The Joy of Working with Future Filmmakers

Casey McKinnon with AFI student and future filmmaker Amanda Baião.

Over the past few years, I have spent some of my extra time participating in the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory program at the American Film Institute (AFI). As an actor, it is important to always keep learning, flexing your acting muscles, and meet people, so the conservatory has been a great space to do just that.

The cherry on top of the AFI sundae is that we also get to audition and work on all the great student films being made there. Not only is it a great way to meet the filmmakers of the future, but it also helps when you’ve decided to change your hair color (guilty!) and you need new reel footage (also guilty!).

I am so blessed by all the young filmmakers I’ve met at AFI, especially Olivia Hang Zhou and Amanda Baião. Both of these gifted women will be graduating this year and I am so grateful they came into my life. What could have been just a few days together is turning into a lifelong friendship. We have each other’s backs and I value and support their work, their compassion, and their creative visions. I’m so excited to see where they take their careers in the future. For now, they are most likely trying to navigate quarantine life like the rest of us, but I’m sure that soon they will be knocking down doors in Hollywood and bursting into rooms internationally.

While we wait for the world to open up again, Olivia is raising money for her thesis film Spring Tiding. Please consider donating; the story sounds absolutely captivating and real, and I know that Olivia deserves the support so she can execute her vision and touch even more hearts.

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers at the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Conservatory who work tirelessly to make this all happen, especially Victoria Hoffman who has often called me last minute to fill in. I’m always happy to be the dependable one!

Still from Amanda Baião’s directorial debut.

Still from a short film directed by Olivia Hang Zhou.