Today we’d like to introduce you to Dionna McMillian.
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
I grew up with a strong desire to tell visual stories but my path to becoming a filmmaker was a winding road. As a child, I would watch my mom write and direct plays for our local church. My Saturday mornings were often started by the sounds of my mom typing out her plays. However, her weekdays were occupied with office work. This shaped the blueprint of what I understood adulthood to be — that creating art was important, but reserved for your spare time.
With this in mind, I trekked off to college to study social sciences and to set out to discover a traditional career path. However, life had other plans for me. During my senior year of college, the idea of directing films began to nag at me. It was something that I had in the back of mind for some time, but never knew how to quite pursue. After undergrad, I took a year away from education to work and do some soul searching. After some self reflection, I decided that I would regret it if I never pursued filmmaking and went forward with attending graduate school to pursue an M.F.A. in Film.
Once in graduate school, I hit the ground running. Three years is a very short period of time to a discipline and I needed to make sure I absorbed everything I could. While in school, I focused on editing and directing. I sharpened my skills as an editor working with organizations such as: The National Park Service, UNICEF, and the NAACP. I also taught editing during a fellowship at Northwestern University. As a director, I focused specifically on honing my voice and learned to guide strong performances. I directed several short films and music videos including a short comedy that I directed during a semester abroad in the Czech Republic.
In 2012, upon completing my M.F.A, I moved to New York where I lived in Brooklyn for several years. The competitive atmosphere further sharpened my skills in all aspects of production. After freelancing as an assistant director and editor for two years, I managed to secure a full-time job as a professor. In addition to teaching locally in NYC, I also traveled as a guest lecturer to schools in Beijing, Mumbai, and Doha, Qatar.
Working in higher education gave me the means to create my own films and direct on the side. I started with my short film, “Love, New York,” which went on to be featured on Issa Rae’s Color Creative TV platform in 2017, screened at 13 festivals, and recently received a mention in Forbes. I then directed the first season of a lifestyle series on A&E’s FYI Network. In the past two years, I’ve directed a digital series pilot entitled, “The Next Right Thing” and a short film, “Such A Deal,” both licensed for distribution with an emerging streaming platform, A Space for Creators.
Although I spent many years honing my craft on the east coast, the dream has always been to make it in LA. Two years ago, I made the move here to work on larger productions. I’ve grown tremendously since living here. I’m much sharper at pitching myself and my projects. Due to that, I’ve been able to secure the aforementioned deals and several exciting opportunities with esteemed comedic talent. My next major goal is to secure representation. Overall, LA still proves to be the land of possibilities and I’m excited about what’s to come!
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I once heard an actor say “If you can do anything other than work in this industry, do that”. In truth if I thought I could pursue another career I absolutely would. However, I know I’d be miserable doing anything else. So although I’ve had numerous obstacles and struggles that I’ve overcome during my career, I know I’m on the right track.
I find my journey as a filmmaker requires every ounce of my resilience and perseverance which makes things both strenuous and rewarding. The challenges have also caused me to become adaptive and ingenuitive as a filmmaker. Yet, in other ways, it’s been discouraging and isolating.
The past 12 years spent honing my craft and learning the industry has also made me hyper-aware of the systems and the hierarchies that exist in the industry. I rely on the positive experiences I’ve had and my faith to maintain the belief that patience and perseverance has and can continue to break any barriers I face along the way. As I continue to grow and the industry does as well, I remain hopeful for what lies ahead.
Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
I’m a multi-hyphenate by way of necessity and education. My primary focus is directing, but I also produce and edit professionally. I particularly have a passion for depicting women and BIPOC in roles that shatter common stereotypes and cultural perceptions. I have experience on a large number of projects ranging from feature films, lifestyle television series, to digital shorts. The throughline in my work has been comedy, but my focus on character driven narratives has positioned me to work across a broad range of genres.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least about our city?
What I love most about Los Angeles is that it attracts like-minded people who are equally in pursuit of their dream. I am inspired by my talks with others across industries who despite their current situation always maintain a level of optimism about what’s around the corner.
What I love is also what I least enjoy, which is the oversaturation of my particular industry. It’s hard to see the opportunity to breakthrough when so many other people are in pursuit of the same thing. However, if the current state of affairs has taught me nothing else, it’s that we’re more in it together than we’re not and I firmly believe that rising tides lift all boats.
I also would be remiss to not say this, I love the weather.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dionnafilm.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dionnafilm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dionnafilm
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dionnafilm
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4682993/
Image Credit:
1. First image of myself on balcony image credit-Maddy Goyal 2. Black and white photo of me sitting on the floor-Coco Dandridge 3. Black and white photo of me pointing, photo credit-Lauren Shimmel
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
