My film journey
My first memory of really being inspired by film goes back to watching Clark Little’s Instagram videos. I was fascinated by the way he would charge directly into giant shore break waves, sometimes ten feet tall, with his water housing and come out with these incredible cinematic shots. To me, it looked unreal. It was exciting, intense, and beautiful all at the same time. At that age, I didn’t fully understand how much skill, experience, and timing went into what he was doing. I just knew I wanted to do something like that myself.
The funny part is that I grew up in South Florida, where the waves are nothing like the giant shore break in Hawaii. Most of the time, the waves here are small and inconsistent, and on an average day they barely break at all. But in my head, that didn’t matter. I thought I could recreate those same kinds of shots in the conditions I had around me. So I grabbed my dad’s first generation GoPro and started taking videos of waves crashing at the beach. At the time, I was so excited to go home and watch the footage, expecting it to look just like the videos I admired online. Most of the time, though, I was disappointed. The clips never looked as dramatic or cinematic as I imagined they would. But even then, I didn’t stop. If anything, it made me want to keep learning and figure out how to improve.
As I got older, filming became something I naturally did anytime I had the chance. If I was surfing, I wanted to film it. If I was diving, I wanted to bring a camera. If I had access to a drone, I was constantly trying to capture new angles and perspectives. A lot of what I learned early on came from trial and error. I spent a lot of time teaching myself editing, experimenting with different styles, and slowly figuring out what made a shot feel more cinematic or visually interesting. I also started paying more attention to storytelling, not just capturing random clips, but trying to piece together footage in a way that actually created a mood or feeling.
Eventually, I realized that even though I had taught myself a lot, I wanted to learn more in a structured way. I wanted to be around people who were serious about film and could push me to the next level creatively and technically. That’s what led me to decide to study film in college. I first started at Rollins College, but it didn’t take long for me to realize it wasn’t the right fit. Orlando didn’t give me access to the ocean or the kind of environment that inspired most of my work, and I quickly felt disconnected from the things I actually loved filming. On top of that, the program didn’t feel like the kind of film education that would challenge me or help me grow in the direction I wanted.
That eventually led me to transfer to the University of Miami, which turned out to be a much better fit. Right away, my first classes were more hands on and engaging. I was taking courses in film production, screenwriting, and film history, and it felt like I was finally in a place where I could grow creatively while still being close to the ocean and the type of content I wanted to create. At the same time, being exposed to different areas of film also helped me figure out what I didn’t want. While I appreciated learning about the movie industry and traditional storytelling, I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t see myself going into Hollywood or working on feature films.
Instead, I found myself drawn more toward advertisement filmmaking and underwater cinematography. I liked the idea of creating visually strong, emotionally engaging work that could also serve a purpose for a brand or campaign. In many of my classes, I had the opportunity to create spec ads, which became one of my favorite ways to combine storytelling, visuals, and strategy. It gave me a way to turn the technical and creative skills I was learning into something polished and intentional.
Adding a marketing minor ended up making that path even clearer for me. Marketing taught me how to think beyond just making something look good. It helped me understand audience behavior, branding, and how visual content can be used to communicate a message to a specific group of people. I think film and marketing go hand in hand, especially for the kind of work I want to do. Together, they allow me to keep creating the kinds of films I love while also understanding how to make them meaningful, effective, and relevant to the audience they’re meant to reach.