Federica, in your statement you say that you have been with cinema almost for the hole life. Tell us more about your way, how it started at age of 3, and what did the studies of filmmaking give you?
An artist from young
I started as a background actor for commercials and TV seat fillers when I was very young, what happened when I was 3 years old is very funny.
I was watching Jurassic Park with my parents, they had already taught me that dinosaurs were extinct, so when I watched the movie, the question arose spontaneously "How did they film the dinosaurs?". My parents bought a VHS with the extras and behind the scenes and I learned that there was a whole world behind it. I was more fascinated by the behind scenes than by the story itself, even though Jurassic Park obviously has a special place in my heart. At that moment I decided that whatever job it was, it would be my job. My parents thought it was a phase but here we are almost 30 years later.
Regarding my studies, after high school, I attended a film academy in Milan and I've studied directing (filmmaking, including all the fields such as screenwriting, cinematography, film history and so on...), acting, photography and makeup. It definitely gave me my first professional bases, because before that I had only directed shorts on my own, without any knowledge, simply as a cinema enthusiast. So, for the first time, I really learned how it was properly done, in the European way, especially the fact that you don't have to do everything yourself. As any novice filmmaker tends to do. Discovering that more people could help me on my sets, in preproduction and postproduction, was certainly a factor that gave me relief. Producing a short or feature is stressful enough, knowing that more people can take some work from me, is an incredible feeling. I have also learned about many European, Asian, and American filmmakers, the true pioneers of cinema, and this has heartened me because many have started exactly like us, filmmakers who love to experiment, to shoot with homemade equipment and by using friends and relatives as talents. The most important thing was definitely having the basics to set up a script and also the first steps towards acting, that is also useful to give you the actor's perspective once you have to direct them, what is useful to say? When is it time to let the actor figure out who his character is? When do I step in? How do I communicate properly to let them understand what feeling I need them to portray? Once I finished the directing school in Milan I studied in Rome with Sergio Stivaletti, Dario Argento's make-up artist, I learned to build film prosthetics and to create wounds and cuts in the most realistic way, learning from the best. This helped me a lot to communicate with my current makeup artists on set and now I know exactly what it takes and how long it takes to get a specific wound for my actors. In 2016 the New York Film Academy, which I had followed through their newsletter since I was 12, announced that it was looking for directors in Milan, for an interview, to admit them to Los Angeles. Without saying anything to my parents and my boyfriend at the time, I went to Milan and brought my works and a few months later I received the news "We accepted you; you got a scholarship to come and study in Los Angeles, your works really impressed us ". I immediately moved to California and finally attended the academy of my dreams. I met professors with a titanic curriculum, mentors and most of all people who had worked in Hollywood for years. I have to thank them all, especially James Pasternak that helped me emotionally and professionally, he recently passed away and it was a great loss for me, but his legacy will live in me and all his students that loved him so dearly, the world needs professors like him, that take the time to listen and pass his knowledge as gracefully as he did. I learned a lot, it's a very heavy and fast-paced academy, but it gave me so much and I would do it a thousand times over and over again. We studied everything, from directing to acting, film history, women in film history and art, even sound design, and I was able to improve my editing and after effects skills, script developing and characters' arcs, psychology and relationships. I think I have a well-rounded knowledge, not in the sense that I know everything, I still need to learn a lot and lately I've been learning from new filmmakers, even younger than me, but I know enough in order to be clear with each department. The course has always been based on directing, so obviously I have more knowledge in that field, but knowing other professions also made me understand directing in a clearer way. I also found that I really love the casting process, so now, when I'm not directing, I'm also a casting director and I love it as much as directing.
I was watching Jurassic Park with my parents, they had already taught me that dinosaurs were extinct, so when I watched the movie, the question arose spontaneously "How did they film the dinosaurs?". My parents bought a VHS with the extras and behind the scenes and I learned that there was a whole world behind it. I was more fascinated by the behind scenes than by the story itself, even though Jurassic Park obviously has a special place in my heart. At that moment I decided that whatever job it was, it would be my job. My parents thought it was a phase but here we are almost 30 years later.
