Tell us a bit about your organization and what your specialty is in the film and video space.

The Carolinah Prun Arts Association is an independent film company founded in Minnesota, which focus is to create and bring to life stories that may be adapted to Television and Streaming services, however we are not closed to the idea of perhaps supporting other arts such as paintings, cartoons, or even music (theme songs for tv shows). Our team is formed with top notch writers, editors, actors and crew who are incredibly talented and ready for the next level in this changing industry.

What is your organization’s ethos and how does it set you apart from industry competitors?

This is not precisely a big company, but an association, we do focus in hidden talent, new stories that may not be heard of elsewhere, and we believe that cultural diversity (specially in the US) is essential to tell stories in a truthful, yet relatable way. We don’t just hire people for work, we partner with true artists in their craft to bring the best of their talents to be seen and heard, regardless of their background, but specially because of their background.

How can people join or learn more about what you do?

you can either visit our official website, or hit me up on Instagram.

Tell us about your Telly Award winning piece. What’s the story behind it?

At first, we just wanted to be on YouTube or TikTok, since this is basically TCPAA’s first production since our foundation, however, after receiving multiple positive comments from people well positioned in the industry, we thought, why not exposing this Production to a higher level, and see what it does, we were highly praised by Emmy Award winning writers, and a few people from The Coalition of Artists in Atlanta, and Georgia Entertainment Group, that we have no other thoughts but to take a chance and bet higher on the production.

What are you most proud of about this piece? What was your biggest challenge during production and how did you solve it?

As a first time Director, the biggest challenge was to convince the whole team to expose this production beyond just YouTube and/or local film festivals. However there were other challenges such as getting the funds to film this production in the format that we actually wanted (which is a television episode, rather than a short film or feature film). We had to go through multiple meetings with people to go about the best way to come together with this production with a doable budget, and to have everybody paid. I guess, networking is not just important but essentially vital to make deals like this.

Do you have any advice to other filmmakers based on your career or your team’s approach to work?

Never listen to the NO’s, and always ask yourself “How” and “When”, life is full of surprises!

Can you share a behind the scenes story or fun fact about the making of your piece?

The whole idea was inspired by another production (local in MN), who’s director was not very experienced on his position, so we thought it was awesome how everyone wanted to support him, also Luke Tourville (the actor playing the sound guy) recalls that cast and crew sometimes would not remember his name. On a different time, we were rehearsing Beva Steinberg(Ruth) and Melanie Lee(Erika), and they were having a big laugh when rehearsing the slapping scene with our stunt coordinator (Kam Jones), Beva says that it felt almost as a choreography trying to “slap” someone the right way.

Tell us about the most memorable response you got from this work.

We managed to get a private investor to donate almost half of the whole cost of production simply because they loved the fact that a latina was the main creator. Also somehow, at some of the networking events in Atlanta, a lot of people whom I had never met before, started congratulating us for creating such a fun production. And last but not least, The Telly Awards, which is our very first production, and pretty much the only film award we’ve submitted to so far, we have been blessed enough to have made it, not only to the finalists, but also to have won bronze for this production (on our very first try), we’re incredible grateful, and we hope to continue creating more stories, and if possible, to take QOS to the actual Television!

Complete this sentence: ‘Great video storytelling is…’

… a story that drives you into it as if you are also part of it, and not just watching as an outsider, understanding the why of the difficulties, while also providing a clear, focused message.