Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Roche.
Antonio, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Throughout my schooling, I always loved history class: primarily due to the excellent teachers I had throughout my academic career. Learning and understanding stories about different people and places excited me.
After high school, my path ahead was clear. I wanted to become a history teacher to inspire and excite students in the same way I was inspired and excited.
Unfortunately, in undergrad, the 12-page weekly research papers with four pages of citations did NOT excite me. The magic wasn’t there, and I couldn’t figure out why. Confused, I unenrolled, now feeling aimless and unsure of what I wanted to do.
My parents met while working in the television industry. As such, they were supportive of me when I decided to take a video editing class at a community college on a whim.
On the first night, we jumped right into an assignment. Trying to get comfortable in the dimly lit computer lab, I looked down at my screen and then back up at the clock. Somehow, class was already over. I was so engaged in the work that time flew by. I thought to myself, “Wait a minute, you can get a degree in this?”
Eventually, I enrolled at Towson University’s Electronic Media and Film program, graduating in 2022. Since then, I have worked on several television shows such as Lioness, Jack Ryan, White House Plumbers, and more! Some of which have yet to be released!
In 2023, I became an MFA candidate at American University’s School of Communication, with a concentration in fiction filmmaking and screenwriting. Currently, I’m in my third and final year of the program, which is dedicated to developing my thesis film.
All in all, throughout the ups and downs of my academic and professional career, I have maintained the same goals at 26 that I had at 15. I want to inspire and excite students about stories; It just so happens that the stories will be their own.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have severe ADHD. It’s always been difficult for me to focus on one thing at a time, especially for extended periods.
This caused feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy throughout my schooling experience, which I overcame by shifting my workflow style to better fit me.
Taking frequent but very short breaks, avoiding prolonged focus on a single task, etc.
These are strategies that I developed by reflecting on how I operate best!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The stories I have written and directed all have one theme in common: Being Latin in America.
As a first-generation American, telling stories about immigrants and children of immigrants coming of age in the US is my main focus as a storyteller.
I’ve written and directed several short films that have had moderate success at film festivals around the country, but the piece of work I’m most proud of is called “The Bunny.”
It’s a short script that continues to advance in competitions such as the Page International Screenwriting Awards and the Slamdance Script Contest, and I even presented it at this year’s University Film and Video Association Conference!
The logline, or the one-sentence description of the story, is: A young man traverses a dystopian cityscape to make an illegal purchase.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Be kind to everyone. Apart from the obvious reasons to be kind, practically speaking, the film industry operates almost entirely on connections. Be kind to everyone, and strive to find the bright side of things, even when it’s challenging.
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