Regarding my studies, after high school, I attended a film academy in Milan and I've studied directing (filmmaking, including all the fields such as screenwriting, cinematography, film history and so on...), acting, photography and makeup. It definitely gave me my first professional bases, because before that I had only directed shorts on my own, without any knowledge, simply as a cinema enthusiast. So, for the first time, I really learned how it was properly done, in the European way, especially the fact that you don't have to do everything yourself. As any novice filmmaker tends to do. Discovering that more people could help me on my sets, in preproduction and postproduction, was certainly a factor that gave me relief. Producing a short or feature is stressful enough, knowing that more people can take some work from me, is an incredible feeling. I have also learned about many European, Asian, and American filmmakers, the true pioneers of cinema, and this has heartened me because many have started exactly like us, filmmakers who love to experiment, to shoot with homemade equipment and by using friends and relatives as talents. The most important thing was definitely having the basics to set up a script and also the first steps towards acting, that is also useful to give you the actor's perspective once you have to direct them, what is useful to say? When is it time to let the actor figure out who his character is? When do I step in? How do I communicate properly to let them understand what feeling I need them to portray? Once I finished the directing school in Milan I studied in Rome with Sergio Stivaletti, Dario Argento's make-up artist, I learned to build film prosthetics and to create wounds and cuts in the most realistic way, learning from the best. This helped me a lot to communicate with my current makeup artists on set and now I know exactly what it takes and how long it takes to get a specific wound for my actors. In 2016 the New York Film Academy, which I had followed through their newsletter since I was 12, announced that it was looking for directors in Milan, for an interview, to admit them to Los Angeles. Without saying anything to my parents and my boyfriend at the time, I went to Milan and brought my works and a few months later I received the news "We accepted you; you got a scholarship to come and study in Los Angeles, your works really impressed us ". I immediately moved to California and finally attended the academy of my dreams. I met professors with a titanic curriculum, mentors and most of all people who had worked in Hollywood for years. I have to thank them all, especially James Pasternak that helped me emotionally and professionally, he recently passed away and it was a great loss for me, but his legacy will live in me and all his students that loved him so dearly, the world needs professors like him, that take the time to listen and pass his knowledge as gracefully as he did. I learned a lot, it's a very heavy and fast-paced academy, but it gave me so much and I would do it a thousand times over and over again. We studied everything, from directing to acting, film history, women in film history and art, even sound design, and I was able to improve my editing and after effects skills, script developing and characters' arcs, psychology and relationships. I think I have a well-rounded knowledge, not in the sense that I know everything, I still need to learn a lot and lately I've been learning from new filmmakers, even younger than me, but I know enough in order to be clear with each department. The course has always been based on directing, so obviously I have more knowledge in that field, but knowing other professions also made me understand directing in a clearer way. I also found that I really love the casting process, so now, when I'm not directing, I'm also a casting director and I love it as much as directing.
You are a director, a screenwriter, a casting director and an actor. What did you like the most,
and what are you going to concentrate on?
and what are you going to concentrate on?
Multifaceted personality
I feel like directing and casting are what I'm more inclined to, although I think acting is really fun, you still have a lot of work to do, you have to focus on yourself, your emotions and people you share the scene and the set (crew) with. Directing and casting brings me a lot of stress, but stress makes me work harder and more efficiently, and I love organizing everything, that's why I am happier in preproduction and in the festival phases, when I finally see the completed project and I feel satisfied. I have worked hard, and I can be happy with the sweat, the stress, the fatigue, the panic of the last-minute issues that led to that final moment, where I can finally breathe and enjoy the results of a wonderful teamwork. Set life is fun too, it depends on the project, if the schedule is very tight, it's hard to relax and enjoy the moment, but I try my best.
Casting on the other hand is where I see the magic happening for the first time and I meet my characters, as they came out from my script for the first time, I have the same feeling when I cast actors for someone else.
Casting on the other hand is where I see the magic happening for the first time and I meet my characters, as they came out from my script for the first time, I have the same feeling when I cast actors for someone else.
Federica Alice Carlino, and the editing process
We had an opportunity to watch two of your works, and they are very
different. What is the main message you are trying to translate through
your films? Or maybe you just want to have a fun process?
different. What is the main message you are trying to translate through
your films? Or maybe you just want to have a fun process?
From horror to sci-fi drama's
I like to try different genres, it's like music, I have an indefinite music taste, I can listen to Britney Spears and Slipknot in a matter of minutes. I don't like to stick with one genre, when I was younger, I loved to direct and act in horror movies, growing up I started to prefer dramas and mystery and sci-fi. I guess every genre represents a different stage of my life as well. I directed a tv/web series called The Rise of The Villains and it was inspired by Batman's comic books and that's another genre. If I have to choose I'd say between Drama and Sci-fi or a dramatic Sci-fi, so I'd combine both.
Gotham's eternal war between GCPD and the darkness is getting dangerous, whose side are you?
The Rise of the Villains
Directed by: Federica Alice Carlino
You are 4th awarded Lombard Director on IMDb chart. Tell us a little bit more about this chart, and your feelings after being included there.
IMDb star
It was shocking, I wasn't aware of it, I received an email that said I was the 4th most Awarded Lombard Director and the 30th among Italian Directors.
Needless to say, there weren't many women in the chart but being part of it and being a woman in a mostly male profession it's definitely the highlight of my career. I am honored to be among directors I've always looked up to, I know I still have a long path ahead, but it definitely left me speechless. When I received the book with my bio and my name on it, that was the moment I realized it.
You have been in many countries of Europe. Where is the most
comfortable place for an indie filmmaker in your opinion?
comfortable place for an indie filmmaker in your opinion?
International experience
True, well, I think Indie filmmakers can find their habitat everywhere, it depends on what kind of projects you want to produce.
