From Savannah to Cannes

This week’s blog is from Andres Escobar, a recent SCAD graduate making a name for himself in the filmmaking world.  Read on as Andres shares his excitement for all things film, encourages all of us to make every day count, acknowledges those who have helped him along his way and lets us in on some great news!  FYI – – The Creative Coast’s blogspot is Savannah’s sounding board for local thinkers, innovators, wanderers and wonderers. Guest bloggers share their thoughts, opinions and creative noodling from all over the map…

 

. I do really want to go back to Savannah. I mean, here in New York life is pretty great too, but the squares at every corner, the beautiful trees, the people and the feeling of community are unique to Savannah. I left Colombia (South America) when I graduated from high school back in 2010. I had my passion for filmmaking and eight years of training in golf. I was looking for an athletic scholarship to be able to afford a college in the U.S. After visiting a few cities in the South, Savannah really caught my attention. As soon as I got to Savannah, I wanted to make the most of it. I looked online for leading employers in the area and was excited with the various opportunities. I landed an internship at The Creative Coast and officially started my professional career. Within the first few weeks at TCC I helped shoot video and stills for the TEDxCreativeCoast and I even had one photo published in the newspaper! It felt great. I was finally putting my skills to work for other people. While I worked with TCC and attended different networking events such as TechCrunch, I learned that you have to constantly pitch yourself to the places where you want to work. Over the next few years I kept working hard on my filmmaking skills. I followed my internship with a work-study position at SCAD and then had the opportunity to intern for the Golf Channel. When time came to think about my senior thesis, I knew I wanted to do something relevant: tell a minimalist story of the disadvantaged. I came up with Sara, a short film about the struggles of an immigrant woman. I really could not have created this film without the help of my classmates and the film community in Savannah. They all helped me shape the story into an intimate portrait of a young woman struggling through her teens as a maid. A couple of weeks ago I received an email saying that my film had been selected to participate in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. I was shocked. This recognition was especially important to me because I have always been a big fan of this festival — and French movies in general. I was literally making this film thinking of Cannes. When I graduated cum laude from the film program at SCAD I moved to NYC to expand my experience and knowledge on editing. I landed an internship at an advertising agency where I had the opportunity to work for brands such as Audible, Disney and Mountain Dew. I then started reaching out to Conde Nast Entertainment until I finally got a position as a video editor. I have been fortunate to collaborate with some of my favorite magazines in creating video content for their platforms. I have been able to grow as an editor while editing videos for Golf Digest, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Allure. I was also chosen to be part of the edit team at the MET Gala. It has been an amazing journey. Now I can say that my time here in New York has been eventful, but it could not have been this way without my time in Savannah. It was there where I learned to take advantage of the opportunities that appear in your path, and to shape your path to find the opportunities you most like. Andres]]>