Her Story
About Chanel
I've been working in the film industry for about 15 years, since my early 20s, and I've worked on so many different sets including LA's Finest with Jessica Alba and Gabrielle Union, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Call of the Wild, and Obi-Wan. My goal was always to learn every department I could so I could build my own studio and production company. I'm a college dropout, so I didn't have money to go to film school - instead, I decided to get paid to go to film school by being an assistant on set, talking to everybody in different departments, and learning everything hands-on. I never wanted just a seat at the table; I always wanted to get the information to build my own table and my own team. During COVID, when I worked on Obi-Wan, I saw the LED wall for the first time in person and knew this was the future of filmmaking. Now I build cinematic worlds on the computer, put them on LED walls, and build film sets around that. I'm developing an application to help indie filmmakers navigate virtual production programs using film language instead of tech jargon, because it's a free program and this is how we can make films that look like million-dollar sets on low budgets. I was also a mentor last year in a program teaching XR, immersive technology, and virtual production. I'm working on my first feature film, a samurai film about a Black female samurai that's really about finding oneness with self when you feel out of place in the world. I'm also building one of the biggest film clubs in LA to give indie filmmakers a home, and we're doing our first screening at the end of next month. Additionally, I'm a student pilot - I've already passed the written test and I'm working on getting the funds to complete my lessons and get my private pilot's license. My goal is to blend aviation and filmmaking to create immersive experiences.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Chanel
01What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Honestly, it's just the budgets. The budgets aren't the same, and the industry's kind of getting its footing back after the strikes, COVID, and all these different things, so the industry's still kind of stagnant, but it's picking up. There's been a lot of changes, like with the Netflix and Warner Bros. deal and new contracts for actors and all that stuff. So I would say there's not really any budgets as much right now - that's the biggest challenge. But I'm not saying it's like this forever, it's just what's going on right now. The indie world is what's keeping this industry afloat right now because we don't have to follow the same rules. There's people like us that care about filmmaking, care about stories, and actually aren't trying to just punch it out for content creation - we actually care about our craft. The big studios are struggling, so it's gonna level out the playing field. People want real stories, real films, not just headlines and clicks. They want original stories, not remakes and fabricated things. That's why I'm building my film club and bringing indie filmmakers together - we're gonna bring back strong stories like the A24 films, real creators making art that helps shape culture.
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