[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: I want to go back to the confidence issue if we can for a moment. What would you tell a new filmmaker who’s struggling with their confidence?
Deborah Correa, Filmmaker: The solution for me has been to just do it, take those steps to make a film.
There’s so many resources now online that help to craft…I think pre-visualization and crafting the plan of how to execute what you want was a huge help for me to where I was like Now I can see exactly what I want to do on the page or through like the apps that we’re using and then execute that when we’re shooting.
I think it’s informing yourself on how to pre-visualize it and then just doing it because I don’t think anything can take the place of the act of doing to learn it.
Film Courage: And is this Unreal Engine that you’re using for PreVis?
Deborah: We use the Artemis app and Scriptation and Shot Designer. And then it’s just a very thorough shot list.
Film Courage: I don’t know if this is more of an [living in] LA type question. Stop me if it is. What is the toxic comparison game?
Maybe that exists everywhere. It’s not regional.
Deborah: I think the toxic comparison game exists everywhere and with everything. It’s just constant comparing.
I see it with my 8-year-old where he’s like, “Luke draws better than me or my friend runs faster than I do and I’m not the best.”
I think the antidote for that is to focus on what you do well and be the best at it and knowing that it’s not going to be everything. Every artist has a different style.
When you start to live your own dream, it’s a lot easier to just turn down the volume on those voices.
Every painter has a different style of painting.
You have Picasso or van Gogh and I think filmmakers tend to do this comparison thing.
They’re all different types of artists when you’re making a film.
The most helpful thing is just to turn that switch off and to focus on what you love and find that path and just keep going towards that and not listening to the distractions.
Comparison, I don’t think the temptation to do it never fully goes away.
But when you start to live your own dream, it’s a lot easier to just turn down the volume on those voices.
Film Courage: I agree. I think once you start doing something and you find your groove with it and enjoy it, if you see that someone else is getting more of something, as long as you can say, “Hey, can I stay in my little lane and enjoy it?”
But I might take a while to get to that point.
We’re so inundated with, 30 Under 30 and this person’s done all this stuff and celebrity markers of success.
Deborah: I agree.
Film Courage: I think you’ve said previously that ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ is one of your mottos.
Deborah: Yeah, that is a big one for me because for a long time I was…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Deborah Correa is an award-winning Colombian-American producer and director. Her feature directorial debut, The War Between, was shot entirely on location in Arizona. After graduating from Emerson College, Deborah was chosen for the prestigious AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Her work spans television, film, and podcasts, with both narrative and documentary projects. Her credits include PBS, History Channel, Spotify, Travel Channel, Paramount+, Brave New Films, and Hulu. While working on the History Channel series The Warfighters, Deborah worked with over 90 U.S. Special Operations veterans who were both in front of and behind the camera. She continues to work with veterans in telling their stories.
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