I was doing just fine in Italy, when I thought I was ready to move ahead, Los Angeles was the best place, I had the opportunity not just to learn at the New York Film Academy, but also explore the city and work on famous, legit sets. I started to work as a Netflix reviewer, so I would be called months or a year in advance to watch a show or a movie with other 30/50 people and we would discuss the movie afterwards to suggest what to improve before the release, if it was possible to reshoot something or reedit the project to make it flow better. I then started to work for panels such as “13 Reasons Why” and then as a casting director for directors in Hollywood, in the meantime I was directing my movies and submitting them to festivals. Starting from home is definitely necessary, experiment with friends, relatives, neighbors. Try everything, even with cheap equipment, I've learned so much on my own, even before attending film schools, because I'm my biggest hater, so I would find every single mistake and improve it immediately, it's useful. Also, what I did was sending my stuff to people, not necessarily movie lovers, just to see what they had to say, how they perceived my shorts, so I could edit it in a way that could be perceived easily. Luckily Europe is flourishing again, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden are killing it right now. “La casa De Papel”, “The Rain, Dark”, “Young Royals” are incredible series and I'm so happy they are set in Europe. Needless to say the UK is doing great too with “The Crown”, “Bridgerton”, “Sex Education”, “The Sandman”, and more… I see myself coming back to Europe in the future.
I was doing just fine in Italy, when I thought I was ready to move ahead, Los Angeles was the best place, I had the opportunity not just to learn at the New York Film Academy, but also explore the city and work on famous, legit sets. I started to work as a Netflix reviewer, so I would be called months or a year in advance to watch a show or a movie with other 30/50 people and we would discuss the movie afterwards to suggest what to improve before the release, if it was possible to reshoot something or reedit the project to make it flow better. I then started to work for panels such as “13 Reasons Why” and then as a casting director for directors in Hollywood, in the meantime I was directing my movies and submitting them to festivals. Starting from home is definitely necessary, experiment with friends, relatives, neighbors. Try everything, even with cheap equipment, I've learned so much on my own, even before attending film schools, because I'm my biggest hater, so I would find every single mistake and improve it immediately, it's useful. Also, what I did was sending my stuff to people, not necessarily movie lovers, just to see what they had to say, how they perceived my shorts, so I could edit it in a way that could be perceived easily. Luckily Europe is flourishing again, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Sweden are killing it right now. “La casa De Papel”, “The Rain, Dark”, “Young Royals” are incredible series and I'm so happy they are set in Europe. Needless to say the UK is doing great too with “The Crown”, “Bridgerton”, “Sex Education”, “The Sandman”, and more… I see myself coming back to Europe in the future.
Federica Carlino in Milan, Iitaly - her home city.
Do you find yourself ready for a feature film, or you don’t have plans to
make it?
make it?
Next level
Yes, definitely, I have many drafts of my feature movies, ready to be pitched and produced, many are Sci-fi and Dramas, I am thrilled to be on set and make them come true soon. Something is already happening.
At this point Federica Carlino has directed more then 15 projects.
What do you like the most in filmmaking, and what is your career goal,
where do you want to be at the end of your path?
where do you want to be at the end of your path?
Cinema dream
I want to be realistic, it's not going to be easy and as a female filmmaker I want to do things properly, I hope to be of course bigger than I am today, I hope to spread my messages to a larger audience and also to represent Italy abroad.
Federica Alice Carlino at the "Film Academy Awards".
In your work “El Ultimo Adios” you have a big cast. Did you make a casting
process, or all the actors, and actresses are your friends?
process, or all the actors, and actresses are your friends?
"La Casa De Papel" or "El Ultimo Adios"?
I'd say it's a mix of it, I had friends that looked like some of the characters, but most of them are actors or lookalikes that auditioned. We shot the project in Italy, when I started the casting process I was still abroad and I took 1 month off to fly back to Italy to shoot everything. They answered my casting call, and I auditioned them, I didn't expect to receive so many submissions, I got a few emails from abroad, even Brazil, and Spain. It was a 2-month process, I would do it again, it was so fun.
Fan film about Money Heist, the professor his saying his last goodbyes to his squad, he remembers all the moment spent together before the end is near.
El Ultímo Adiós
Directed by: Federica Alice Carlino
Do you produce all your works, or do you have a helping hand?
All by myself
I produce all my works for now, my dream is to find funds and pitch my future project to a bigger audience and producers.
“After You” is a film about toxic relationships. What is the most important
thing, that you would like to tell to people who are stuck in this situation?
thing, that you would like to tell to people who are stuck in this situation?
Silence - is not an option
I would say run. You know it's bad, you know it in your guts, you definitely do, it's just that you silence that feeling, that warning inside you. Denial is the main reason behind these situations, the fear of being alone is quite there too, the fact that you might deserve it is even worse. You don't deserve it, nobody does, definitely talk with someone, if you want you can call hotlines and they can help you. Sometimes we need to talk with people that are not involved in our lives, maybe we don't trust friends and family with these matters, google the best hotlines in your country/area and call them, you don't want to talk? They luckily have chat services, please reach out, don't make it escalate in unwanted situations. It leaves scars for your whole life and it's hard to recover, it is definitely possible, but it's a long run, so if you can avoid it, please do it.
This short is dear to me as I experienced an extremely toxic relationship, it shaped my life, it changed it completely and I wished I left earlier, but what matters is that I did.
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