As part of my day job, I often have the privilege to work with really talented people and students. One of these students just happens to be a super talented videographer and has quite the YouTube and Instagram following.

Recently, undergrad student Celina Bahandari created a video as part of a project for Panasonic and boy! Is she talented or what? Panasonic asked Celina to test their new Panasonic LUMIX s5 camera and create a video that focused on “what gets you up the in morning, what is the light in your life” as part of a project called “Chasing Light.”

I got a little cameo in the video, although disclaimer: the waves weren’t working well that day (thanks, super high tide and River Jetties!) haha Are they ever when you try to plan something??

I caught up with the talented videographer:

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How did you become so interested in video?
Growing up I always had an interest in creating little movies and music video parodies with my friends. I think I was always creative from a young age and always enjoyed capturing things on my camera. As I got older and grew up with a lot of content to watch on YouTube, I was able to really get into it more and learn skills from it. Then I just kept practicing and really loving it.

What made you want to pursue it?
I knew I always wanted to have a career that I’m genuinely interested in and love. Because I know if you love something, it wouldn’t really feel like work. So realizing that I was super passionate about filming really made me want to pursue it and just keep growing.

What/who was your biggest influence behind this project?
I think I was just really inspired by the location. Living in different places really makes you realize what makes each place special and unique. So after living in SoCal for over a year, I really knew I wanted to somehow showcase the active lifestyle of it. I was definitely inspired by the general strangers and people that live here and I see everyday when I’m outside taking a walk or on the beach. But if say I was in San Francisco or something, I’d probably make a completely different story because the people up there and vibe is very different.

Where do you want to take your videography?
As far as I can possibly take it. I think I can continue learning forever and it’s super cool that there’s always new things to learn. I really wanna continue working on shoots where I can direct and get better at directing. Also, there’s so many softwares I can learn, as well, and get better at.

What do you want to do after your graduate college?
After I graduate I’ll probably travel for a year cause I’ll probably learn a lot by experiencing new places and grow my video skills while traveling. Then after I wanna do freelancing and make connections in either LA or New York just to get into the entertainment or music industry. I think networking is gonna be the biggest thing that determines how far and where I go right after college, so I wanna try building those while still in college for sure.

What is your dream career?
I honestly want to dabble in everything. The great thing about video is that there’s just so many different avenues to explore. I wanna get into music videos and tour videos, but also I wanted to work on a real movie set and maybe some marketing campaigns. At the same time, I wanna continue working on my own passion projects and make a documentary. There’s just so many things I would wanna do, so it’s hard to say I’ll probably just hop around. haha

How do you plan to achieve it?
I’m gonna work super hard and meet people and continue to grow my skills. I think working for companies and doing internships is super powerful because it’s a good way to learn how marketing teams and businesses work. And also a great way to make connections. I think just continuing to further my skills and networking is the most important way to achieve it.

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Learn more about Celina and her company, FilmVentureStudios, on the socials below!

YouTube

Insta

Watch her video, “Chasing Light SoCal.”

All Photos and Video Courtesy of Celina Bahandari