ChomPics Guest Post- Colleen Strzelewicz, "Pressed" Episode 4 Director
I’ve never been the type of person who takes no for an answer or gives up on something just because it is hard. When I was 17 years old I applied to the University of Florida and they turned me down. Instead of accepting defeat and settling for something else, I worked hard, saved money, got my AA, and eventually got accepted to UF as a transfer student.
As a transfer student, it’s a little easy to feel lost and like you are at a little bit of a disadvantage when you enter the College of Journalism and Communication. Everyone else has had two years to try out the different organizations/extra-curriculars and has gotten to know one another through their courses. I didn’t hear about ChomPics until the end of my junior year, so when applications came around I knew I wanted to get involved in my last year as a senior.
When I was selected to direct episode 4 of “Pressed” I was immediately excited. That excitement only grew when we started casting for the series and I got to meet more of the great people who would be involved along the way. To make it even better, one of my favorite people that I have had the chance to meet at UF and her best friend were writing the episode, so I knew it was going to be good.
At 26 (yeah, I’m old), I’ve got a few years working in production in various different roles under my belt. One of the biggest things I’ve learned doing this kind of work is that you have to be ready at any moment for things to go wrong and to be able to adapt and work around those mishaps on the fly. This episode was no exception. We faced plenty of challenges along the way (camera issues, undesirable lighting environments, re-shoots, missing editing deadlines --I’m sorry Beth!). There were times where I think just about everyone felt overwhelmed and like there was no way to finish the episode. While things weren't perfect, in the end we all got to create something truly funny with a crew of talented, creative individuals. All it takes is not giving up, finding creative solutions, and making sure you still have fun along the way.
