Attending the New York Film Academy was inspiring, challenging, thrilling, challenging, exhausting, and did I mention–challenging. At the Academy you will learn by doing on day one.

To quote NYFA’s catalogue; “Learning to be a filmmaker is not done “by the numbers.” It is done by immersion in the process and by knowing the “whys” that teach the “hows.” It is done by hands-on experience, trial and error, feedback and correction, and questions and answers. ”

I remember going in one day to check out some camera equipment for a lighting test before my scheduled final film shoot. I noticed the guy in charge had just given my friend Steve and his crew the same equipment I wanted to check out so I didn’t think there would be a problem. When I asked for the camera/lighting package I was told that students weren’t being allowed to use the equipment during the pre-production period. When I questioned why Steve’s crew was allowed to check out equipment, there was a long pause and then I was told; “If you can carry all four of these cases down those two flights of stairs without stopping, I’ll let you check them out for the day”.

I’m a pretty strong gal who’s no stranger to hard work but I’ve got a bad back and those four cases included a heavy pre-war camera, two lights, four tripods, grip equipment, etc.

After I shot him the Puerto Rican death stare, I took in a deep breath, sucked in my stomach muscles and made my way down to the ground floor. I wondered if he could see my knees trembling as I struggled to keep them from buckling. Why did I had to prove my worth by showing brute strength? Not cool and totally not fair when you consider Steve’s easy breezy equipment check out.

When I recounted this story for my sister and explained how I wanted to help other women interested in filmmaking avoid having this experience, she suggested I name my production company “X Chromosome Films.”

Having said that, I wouldn’t trade the experiences I had there for anything in the world. I learned a lot at the New York Film Academy. Instructors like Heng-Tatt Lim and Bryan Norton helped me a lot by being completely honest when it came to feedback. So you can understand why I would think it important to revisit NYFA and reconnect with my old directing instructor as I prepare for the Back 2 One Project.

Big ups to you Bryan for being so generous with your time and for contributing to the Back 2 One Project podcasts.

Visit nyfa.com to learn about their filmmaking courses.

I have had some wonderful moments in my life where I’ve found myself in the company of incredibly interesting and talented individuals. Moments that I wish I could’ve captured on film.

When we decided to move forward with the Back 2 One Project I thought it would be really important to seek out advice from friends, mentors, and industry professionals. But then I thought . . . I should take the idea one step further by recording and sharing the advice in podcast form for download on iTunes.

So, we’ll continue to reach out to industry professionals as we progress in hopes of compiling a wonderfully diverse series of interviews that up-and-coming filmmakers can refer to when preparing for their film projects.

To subscribe for FREE, visit the Back 2 One Podcast on iTunes.

Ahhh, back in New York City. It’s definitely a bittersweet moment. I’m here to celebrate two important milestones; my mother’s birthday and the start of the Back 2 One Project but I’m looking out of a hotel window with a jaw-dropping view of the Ground Zero construction site. What a sobering and surreal view. So many dreams ended here.

So much work still needs to be done on so many levels.

A lot of what I’m doing now has to do with what happened on 9/11. I think everyone started to reassess their lives during that time–I certainly did. The thought of living in the moment suddenly had new meaning to me after 9/11 so I moved to NYC’s West Village three weeks after the attacks. I wanted to start over in the only city that really makes me feel alive.

The spirit of the Back 2 One Project and what it means to me has a lot to do with the time I spent in Manhattan. If in the end, I can help inspire one individual then I will feel my time on this earth was well spent.

A friend of mine knew I had an interest in directing at least two commercials in this lifetime. So, you can imagine my excitement when she told me Dove launched a commercial ad contest. The problem was that I found out about the contest 10 days before the deadline. Not a lot of time to prepare or even think about executing some of my elaborate ideas (insert chuckle here)

I was fairly new to Los Angeles at the time and I didn’t have a network of people to go to for help but I thought this last minute opportunity would be a great way to experiment with a concept I had floating in my mind at the time. All I had to do was simplify my concept by about 90 percent in order to make the deadline.

I remember watching young Latina spoken-word poet Gabriela Garcia Medina perform in east LA and thought, I should find her. Maybe we can collaborate on writing a message that we can be proud to share while still achieving the product’s marketing goals.

It was the first year Dove held this contest so I took it seriously. I knew the winning commercial was scheduled to air during the Oscars that year so I thought I should deliver a polished piece that would be worthy of such a debut.

In the end, DOVE selected Lindsay Miller’s commercial, Knowing Your Beautiful as the winner. I was really quite happy for Lindsay and the three other ladies that made it to the Oscars that evening.

In retrospect, I think FEELING DIVINE looked too finished for “user generated content.” Or maybe it was just my approach?

All I can tell you is that I was focused on crafting a message to help convey the “feeling” you get from using the product–only on multiple levels but also with a bit of an urban edge. It was really important to me to weave in some of what Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is all about—loving yourself from the inside out.

At the time, we were all really shocked that “FEELING DIVINE” didn’t make it to the final top three.

Taking on this commercial ad as a last minute project would ultimately prove to be worth the trouble when it helped give birth to a short story, “THE AVIAN REVOLUTION” . . . the same story I adapted for the screen and submitted to the 2010 AFI Directing Workshop for Women. You will soon see the what I mean.

It really stinks when you open your mail box and find a rejection letter. Especially one from the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. Do you throw in the towel or shift into 5th gear? I’ll be honest, I thought about throwing in the towel for a minute but I’m really not the type to give up so easily so I’m going for it anyway…only with a couple of extra elements…

ONE: seek advice from professionals and share the information.

TWO: help create an opportunity for an inner-city teenage filmmakers to learn from us.

THREE: try to enjoy every single solitary moment.