Valerie Genzano
Caffeine Fueled and Future Driven
Week one is over, and my excitement is greater than my caffeine consumption.
I’m Val, and I major in Electronic Media and Film with a focus on production and a minor in Art History at Towson University in Maryland. That’s a lot of words that can be summed up by saying “I love making films and also looking at art.” The arts and specifically film have been a part of my life since the beginning of my consciousness. It’s not like I grew up with “artsy” parents – my dad works in IT at a law firm and my mom was a teacher before she decided to be a stay-at-home parent. However, the arts have nourished me since I was a kid. I’ve spent almost every birthday since I was 11 at one museum or another, you couldn’t pry my camera out of my hand from the beginning of middle school, and I played an instrument for 12 years before giving it up to focus on film in college. So, after honing my interest in film throughout high school, I convinced my parents to send me 100 miles away to film school.
While I’m at school, I’m entirely submerged in film. I even make my money by working in the film department. For 3 full years, I have taken every opportunity I have been offered to be on a set or learn new equipment, and that overwhelming of the senses is what has brought me here today. And all the while, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with this passion. I have tried it all – ADing, directing, producing, post-production, camera, you name it. All of this has culminated in me being an intern here at JTwo. I know I love film, I know I love creating, and I know I love telling real, meaningful stories. And now, thanks to some espresso, I’ve finished my JTwo-U Bootcamp, have gone back to basics, and have learned what I can before I dive headfirst into this summer.
Excited? Definitely. Nervous? A little, but really I’m mostly ready to move forward. It’s all you can do when the world is cracked open by opportunity like the one I have with JTwo. I am consistently looking forward to what comes next, but right now, I’ll focus on what’s in front of me. Learning, experiencing, and existing completely in a realm of creation to become the best filmmaker and storyteller I can be. Cheers to a fantastic chance and bright hopes for the next 11 weeks.