Her Story
About Yasamin
I knew since I was a child that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I would watch movies and say to myself, I want to make something like that, or I want to be a part of that process. Not in front of the camera, but more so creatively behind the camera. That's what pushed me to read more books, look up more stuff online, and eventually become a film major in college, which really kick-started my career. I have a BA in narrative filmmaking, which has shaped a lot of the jobs I've gotten and things I've worked on. For my own photography business, I work with different and various clients, reaching out to people for photojournalism, including nonprofits, politicians, and authors. A lot of the time I'm filming and shooting, gathering the picture and audio, sometimes with a reporter helping me with interviews, sometimes formulating my own questions. Then I come back to edit all the footage, whether it's a photograph on my software or a full news story on editing software. I'm most proud of the documentary I recently wrapped on domestic violence and human trafficking, where I served as producer.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yasamin
01What do you attribute your success to?
It's honestly been my own motivation and kind of looking past the struggles, and just knowing that I'm a confident, independent, passionate woman who is educated in my own field, and I just need to not give up on my dreams. That's what's kind of carried me forward, as well as the support of my friends and my family. I've always had a really great support system around me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You're gonna run into a lot of roadblocks. But don't let that discourage you from getting to your ultimate goal.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In the creative field, there's too many people than there are jobs available. There are so many people wanting to go into film or news, there's just an influx of how many people apply versus how many jobs are available. That's partly because people generally love working in the film industry, so a lot of people don't retire at 62, 63, 64. Sometimes they'll go as long as them finishing out their life because they really enjoy what they do. So there's not a lot of people retiring, I mean there are people retiring, but just not as many as all the other industries. That makes it even harder for young people like myself with an actual film degree to pursue goals like working at a production company. It's extremely competitive. I think that's one of the biggest challenges, people with all these BAs for film. I know a lot of people I network who just can't get where they need to get.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important values to me are probably timeliness and a go-getter attitude, someone who's not afraid to take the bull by the horns and really take on a responsibility.
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