Hello

I recently graduated from the University of Oxford with a bachelors degree in Experimental Psychology, so why did I ultimately decide to pursue a career in the creative industries when the academic route was so accessible to me? Simply put, video creation is what I love to do.

 

It's what I have always loved to do.

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During my childhood, I used to watch YouTube videos obsessively, and like many other children, I was convinced that I wanted to be a YouTuber. It didn't take long before I decided to learn how I could make my own YouTube videos, and that's exactly what I did. Using the game Minecraft as the canvas, and with the help of Microsoft Movie Maker, I was able to re-create the story of the Battle of Hastings in my own YouTube video. I really did have a lot of fun working on my little video projects, but little did I know, the creation of this single video would inevitably lead me to where I am today. As a professional creator of videos, or in other words, a professional videographer and video editor.

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But this still doesn't really explain why I switched career paths in the middle of University. You see, before I went to Oxford, I didn't really know that it was possible to make videos for a living unless you were a famous YouTuber of some sort. Filmmaking didn't even cross my mind. This was largely due to my parents being first-generation immigrants, having moved to the UK from the Philippines. Life is hard there, with only a few career paths seeming to promise a more comfortable life. Creative careers were certainly not included in these 'desirable' career paths, and following the asian-immigrant stereotype, at some point in my life I was on the trajectory to becoming a doctor. Luckily for me, I strayed from this path and developed a deep interest in people, hence why I pursued my Psychology degree. 

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The first time I learned how to use a camera was just before University. This was during 2020 when COVID was rampant. My dad had bought a DSLR camera many years prior for taking photos on our family holidays, but at this point in time he had stopped using it, so he gave it to me. Now having this camera, I fell in love with capturing moments; I carried the camera around everywhere I went, just in case an opportune moment arose for an aesthetic photo or video.

 

Halfway through my time at University was when I began to realise that a creative career was a real possibility for me. There was no Fresher's Fair in 2020 due to the pandemic, so when my second year came around, I was eager to experience what a Fresher's Fair was like. There I stumbled upon the Oxford Filmmaking Foundation society, which was the only booth that truly sparked an excitement within me despite the society's representative seeming to be quite uninspired. 

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"What do you guys do?" I asked.

"We make films sometimes." she replied.

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I signed up immediately.

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​Up until this point, I had still been creating my own YouTube videos every now and then as a hobby, but this is when things started to become more serious for me.

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Soon after, I was invited to be the 1st Assistant Camera for a student short film after my first networking event. My first time on-set was certainly chaotic. No-one really knew what they were doing, and we were shooting between 11pm and 4am in November, attempting to film the actors at a quiet bus stop during the night. Everyone was cold and exhausted during our shoots, since the majority of us had lectures to attend and essays to write during the day; but the cast and crew still showed up. There was something so exciting about making a film together, even if we were all half-asleep.

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I didn't pursue any other film-related projects soon after this, since the Oxford exam season was quickly approaching. However, just before the summer of my second year at University, I came across an interesting opportunity on the Film society's facebook page: a chance to make a documentary film in China, with all expenses paid. This opportunity was known as the Looking China Program, and to apply you had to: be a university student, have never travelled to China before, and be able to film and edit a short documentary in the span of 2 weeks. I ticked all of these boxes, apart from their preference for students who study a film-related subject.

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At first, I felt discouraged from applying, since Psychology is quite far off from Film. But I knew that I would regret it if I didn't apply. I quickly strung together an application just before the deadline. My portfolio consisted of the YouTube videos that I had created up to this point, along with the sole student-film project that I had worked on. 

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To my surprise, a few weeks later I was invited to an online interview. This was the first time that I felt like my video work was acknowledged, but it wasn't over just yet. As part of the interview process, I had to complete a 24-hour challenge to create a short film. They wouldn't reveal the details of the challenge until the 24 hours began. Of course, I eagerly accepted this challenge despite having an important set of exams in the upcoming week.

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A 1-minute documentary film about a place that inspires you was the assignment. I had never made a documentary before, but after a full day of non-stop work, I had created a piece on the Birmingham canals, having somehow managed to interview a few people who gave canal boat tours.

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I went to China that summer, and my filmmaking and videography journey only went up from there. I came back from China with a short documentary film that I had directed, shot, and edited. This went on to be screened at a few film festivals, winning a couple of awards.

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This experience in China completely changed my outlook on my future career. Not only did I now know what I was capable of creating, but I had also made so many new friends during my time in China. I was surrounded by film students, as-well as others who had already been working in the creative industries for a few years. Everyone's shared passion for creating things is what propelled me forwards. If other people can do it, why can't I?

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And this all brings us to where I am today. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to be greeted with a range of videography and filmmaking opportunities, being hired professionally as a video editor and videographer to create documentary films, music videos, event videos, and social media content. Amongst my professional projects I have also been engaged in many passion projects, having now directed a few narrative short-films and having worked in the camera department on some larger short-film sets. 

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If you have made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read about my filmmaking journey. I really do appreciate it. Hopefully, you now know a little bit more about me and my work. Feel free to reach out to me through the contact form on this website if you are looking for someone to edit or create videos for you, or if you would like to work together on a project.

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Regardless, I hope you have a nice day.

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Wishing you all the best,

Luther​​​​​​​​​​​