Hello!

My name is Rita Santos and I am an independent film producer based in London.

But I wasn't always that. I started this incredible journey in 2013 when I applied and was accepted onto the BA Film degree program at Middlesex University. I chose this particular university as the course's content seemed a good mix of theory and practice that would enable me to gain knowledge into the various art forms, within filmmaking.

The first year was mostly theory-based as it gave us the basis and the background knowledge of how film started to what it is today. I managed the produce my first short film which was a campaign film to promote students to engage and be more accepting of one and other. That was the first time that I realized that producing came naturally to me and that I actually enjoyed it.

In second year, I delved more into producing as well getting more involved in on campus opportunities where I'd work as a camera operator for several different seminars and guest speakers events that ranged from the North London Literary Festival to interview two holocaust survivors of Andre Singer's "Night Will Fall" nazi concentration camp documentary. I also was selected to be part of a Stage Management workshop as part of the Almeida Theatre work experience opportunities, where I got to meet three renowned stage managers from UK theatre venues and work on some staging elements during the three days of the workshop. My final year film production, worked out quite well and that is what sealed the deal for what I wanted to do as a career.

In third year, I went in knowing I wanted to produce and as part of the degree, I needed to producer two short films and work on an extra one as a secondary role. I then went on to working on two very different but very beloved projects. The first one was an experimental documentary tilted "The Sea Room" which was shot all around Lithuania in January of 2016. And the second one was a mental health drama tilted "Bad Coffee" shot in April of 2016 in London. Both involved intensely emotional topics that ranged from bulimia to self-inflicted wounds, respectively and were projects I learned a lot from. I was approached and offered the opportunity to be the production assistant on a book trailer shoot for a fantasy novel which was directed and produced by our course's graduate teaching assistant, with whom a later worked with again but as a runner on a short film set.

Outside of the course, I was selected alongside another colleague from my degree to attend an entrepreneurship conference in Croatia later in August of 2016 tilted "Summer Jam Croatia", which is an incredible opportunity for individuals who intend to create an independent business after university and there will be people from all over the world attending. Thus, I am in the process of starting up a film production company alongside a fellow producer from my degree, which will create a range of short films and will hopefully lead into a feature length, in the future.

Through these three years, I can confidently say that I have gained all the necessary attributes for me to delve into film production as my chosen career path.