Aspiring Filmmaker Dakota Kudra: Harnessing the Dream Factory
It鈥檚 only natural that Dakota Kudra, a fourth-year film student now interning at Paramount, is partial to the work of 鈥淚nception鈥� director Christopher Nolan and finds the source of her inspiration in dreams.
鈥淭hat’s the vision that drives me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 dream something and think, 鈥榟ey this will be a cool film,鈥� then I write the script and find the perfect opportunity to create it. All of the films I’ve done in college have come from dreams that I’ve had.鈥�
Dakota caught the filmmaking bug as a high school freshman and once bitten, 鈥淚 knew that鈥檚 what I wanted to do. The more time I spent doing film and media-related activity in high school, — every day, every week filming school events, football games, and concerts — pursuing filmmaking at the college level became quite obvious. It鈥檚 something you really have to have a passion for.
鈥淚 love watching someone鈥檚 vision come to life,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat happens when my fellow students and friends create a story they love and improve on for production. And continuing to have that passion for the film during production makes things so much more enjoyable — knowing that they love what they create makes you love being a part of creating it.鈥�
Dakota is partial to horror films and psychological thrillers in a big way. 鈥淚 love when a film makes me think or has me on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to come next. Movies like 鈥楶sycho,鈥� 鈥楾he Shining,鈥� 鈥楾he Babadook鈥� and 鈥業t Follows.鈥� They don’t rely on jump scares but go into the story, enabling you to experience the insanity of the characters.鈥�
Her aspirations are as boundless as her energy. 鈥淒irecting and producing鈥� are her lodestars, with stops along the way to perfect her skills in cinematography, working with a variety of cameras and becoming truly fluent in the tools of the trade.
鈥淥ne of the things I love about Woodbury is that you learn a little of everything about film, regardless of whether you’re good at it or not,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he awesome thing about film is that it’s all about networking and who you connect with, so I can meet somebody to help me through my weak points in filmmaking. You can’t be good at everything.鈥�
For Dakota, the opportunity to try all facets of the craft 鈥�- and to learn from her cohort 鈥�- sets Woodbury鈥檚 program apart. 鈥淚 like that Woodbury鈥檚 a small school and that the people in my class are those I work with on projects,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e all grow together and learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we all help each other out, which is what I love.鈥�
On the Paramount lot, she鈥檚 currently interning at Di Bonaventura Pictures, the company responsible for 鈥淔our Brothers,鈥� 鈥淭ransformers鈥� and 鈥淒eep Water Horizon,鈥� among others. Di Bonaventura is now working on one of her favorite Stephen King stories, Pet Cemetery.
But back to Christopher Nolan: 鈥淣olan is a master of human psychology in his films鈥� cinematic language and narrative structures. He’s a complex filmmaker, so I鈥檓 trying to learn his techniques to better understand what kind of theme I want to produce in my films and how I want the audience to understand my work. As a young filmmaker, I am grateful for directors like Nolan. They inspire me to make psychological thrillers that twist your mind and, in the end, leave you hanging and wanting more answers.鈥�
Sounds like a dream.