When the undergraduate seniors studying in UConn Stamford\u2019s digital film and video production concentration start preparing for their capstone projects, their professor advises them to go personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they pitch me an idea, and they say, \u2018Oh, I want to do the next Marvel movie,\u2019 I’m like, man, you have no budget,\u201d says Oscar Guerra<\/a>, an Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker and associate professor of film and video production.<\/p>\n \u201cBut use the capital you have. And the capital you have is telling your own story.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a challenge to share your own story \u2013 it means you have to be vulnerable. And you\u2019ll undoubtedly be critiqued \u2013 by your professor, by your peers, by your audiences \u2013 along the way, something made all the more difficult by that oh-so-personal investment in the story.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s also an opportunity, says Guerra, for a young filmmaker to write their own narrative.<\/p>\n And to learn a valuable lesson about trust \u2013 trust in your mentors; trust in those working alongside you; and trust that, when you tell a great story, it will resonate.<\/p>\n