By Minah Seo
Connie Cocchia is talented filmmaker and alum of Collingwood School. She attended University of Southern California and was inspired to become a director. As a filmmaker, she believes that the key is to be confident in one’s own work, as it is a reflection of the individual. She is driven and motivated, “with a sense of perfectionism as [her] biggest strength and weakness.”
Connie has always been involved with the arts since first grade when she became the lead of a class play. She performed in eleven productions at Collingwood, ranging from “Anne Frank” to “Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat”. From acting, she then became interested in photography and filmmaking. She is also a talented musician; she is able to play a total of eight instruments and joined the a cappella choir at USC. Connie is now back in Vancouver and still likes to record songs with other Collingwood alumni.
She is mainly inspired by the people who surround her: her family, her brother, her best friends. “These people in my life are my biggest role models; they have taught me what true love and compassion are. They have taught me strength and the importance of making a difference in this world, no matter what size,” she says. Connie keeps these influential people in mind as she works on a project or film, and in how they inspire and motivate others, she wants to do the same through her own art. From a celebrity perspective, she admires Kathryn Bigelow, Ellen, and Clint Eastwood, but she mainly reviews an actor based on his individual work.
Connie feels that film is the best medium through which to express herself. “It feels the most free to me to express myself… I love the ability to create something with others, to learn from others, and to create in the moment.” Filming makes her feel as though there are no boundaries, but she does categorize her work into the style of realism and surrealism. She feels that realist dramas are what people can relate to more.
Currently she is working on submitting a big project film which she shot last spring, called “Awake”. Now in her final term at USC, she is also working on another script for a short film that she hopes to shoot. Connie is interning at Lionsgate and another production company on the Warner Brother’s lot. She hopes to continue making films and directing her own features. She dislikes Hollywood “bogus” (her term for PG) and wants to make films that people relate to and connect with. She is hoping that her films reach a wide range of audiences and help individual viewers in their lives.
To the growing artists of Collingwood, she says, “Have confidence in yourself and your work - people will only be able to see your talent and skill if you are proud in what you do.” She does not count on a plan B because she knows she would have already failed. Instead, she takes her own independent stance and believes in herself.
Connie's work can be seen on her website and her Facebook page.
Connie Cocchia is talented filmmaker and alum of Collingwood School. She attended University of Southern California and was inspired to become a director. As a filmmaker, she believes that the key is to be confident in one’s own work, as it is a reflection of the individual. She is driven and motivated, “with a sense of perfectionism as [her] biggest strength and weakness.”
Connie has always been involved with the arts since first grade when she became the lead of a class play. She performed in eleven productions at Collingwood, ranging from “Anne Frank” to “Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat”. From acting, she then became interested in photography and filmmaking. She is also a talented musician; she is able to play a total of eight instruments and joined the a cappella choir at USC. Connie is now back in Vancouver and still likes to record songs with other Collingwood alumni.
She is mainly inspired by the people who surround her: her family, her brother, her best friends. “These people in my life are my biggest role models; they have taught me what true love and compassion are. They have taught me strength and the importance of making a difference in this world, no matter what size,” she says. Connie keeps these influential people in mind as she works on a project or film, and in how they inspire and motivate others, she wants to do the same through her own art. From a celebrity perspective, she admires Kathryn Bigelow, Ellen, and Clint Eastwood, but she mainly reviews an actor based on his individual work.
Connie feels that film is the best medium through which to express herself. “It feels the most free to me to express myself… I love the ability to create something with others, to learn from others, and to create in the moment.” Filming makes her feel as though there are no boundaries, but she does categorize her work into the style of realism and surrealism. She feels that realist dramas are what people can relate to more.
Currently she is working on submitting a big project film which she shot last spring, called “Awake”. Now in her final term at USC, she is also working on another script for a short film that she hopes to shoot. Connie is interning at Lionsgate and another production company on the Warner Brother’s lot. She hopes to continue making films and directing her own features. She dislikes Hollywood “bogus” (her term for PG) and wants to make films that people relate to and connect with. She is hoping that her films reach a wide range of audiences and help individual viewers in their lives.
To the growing artists of Collingwood, she says, “Have confidence in yourself and your work - people will only be able to see your talent and skill if you are proud in what you do.” She does not count on a plan B because she knows she would have already failed. Instead, she takes her own independent stance and believes in herself.
Connie's work can be seen on her website and her Facebook page.