last word I would use to describe it.

For one thing, this program really emphasizes the importance of viewing film as a collaborative art. Throughout various revisions of our screenplays, we always consulted with other Film Fellows and the instructors, getting outside perspectives, constructive criticism and general advice. I found all of it to be incredibly helpful, even the advice that I didn’t end up taking. In its purest form, filmmaking is storytelling, and by listening to feedback on my film I could gauge how different people from different backgrounds would come to understand my story, and thus how I could refine it. Everyone, myself included, had moments where we felt vulnerable or even insecure sharing our stories, as many of them were based on our own lives. However, by the end of the program we left with confidence, having affirmed why our films need to be made and why we are the right people to make them.

What this program also did was establish a community of filmmakers, as we are all collaborating on each other’s projects during production by making up the crew. This is not only an invaluable asset to a beginning filmmaker like myself, but also helped me learn the collaborative and networking skills that are so vital in the arts. Apart from working on building our directorial style, writing our screenplays and mastering the equipment, we also gained real-world insight from industry professionals. Almost every day we had at least one guest come in to speak with us and answer questions. Whether they were a former Film Fellow, an award-winning documentary producer, or a pioneer of virtual reality, all the guest speakers imparted advice and shared stories from their personal experiences that gave us insight on where our future film careers could take us. We also got all of this from our instructors, whose incredible mentorship I know will continue to help me grow as a filmmaker as I go into production.

Meet the entire class of 2017 Tribeca Film Fellows here!