CV

SARAH J. VILLAREAL

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Lives & works in Los Angeles, CA

sjvillareal@gmail.com

vimeo

 

BIO


I am a filmmaker and designer based in Los Angeles. I was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States when I was five and have always had a love for storytelling and creative endeavors. My training is in art and design and I graduated with a Masters of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture. In my final year, I focused my study on the intersection between architecture and film. I produced a short animated film exploring themes on obsolescence and the commodification of architecture that I directed, wrote, shot, animated, edited and submitted to film festivals. I wore many hats and had to be resourceful and work with economy. As an architect constructing spaces and imagining speculative narratives, the exercise of telling a story is inherent. In the production of my short animated film, I found my true calling as a filmmaker and grew to embrace the creative process of film making and telling a good story.

Education

 

Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles       

Master of Architecture                                     ​

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University of California, Irvine

BA Studio Art         

 

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Skills

 

Digital 
  • Film Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, AVID
  • Film Compositing: Nuke, PfTrack
  • Coding: html, css
  • Adobe Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat
  • Microsoft Office Suite: Word, Excel, PowerPoint 
  • 3d Modeling: Rhino, Maya, 3ds Max, Vray, Nuke, PfTrack, Grasshopper, AutoCAD, Revit, Catia ICEM Surf

Physical Model Building

  • Experience with Laser cutting machine, CNC mill, Woodshop, Robotics Lab, 3d powder/ABS model printing
Experience
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Luminant Media

(01/2021-present)

  • Co-Producer

  • Untitled 9/11 Project – 5 episode documentary series on September 11 and the Afghanistan War for Netflix, directed by Brian Knappenberger. Work closely with the director and producers across production through post, field produce, and work with editors on archival pulls. Extensive archival research and clearance.

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Luminant Media

(02/2020-present)

  • Associate Producer

  • Season 1 of a 6-part anthology documentary series on Netflix directed by Brian Knappenberger and Executive Produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer of Imagine Documentaries.

  • Story research, book talent, set up shoots, interview prep, manage archival, paper edits, AVID string outs, and work with edit team.

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Herzog and Company

(07/2019-11/2019)

  • Associate Producer

  • Head research and archival for 150 Years of College Football documentary series on ESPN The American Game, and The Greatest

  • Work with producers, edit team, and post to deliver 22 episodes

  • Manage research team, extensive archival database, and ensure edit team has the required footage

 

Prometheus Studios

(4/2019-7/2019)

  • Associate Producer

  • Produce episodes from concept through post on longest running documentary series on the History Channel

  • Interview prep, book talent and locations domestically and internationally. Oversee archival footage, researchers, production team on the field, and work with edit team

 

Xpedition Media

(03/2019-04/2019)

  • Story Researcher

  • Story research on character-driven micro-documentary series on YouTube

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Herzog and Company

(8/2018-2/2019)

  • Researcher-Associate Producer

  • Extensive archival research on the "Decades of Movies" documentary series on CNN

  • Ingesting footage, manage the database of research materials and purchase screener orders from major news and media vendors such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, etc.

  • Work effectively within tight deadlines to deliver assets on time and adhere to best practices

 

Lightbox Entertainment

(10/2017-9/2018)

  • Associate Producer

  • Story research, creative development, and project management for Season 1 of the 8-part "Diagnosis" documentary series produced with Netflix, The New York Times, and Scott Rudin Productions

  • Primary New York Times liaison on the strongest story leads and for submissions to the web project

  • Produce web/social media video content

  • Set up production shoots, managed call sheets, shoot prep and supervised shoots in the field 

  • Prototype mock-up concepts for the web project, data management, and lead research 

  • Internal advisor on the strongest story leads and pre-interviewed subjects on Skype for use in series 

  • Work across the whole range of pre-production, production, and post.

  • Produce casting reels and worked with the edit team

 

Neville

(01/2017-01/2018)

 

Tesla Design Studio

(05/2017-06/2017)

  • Contract A Class Surfacer 1 Design & Styling

  • Recruited for a Digital Modeling Training Course for a select group of recent graduates (from Architecture, Mechanical Design Engineering, Industrial Design)

  • One on one training with the Creative Director for an extended interview course where candidates are educated and tested on Tesla Digital Modeling/Design software/process

  • Intensive training in Catia ICEM Surf

 

Colkitt&Co.

(05/2016-09/2016)

  • Independent Contractor

  • Project manage and offer architectural and design services on the PUMA Neutra Los Angeles showroom and office 

  • Los Angeles liaison to New York and San Diego offices

 

Elysium Bandini Studios

(06/2016-07/2017)

  • Independent Contractor

  • Film Still photography and production services

 

Sci-Arc Gallery Exhibition: Close-Up

(01/2016-05/2016)

  • Work with the artist in the design process, planning and execution of gallery show for visiting exhibitor “Body” Architect/Artist Lucy McRae

  • Fabricated the exhibitor’s prototypes in the shop as well as manage the exhibitors budget                                   

'Big Dumb Buildings' Precedent Study

(01/2016-05/2016)

  • Book Editor

  • Edit Sci-Arc Class of 2017 2GB Precedent Study

  • Coordinate production in book material development of a 320-page book 

 

Sci-Arc Workshop: Hopscotch Pavilion

(09/2015-11/2015)

  • Assisted Sci-Arc Design Faculty Constance Vale and Emmett Zeifman

  • Fabricated temporary pavilion using recycled vinyl cladding for Yuval Sharon’s experimental Hopscotch Opera built in the Sci-Arc parking lot

     

Wamma Films, 14880 Hours Production, Los Angeles

(06/2010- 2016)

  • Freelance Still Photographer

  • ­Imdb credits: Crescendo I (2011), The Bench (2015)