Read more about Natalija's experience on "A Spoonful"

So I had never worked with a production company before. I was a second semester student, I had not taken any directing classes outside of being in Acting and Directing Workshop (CINE 128) at the time. I was just learning how to help actors get into character, give them the emotional subtext of a scene, etc. But when I got an email from one of the main producers of On the Outside Films, it sounded too good to be true. I remember signing one of their forms at convocation and attending one of their meetings, but that was the extent of it. But when I went to the first Zoom meeting about the whole directing process, it was in fact very true (and good as well). I my schedule quickly became filled up with having to help make shooting scripts, going to meetings with producers, the Director of Photography (DP), the 1st Assistant Director (1st AD) and the other two directors I had the privilege to direct with. The other two directors had either already taken Directing II or were currently in the class, also they were already in their very early 20's and I had just turned 19 at the time of filming. Everyone around me was much older, experienced, and they all knew each other. But I did not shy away from that experience, I wanted to prove to them that someone much younger and inexperienced could do as good of a job as them. One of the things I love the most is being busy and being challenged, so I worked extra hard so I could be able to direct with less skills than the other directors I was working with. I paid extra attention in my Acting and Directing class, participated more, and even did outside research on how to direct actors because meeting once a week for three hours just is not enough. By the time rehearsals rolled around, I was very nervous, and even pretended that my professor was there telling me what to do and what not to do, but I was so blessed to work with incredible actresses who were able to shape their performances to how I wanted them to be and also added their own unique style. 

By the time filming rolled around, I felt prepared to handle the pressure of having to work with cast and crew simultaneously under pressure. I was glad that I was the last person to go in terms of filming their episode because I was able to watch the other two directors work and see their decision making. The thing about my episode was, that I had the most shots. I had several meetings with the DP discussing this and we had to get rid of so many shots.  Not to brag, but we were able to go from 36 shots to 22! It was a lot of bargaining with the 1st AD but we were able to do it! The reason was because of the montage scene in this episode and the amount of inserts we had. We had to actually film for a day and a half to get them all completed (and we wrapped a bit earlier than anticipated to our surprise). Luckily, we spent the first half day to get inserts in, which was the easiest part. The full day where we filmed the rest of the episode was a bit more stressful, because it was a lot of thinking quick, but it was super fun being constantly under pressure! I loved having the 1st AD come up to me and talking about what was going to be the next shot, or the DP asking what I thought about the lighting for one shot. It was amazing collaborating with such a fun and amazing group of people who were all excited about the same project as I was. I was actually sad when we wrapped "A Spoonful". We had spent about a month in preproduction getting ready, and I was sad to see all the efforts be completed. I had such a fun time collaborating with everyone and I was sad to see it be finished. I loved being able to direct, and I'm still trying to chase that high to this day. 

Everyone on the On the Outside team was amazing to work with. Everyone from the producers to 1st AD were so willing to help me out and make me feel comfortable and welcome on set. Even when we were working with live food, and the Production Designer said we only had enough food for two takes and that made me a little scared (in the end we were able to do it in two takes), the 1st AD was there next to me calming me down and gave me a minute to let my adrenaline go down once we were moving on to the next take. 

They say when you go out in the world and direct, there is no safety net and no one is going to help you out, but everyone supporting me from day one here was my safety net, and now my mindset is, when I go out in the world and direct there will be no On the Outside Films to help me out.