The Art of Becoming: Rediscovering My Filmmaking Voice

It took me years to really sit down and rediscover who I am as a filmmaker. For a long time, I chased trendy stories, the next big thing—a big production, a studio. I would watch movies and mimic them, but in the end, it just left me unsure of myself.

A lot of this stemmed from my lack of confidence. What helped me the most was breaking away from those ideas and exploring different mediums. I found photography, and that changed everything. Photography helped me focus my ideas, really look at the frame, and reexamine it. I learned to understand it as a whole. But more importantly, it taught me to enjoy the process.

That’s key: fall in love with the process, fall in love with the idea, fall in love with creating.

Once I hit that stride, I could create freely without feeling confined by my insecurities. Because, in the end, all I really want to do is create—without restrictions.

Through that freedom, I started noticing patterns in my work, trends that naturally emerged. That’s when I began putting pieces of myself into what I was creating, and for me, that was everything. It’s so important to put a bit of yourself into your work.

And in doing so, I finally found it—my style.

The hardest part for me was realizing that your style is you. That’s what defines it. You have to put yourself into your work.