Federica Alice Carlino was born in 1991 not far from Milan, Italy. She showed her love and passion for movies at the age of 3. Her family moved around Europe for work, so she had the opportunity to meet new cultures. She grew up in the Netherlands until she was 6, then moved back to Italy for most of her education, she also studied in London at Richmond Upon Thames College. She studied filmmaking, photography and makeup in Milan and makeup prosthetic in Rome with Dario Argento’s makeup artist, Sergio Stivaletti. She is a New York Film academy BFA graduate. She worked with Warner Brothers and Netflix. She has experience in directing, casting, writing and acting. She works among Abu Dhabi, Milan and Los Angeles.
Hi Federica, nice to meet you and thanks for granting us this interview.
How was born your passion for the world of cinema?
I was 3 and I asked my dad how they get to have dinosaurs in Jurassic Park if they were forever gone. He told me it was cinema magic, the next day he found a VHS with extras and we watched it, I finally understood what was behind it. I told him that I wanted to do this when I grew up and both my parents thought it was just a phase, but here I am today. I guess it’s exactly it, the fact that with movies you can make everything happen, even if it would be impossible in real life. Achieving the impossible is what drives my perseverance, for sure.
What was your first movie?
I started with video clips for friends that were into music and knew how to produce it. Music and Movies have always walked on a parallel path for me and if I can combine the two things I feel accomplished (that’s why I also care a lot about soundtracks and getting the right tone for my scenes). I started as every young filmmaker to be, with friends, experimenting camera movements, lights, sometimes without a script, without a clue. I guess the first movie I can talk about with no embarrassment might be The Challenge at The Haunted Asylum, a horror short that I produced in a real abandoned asylum in Italy, Mombello. There are many legends about that place, but also real and documented creepy facts. It was an incredible experience and it made me fly to Massachusetts to present it to my first festival ever and we also won the international category. We later shot a tv series called The Rise of The Villains, in another area of the same Asylum.
This location was also used for a movie with Johnny Depp called “7 days, 7 girls”.
What is, for you, the main difficulties for an independent filmmaker?
Probably having big ideas that have to be sized down because of a restricted budget, but it’s also a great mental workout, because you learn how to drive around problems and make things look great with what you have. It’s definitely a great stream of creativity.
What advice would you give an aspiring filmmaker?
I’m still far from my goals, I’ve been working hard for more than 15 years but I feel like sharing couple things that helped me not to give up.
Please be constant with your work, it’s hard. Art in general is hard. People will have opinions on you and your films and it’s okay, it helps you growing as an artist, with time you will be able to recognize the right criticism from absolute nothingness. Some people just like to hear the sound of their voice and you, on your hand, just try to be graceful enough to give them their space, so they might feel better after that. Don’t waste your time on rudeness and toxic comments on you or your way to provide content, people are mean, let them be, it’s their problem, not yours. On the other hand, criticism is good for you, take what you think is useful, use it to improve yourself, it’s not a fast process but believe in it, at the end of the day is going to be worth every single day of har work and sweat drop. Listen carefully to any feedback you might receive and try to understand if you agree with them, try to look at your work with their eyes, would you agree with their opinion? If the answer is yes, maybe they are right, not perfect and we never stop learning. Try to do it their way and see if it works for you. Maybe they suggest you to move a scene from the end to the beginning, you might be skeptical, but what if you do? Try. You might like it, and if you don’t, well, it’s totally fine, it doesn’t work for you, but it was a good exercise to get out of your head and explore a new point of view. Try everything.
Tell us about the main project of your career.
The main project of my career at the moment is The Monster’s Club, it’s a (proof of concept ) short, that I’d like to pitch for a TV series. It’s inspired by a true event of my life and I’d like to unravel what my characters’ plans are. I think a TV series will be great to present a bigger picture of my story. It’s set in 1999, three friends Jackson, Colin and Erik, Called “Dumpster” (because eats constantly, but is as skinny as a stick, lucky guy), want to win a contest on TV by sending a VHS with a prank, Their plan sounds perfect but it turns out to be deadly, the consequences of this impulsive act will lead the survived ones to live with guilt, and the way they face it will be very interesting.
I shot this in Los Angeles, CA where I moved in 2016, it was one of my favorite projects to work on.
What are the main ingredients to create a good movie?
I think being relatable to your audience, we have different lives, we grow up in different settings, but we happen to live the same emotions, what is even crazier, is that we happen to meet the same people, the toxic friend, that horrible teacher, a great mentor, a narcissist relative, the goofy and funny friend, first loves, first kiss, a fight with a parent, a sudden death, we grieve, we cry, we celebrate… If you use these elements to hold your audience’s hands and to bring them into your world, by telling them your story through familiar emotions is already 80% of the work done there.I tend also to take inspiration from what happened to me and I then create a fictional world around it, if I have a real input to start from I feel like I can tell my story in an authentic way. It works with you characters as well. Think about that weird uncle you have or a good friend of yours, or your first love, what about that old lady you see every day at the bus stop? Think about real people in your life, start from there and then create a new person, give them a zodiac sign, an hobby, a favorite Spotify playlist, you can truly use little things you already have around you to create a good movie. If your character are not perfect is even better.
What are your future projects?
One of my goals is definitely to turn The Monster’s Club into a mini series, I also have so many scripts that I’d like to produce around California and Italy, my country. Italy is always going to be my home and my heart and I want to set my stories in my beautiful country. I can’t wait to share them with you soon.
I recently presented “The Chosen One”, a little and humble homage to one of my favorite authors, Oscar Wilde. His view. on life, on what might be after it, on how to live your life to the fullest is something I live up to. One of my favorite quotes, that I used in this particular project from The Picture of Dorian Gray is:
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”
Temptations aren’t inherently evil, we can’t constantly feel guilty for a desire, sometimes we need to accomplish what we feel like we need in that moment, in order to feel alive. Breathing, walking and eating don’t necessarily mean that you are alive. How do you face life? Sometimes blocking yourself from these dreams, desires, might make you feel frustrated, even following a passion that maybe your entire family might not approve of. That can be it. Just go for it. And if you fail, at least you tried, you have nothing to regret. Would you like to die and ask yourself “What if?…” I wouldn’t.
Any final thoughts at the end of this interview?
Thank you for having me I loved chatting with you. If you want to keep up with my works or just want to give an healthy stalk to my profile, here is my LinkTree.
Have a great day!
https://linktr.ee/federica.alice.carlino
RFA