September 24, 2020

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: GISELLE BONILLA

NFFTY has grown into a wonderful community of over 2,700 filmmakers from around the world. Alumni have experienced success in many areas of the media industry. To celebrate these achievements, we are highlighting NFFTY alumni here!

Giselle Bonilla (NFFTY ‘19) graduated summa cum laude from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A. in Film and Television Production. Her thesis film, Virgencita, was awarded the Adrienne Shelly Grant, and received the Horizon Award for emerging female filmmakers at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Giselle is a 2020 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellow, and is currently based in Los Angeles working as a freelance director.

You can visit Giselle’s website to view her work.

OUR INTERVIEW WITH GISELLE:

You were an actress first and foremost, before becoming a filmmaker. What made you want to move behind the camera? 

I was! I had way too much energy as a kid, so my Dad put me in an improv class because he learned early on I was horrible at sports. I loved the freedom to play and be supported by other hyperactive weirdos like myself, it felt like home. I started going out for auditions, but never got the opportunity to play. I wasn't playing the way I did in school or in improv, I was playing stereotypes. I'm Mexican-American, and incredibly proud of my heritage but as an actor I was unable to express who I was beyond that. I knew I had to write those roles for myself.

It can be difficult to both direct and act in your own films, but you pull it off with great success.  What’s the most challenging part of working both positions simultaneously? Any tips/tricks for filmmakers interested in tackling the same thing?

Virgencita was a very personal story, so luckily I didn't have to do too much research as an actor BUT as a director I relied heavily on my Director of Photography, Alex Hass, for guidance. This was our second film together, the first being a small nightmare of logistical problems where I also acted and directed but killed in the editing bay. It's so triggering even talking about it, but the lessons we learned were invaluable and because of it, we spent months shot-listing and storyboarding Virgencita in pre-production. Alex is also a really great friend of mine, so I knew I could trust him. Main advice for anyone acting in their film is to have a strong AD and DP!

Where do you draw inspiration from for your own personal projects, and what do you look for in projects that you attach yourself to?

My main inspiration is my family. When I first wrote the short at NYU, I had a professor who tried to tell me the mom was unrealistic, "she's mean." He, obviously it was a man, didn't believe that's how she showed love. Next class I brought several clips of my actual mom, and he never made a note about her again.

I only write so I can direct, writing is my least favorite aspect of working on a new project. It takes everything out of me, and not because I spend hours writing maniacally in solitude in a cottage somewhere...I spend hours dreading the actual activity of writing. Which is why it's hard for me to attach myself to any other projects but my own, at least in this very green stage of my career. I know how much time I'm going to put into it (by time I mean time wasted thinking about all the time I need to put into it), so I'd rather waste my own time than someone else's. If I'm going to work on someone else's project I have to really care about it. For that reason, I really enjoy directing music videos. They're quick, and a great way to practice the craft.

You were recently selected as one of the 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellows, and your narrative short Virgencita was awarded the Adrienne Shelly Grant and received the Horizon Award in 2018 -- how have these experiences shaped your career as a filmmaker so far? What skills, knowledge, or inspiration have you gained that’s most valuable to you? 

Access!! I really didn't get into many festivals, so I applied to every grant out there! I used the opening monologue of Virgencita to apply for the Horizon Award and used the Adrienne Shelly Grant to hire an editor to finally finish my short. I find because I act and direct, as soon as I get in the editing room I panic (probably because it's another form of writing). I had a close friend of mine from high school, Michael Ritter, edit it so I could have fresh eyes cut up all the fat I wasn't willing to let go. I shot it four years ago now, which was initially embarrassing for me that it took so long to finally complete it, but learned that just because a project is personal doesn't mean you have to close yourself off and carry the entire weight of it. I have extremely talented friends and wouldn't have been able to get out of my hole unless I asked for help. 

I applied for the Sundance fellowship with Virgencita, and it's been the perfect sendoff. I am beyond ready to move on from it, knowing darn well I wouldn't be there without it. It's been cathartic, but relieving to say the least!

After a long stretch of narrative work, you recently directed a couple of music videos. What drew you to that genre? Any unexpected challenges or success pop up in the process? 

I had never done experimental work as a filmmaker but now I'm in love with it! It's fun crafting a theme with a musician and running wild. Working with the singer, Amir Kelly, was eye-opening because we have very similar processes in that we never think a project is finished. He's a perfectionist, and was constantly tweaking the song even after we shot the video. There was choreography, so I panicked--I feel like the majority of filmmaking is just panicking. He insisted the song was incomplete every time he shared a new version. I am not a musician, so I never knew what he was talking about. We took a year to edit the video with new versions of the song.

It was definitely challenging, but I knew exactly where he was coming from. The song became more revelatory than he had initially anticipated, sharing a part of himself he didn't feel comfortable showing his parents even though they were in the video. The whole situation was eerily similar to Virgencita. My dad played both the priest and the therapist, and still, I refused to tell him what it was about. It took me two years to show him the short, and that's only because he insisted on coming to a festival in our town. Also, he was in it. He had a right to see it. I guess...

The process was challenging, but Amir's musical instincts helped immensely in the edit. Our music video for EDEN premiered in Rolling Stone India and was featured on The Fader.

What have you been up to lately? How have you stayed engaged and creative during this extended period of quarantine and social distancing?

I have never been more inspired and unmotivated to write all at once. I was journaling quite a bit at the beginning of quarantine, but dropped off when the world exploded so I forced some friends into being my pen pal for accountability....and to save the Post Office...Self-motivated activism??? I actually met one of my pen pals, Abena Taylor-Smith, at NFFTY last year! We were mutual fans, but alas she lives on the other side of the burning planet, so we just challenge ourselves by writing longer and longer responses and they are really getting out of hand. She's hilarious, and I love that I can hear her soft voice when I read what ice cream flavor she's having this week. Wow, long answer short, my friends. My friends keep me engaged.

You started working in the film industry at a young age, any advice for young filmmakers or artists starting to navigate the waters themselves? Anything you wish you knew when you first started out?

You don't have to say yes to everything!!! Especially as an actor, I was so scared of turning down auditions I was offended by because I didn't want to be let go by my agents, which I eventually was anyway when I decided to go to film school. Everyone is obsessed with getting reps when they start, myself included, but it happens when it should happen, and it will happen. Find your people. I have the most fun when I work with my friends and more often than not those are the most successful projects! Especially right out of film school, I was trying to get the attention from the people at the top, but they already have their people! Find your people!!

How has NFFTY impacted your life or career? 

NFFTY was the most welcoming festival I've ever been a part of. The community is TIGHT. Tight as in “cool” yes, but also tight as in overwhelmingly supportive. I'm grateful to be on the jury this year to hopefully create some semblance of the love I felt last year in Seattle! Community is the most important aspect of my film career. I can quickly spiral into existential dread, but being surrounded by my insanely talented peers keeps me inspired.

What’s next for you? 

I wrote a pilot under the fellowship which I'm hoping to use to get staffed this year! That is my goal and I am manifesting it!! It's a half hour comedy about my discovery of witchcraft in my family. I'm using the rest of my time at the Sundance Institute to develop the feature I've been avoiding the past three years. I guess what's next for me, is learning to have patience with myself and my process.