On Friday, I experienced something I had never experienced before. Lucky me, I got chosen to interview an award-winning filmmaker named Tejas Ewing. 

It was an experience like no other. Usually, during group reads, we all talk about a particular topic, but this time, I was the designated question asker. It was a different experience than the other two interviews we had that came into our class. This time, it was via zoom. Not only was interviewing an award-winning filmmaker nerve-racking, but also two other English classes were on the other line. 

Tejas Ewing is a smartphone filmmaker who portrays UWC’s mission message in some of his films, One of them being “Gaia.” He Uses his smartphone to make films as a device to help educate people on issues he is passionate about. In the film “Gaia,” a strong environmental message is shown.

I noticed that all three interviews correlate back to the message of determination. Lee Mcdermott, John Veliz, and Tejas Ewing all have a sense of determination. However, Tejas Conveys his passion for promoting news and world issues to a large audience through an art being filmed. 

I walked out of the class with an appreciation of his mindset and how he looks at things differently than I do. Work with what you have and appreciate filmmaking.

Technology is continuously changing, similarly to education today. You don’t necessarily have to go to an amazing school to do great in life; there are always other options.

 Film making → smartphone

Education → learns from experienced people, watch youtube videos.  

I was impressed and inspired because Tejas has accomplished many things and didn’t have to go to a fancy or expensive school to achieve what he wanted. He was a risk-taker, and not going to film school, and majoring in geography and other subjects opened up many opportunities and skills that helped benefit him every day in the filmmaking process. 

When I was picking my IGCSE subjects, people were constantly saying, “do the subjects you think you will pursue in the future” Mr. Ewing is an example that proves the opposite statement. Sure it can most definitely help if you want to pursue a specific career, but it’s not necessary to plan everything right now. Mr. Ewing has won several awards, and he didn’t go to film school till… never. 

There are many different components when working in the creative aspect. Some of which being English; writing the scripts in the film, Math; calculations for specific objects in place, and basic knowledge. This isn’t just working in the creative industry but all aspects of life. You need all skills to create a picture. Tejas showed that Discipline is a valuable skill you will have to go through as part of the process to get to your dream. The scriptwriting, measurements before a painting, the making of the lemonade for your lemonade stand are all things you need in order to get where you want to be. As he said, he films fifty percent of the time with a plan and the other fifty freestyling. To get your goal, you need to plan some of it, but for the other fifty, you got to go with the flow.