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
 

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)