College Experiences That Helped a Filmmaker at Humanist Films Succeed

As an undergrad at UCLA, I majored in English. It was an amazing major because I love to read and was exposed to incredible pieces of literature. I also had access to teachers who were at the top of their game.

These professors were doing research, writing books, and advancing the field. I didn't realize it at the time, but I learned to appreciate stories and how they were told. I then used those skills to tell my own stories.

Eventually, I learned all these things to become my own storyteller. As an English major, you're often reading about others' works, but I realized I was deconstructing how they did it and learning from them.

I would encourage any English major to also get into creative writing. That's the other half of the equation. It's not just evaluating or analyzing others' writing; it's translating that to your own writing and analysis. This allows you to tell your own stories and say what you want to the world.

I think that was an invaluable part of my time at UCLA. We discussed the marketing of English degrees. Many people ask, "What will you do with an English major?" Teaching is honorable and great, but there are so many other options.

These include technical writing, copywriting, editorial writing, journalistic writing, and screenwriting. You'll find that writing skills are the most valuable in business because they are the foundation for communication. We don't market this well; we just teach kids how to analyze Shakespeare.

The other half is really about what you do with that knowledge. In my case, I used it to communicate with my crew and write stories to market my films. English and writing are the foundation for all of that.

Even though I've pursued photography, cinematography, and learned about sound, the basis of everything is writing. It's how I articulate myself and tell my story.