Meet Bea Cabrera

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bea Cabrera.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Bea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The Origins.

I’m originally from Valencia, on the east coast of Spain, but lived in Berlin (Germany) for the better part of last decade, were I survived as a freelance graphic designer and multimedia producer for a small one-stop studio, putting together bumpers and reels for nickelodeon, among other clients. My first accomplishments, still in school, were drawing awards and an insaciable need to borrow my dad’s both VCRs an edit on VHS tapes via the play-record-stop method I came up with.

Self-taught in the arts for the most part, my life took a turn in university as I enrolled for an engineering degree. I acquired knowledge in the areas of signal processing, electronics, and computer science that would later be reflected in my passion for lighting, video codecs, formats, and cameras. After that, I also took on a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, which would serve as the stepping stone to my Master’s degree in Filmmaking years later.

Los Angeles.

I arrived in LA on a hot September afternoon and made my way to the Starbucks at Sunset and Vine to make its WiFi my new home. Since then, I’ve moved to Westwood, then West Hollywood, back to Hollywood, the Valley and Burbank. I get the sense that Los Angeles is a city where you never stop moving.

But how I ended up in Los Angeles is a whole story in and of itself. Basically, I was given this amazing opportunity thanks to a Fulbright scholarship. It wasn’t easy, though. The process took me over two years and four or five tryouts. My determination probably won over the jury and I was finally able to fulfill the MFA Filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy in Burbank, right at Warner Bros.’ front door (inspiring, right?).

The Fulbright program is an international program of merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers and professionals, scientists and artists founded by United States Senator J. Williams Fulbright in 1946, and sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Under the program, American citizens are eligible to study or conduct research in other countries, and vice versa, with the final aim of increasing mutual understanding between people. Wikipedia says that ‘candidates have high academic achievement, a compelling project proposal or statement of purpose, demonstrated leadership potential and flexibility and adaptability to interact successfully’. I’m not sure if I will ever prove myself to the standards that I’m supposed to, but I’m sure that I tried my best at delivering the most fascinating purpose for the grant that I could forge. Every time I had to rethink my project, rewrite the essays and put forward a new plan, I learned something different about myself, what I wanted to do and what I wanted to become. With every tryout, I changed my route to find a new focus and goal. I always thought I was presenting the best of applications and had the worst of lucks, but it turns out that there was always one better essay coming up and ‘luck’, good or bad, is only a momentary perception subjected to the circumstances. Rejection after rejection I was improving my writing and the emotion thrown into it.

And finally there was the interview. When applying, I have learned that the most important thing is to have a clear goal and a solid future plan. Only then, your motivation and self-confidence will be off the charts and your determination will show through. When you truly believe in what you are presenting, your tone is strong, powerful and your pace is rhythmic, steady. I looked up another Fulbright fellow that had studied at NYFA and inquired him about the personal interview. He told me just to be myself. I must admit how a cliché that seemed, given that he didn’t know me at all, but in the end believing in myself was the only way to keep off nerves and fly over the interview — or that’s how it felt like, only to receive a confirmation call just hours later that I was going through to the next round.

Once in LA life took off in a different light. I was learning filmmaking academically, but also acquiring hands-on experience on equipment and real-life situations on set and out of it. Working in what you love is what life is made of, and everyday in LA there’s a new gig, a different project, somebody’s vision… inspiration. If you’re a filmmaker, you kind of need to breathe in the ‘je ne sais quoi’ in the air that only exists here. At that time I became strongly inspired in writing and wrote and directed several short films, among them: Drones Don’t Fly When the Sky Is Grey (a story on government surveillance with the aim of portraying real life hacking processes) and One Way (the story of how expats can become so detached from their homes that they end up living in the limbo space between two countries). Both of them premiered at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. I’ve also worked as a freelance editor for Billboard and other films and promo cuts and I’m currently writing my second feature film with production attached.

Today.

Cut to present time, I’m living life as a new mother to a baby (super)girl, seeking gender equality on all fronts and striving to work and take care of my child at the same time. I look forward to working on inspiring projects in the areas of girl and women empowerment and educating in respect. Feel free to contact!

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m freelancing at the moment, although I might be setting up a studio not far from now with a friend of mine. My personal focus is on writing and directing, but in between gigs I will edit short films, promos, bumpers, commercials…

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck.

I can’t say I’ve encountered bad luck, because I did earn the Fulbright scholarship that took me here directly, and everything that happened before that was paving the way for it. But I can’t say I was lucky, since it honestly took me hard effort to obtain, plus all the years studying before that, plus all the jobs I’ve worked in that wouldn’t pay enough (if anything).

I can consider myself fortunate since I’ve been able to travel all over and have very fulfilling experiences, but I’ve also lived off of my car and Little Caesar’s and slept on the floor of an unfurnished studio for a couple of years.

As bad luck, I could moan about how many gigs I’ve lost for being a woman, how my pay is usually not up to par or how many times I’ve been looked over. Like when a property owner once came up with “Do you even know what amps are?”. Remember from above that I studied electrical engineering? So, yeah, don’t judge a book… I’m sure you know how it goes.

But all those things have only made me stronger and more empowered to help change society. They have shaped me along the way and will definitely influence on how I raise my child, for example. So bad luck turned into powerful parenting is not bad anymore, I guess.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://beacabrera.com
• Email: hello@beacabrera.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/bea.cabrera
• Other: Blog: http://obsessive-coffee-disorder.com

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