Film Education in the U.S. Reflections from an International Student Ambassador

Daniel Drummond ’14 is a graduate student from Brazil working toward a masters degree in Film Production. He has BFA in Digital Arts from Chapman. Daniel is an International Ambassador and shares his ambitions of becoming a film maker through opportunities at Chapman and globally. 

When I decided to pursue my film education in the U.S., I did so out of a profound ambition and desire to learn. I wanted to learn from the best educational institutions in the world. I wanted to learn from accomplished filmmakers and ambitious, talented peers. Throughout  my undergraduate career at Chapman University, my path took me from studying screenwriting, all the way to animation. It was a serpentine path. As I was introduced to new areas of film making, I adjusted my goals accordingly. I graduated in 2014, with a degree in Visual Effects. My graduation thesis film, Chiaroscuro, won the Gold Medal at the 42nd Student Academy Awards, a yearly competition by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in film making at the collegiate level. My overall experience in the U.S. was so rewarding, I returned to California in 2016 to pursue my Master’s degree. This time, my ambition was considerably greater, and I began studying to become a film director. My first film in the program, a 16-min piece titled A Foreman, was again nominated for the Student Academy Awards, besides playing at numerous prestigious festivals such as Valladolid and Guadalajara. I currently find myself working on my Master’s thesis, a 30-min film called Rust. With the guidance of numerous faculty and industry experts, Rust is one of 10 projects selected to be workshopped in the writing lab of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, one of the top 3 festivals in the world. And all these accomplishments were a direct result of me being a student in an institution that allowed and encouraged me to take risks. An institution where I was presented with different points-of-views, from people from different countries and backgrounds. An institution of international scholars and filmmakers, where learning happened outside of classrooms as much as inside them.