Today we’d like to introduce you to Asia Bonetto.
Asia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was raised in a small town with a population of 2000 c.a. in the North of Italy, 45 minutes away from the city of Genova. I was a kid with a pretty simple life, living in the countryside, we would buy veggies and fruit from different neighbors, and most of the time we would even grow our own in our garden. Now, I’m a filmmaker based in Los Angeles, a city whose population is over 10 million people. I remember as I was 4 years old my favorite movie was Gone With The Wind, a pretty complicated movie for a 4-year-old but there was just something magical in the movie. I remember being fascinated by the costumes and the locations of the movie. I loved how it was full of big green fields and gardens with flowers and even nice, elegant houses with very sophisticated staircases. And the colors of the movie were just so appealing and exciting for me. After that, I was always interested in movies. I spent my whole childhood watching “adult movies” with my mom, from Lost in Translation to Ghost to The Millionaire and Juno… I remember my mom was always pretty transparent with me and was always open with me whenever I asked questions, for this reason, she had never limited me to any kind of movies, she wanted me to know about the world, and while other kids would watch cartoons or kids’ movies, I was always interested in movies that were somehow more real. Whenever they asked me what I wanted to be when I was older, I was never answering “director” or “film producer” or anything of that kind, but I think something inside me knew I was meant to be in the film industry.
When I was 12, I started feeling very connected to Los Angeles. I did not know I was gonna live here, but Los Angeles was my top city to see and I had always begged my mom to go visit. I remember I was starting to learn English and to practice my listening I started listening to a lot of American songs, watching a lot of American movies, and even interviews of celebrities and YouTube videos of people living in the US. That’s how I think I started feeling so connected to Los Angeles cause I started seeing how different the lifestyle was there and I was very curious and excited about it. The year after, I started suffering from very bad insomnia. and during my sleepless nights, I remember finding out about UCLA. I remember looking at the pictures of the campus and I was completely captivated by the beauty of the university. I remember I was also super impressed by the fact that so many celebrities graduated from there and especially I was so inspired by Marilyn Monroe attending UCLA in the 1950s. I remember I was in Middle School and already knew one day, I wanted to be a UCLA student.
From that moment, I knew if I wanted to get into UCLA, I needed a plan. I decided I wanted to do an exchange year in the United States, knowing that American schools give a lot of creativity freedom, I was excited to take classes in performing arts or entertainment. Then, I would come back for my senior year and graduate while preparing my college application for UCLA. And then, the year after I would move to Los Angeles and attend UCLA. I was 13 at the time and already had a clear plan of what I was going to do my last years of High School and College.
So, I followed the plan, in 2015 I signed up for an exchange year and attended my 12th year of HS at El Camino Real Charter High School, in the suburbs of Los Angeles. That high school year was super exciting and not only I got to live with a host family who is now part of my own family, but I also got to take my first classes in filmmaking. I really felt like I belonged here. So, I decided to not even go back to Italy to graduate and I just graduated from here. But that was already in March, and I was already too late to apply for any college. So, I decided to apply to Santa Monica College, I would attend my first years there and then transfer my credits into UCLA.
I started Santa Monica College in the Fall 2017 and that’s where I completely fell in love with filmmaking and started making connections. SMC has played such an important role in my academic preparation, both theoretically and practically. During my three years as a student at the college, I took multiple classes that included both film production and film studies. These introduced me to the discipline of critical thinking and honed my sense of hands-on production experience. Additionally, my professors provided many extracurricular opportunities which have enhanced my experience on set by allowing me to interact with qualified artists who have further inspired my filmmaking ambitions. In summer 2019, I was given the opportunity to attend Cinemadamare, a selective 15-week filmmaking program in Italy where I was grouped with filmmakers from all over the world. On a weekly basis, we would team up to produce short films of original, diverse subject matter. Thus, we had fifteen opportunities to tell new stories, run various positions, all with different teams. This taught me the importance of collaboration with multiple people, all bringing their own ideas to the table. I noticed that the more diverse the team was, the more different perspectives we would get out of the narrative, which contributed to the originality of our movies. In fact, every single crew member added to the projects an element from their own backgrounds and experiences.
With the school, we shot a short film, Broken Layers, in 2018 that then won the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes Film Festival. I was Co-Producer, Casting Director, and Assistant Director for that short film, so being so much involved in the film and then seeing it going to Cannes was one of the most beautiful moments.
After graduating from SMC, I applied to UCLA, USC, LMU, and CSUN, which are within the top Universities for Film Production. I made it to the final 42 people for the UCLA Film and Television program and got an interview with the admission office. Unfortunately, after completing the interview they rejected my admission. However, I was accepted into CSUN for Film Production and LMU for Film, Television, and Media Studies. I decided to move forward with the enrollment at LMU and I am now close to receive my BA this upcoming May. In the meantime, I am still working on other exciting projects.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road at all. It was hard moving here by myself at the age of 16. Many times, throughout my first two years, I thought about giving up and going back home. The homesickness was real! But I knew I had to keep going so I never gave up. I knew I was meant to be a filmmaker, and I knew this was the place where I could make it happen. So, I stayed and got stronger and stronger.
Being a producer is also not easy, so I wouldn’t call this a smooth road at all! I am always on the go, always with my phone with me, checking for messages and emails regarding projects I am working on. And there are always problems coming up and I’m the one who needs to solve them. But the satisfaction of having good footage for a good film at the end of the day is priceless. I just love when the director is happy with the work and knowing I am the one who made it happen.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an independent film producer. I like making films because film for me is a voice. Let me explain better: I come from a multicultural family: my father’s side is French, my mother’s Belgian, and I was born and raised in Italy. So, I learned French from a young age, this was followed by English in elementary school, and then Spanish in High School. Currently, I’m also learning ASL and Portuguese. I like learning new languages because it develops my critical thinking. When I speak someone else’s language, I feel that I can connect directly with their heart. However, I know that in a creative way, I can also connect with hearts all over the world through an aesthetic language: film. Through the language of film, I am able to communicate with people around the world and send a message through a visual story. Instead of using words, I can use cinematic language to express ideas that may connect with others in a powerful, universal way. Film expresses life by seizing its raw truth, as well as being able to make something beautiful. For example, cinematography is unique in its way of being able to make a picture visually immersive while bringing out the very meaning of a story.
I have a strong desire to explore this use of cinema as an emotional connection as a film producer. I can honestly say that foreign languages and films have opened my mind to cultural empathy and social initiative and beyond creative storytelling, I am aware that film takes an important role in ongoing cultural and political debates. And I strongly think that film can be a powerful voice to speak up and fight these debates. I strongly think that film can make the difference in the world.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Always follow your dreams and don’t give up. It might be a tough ride, but the destination is breathtaking!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10240087/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asias_depth.of.field/
Image Credits
Kat Hanegraaf
Marlon De Silva
