Today we’d like to introduce you to Bettina Hanna.
Bettina, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Brazil and in 2009 I to move to California to study Journalism. I already had a degree in Radio and Television and spent most of my career working for MTV Brazil.
When I moved to San Diego, I was focused on my studies, but I wanted to keep creating and making videos, so I decided it was about time to buy a camera and learn how to edit my own stuff. It was hard in the beginning because I was used to having a crew working with me and as a director, I was able to know a little about everything but not much hands-on in terms of grabbing the camera and shooting.
Being in a place like San Diego was incredibly rewarding because there are people from all over the world living here which makes easy to find good stories to talk about, and also we are surrounded by many beautiful places, so I had many options to work with. I was always intrigued by people’s stories so one day I’ve found a place in the middle of the desert in California where no one really goes, almost like an abandoned town and realized there were few people still living there.
I was curious to know why they live there and who are these people, so that’s how I produced my first documentary called “The Dead Town.” It was selected by many festivals, and from then on I kept hunting good stories and was able to conciliate my work as a videographer and my passion as a documentary filmmaker.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was never a smooth road because it’s hard to get funding when you’re just an independent filmmaker, with no distributor, no sales representative, etc… so basically I have to work on my short docs out of my pocket.
My last documentary “Not Kidding” that I co-directed with Trish Pavlecich talks about a very important subject: women who don’t have kids. It’s a subject that is on the rise and we think it’s important to tell their stories so women can relate and feel free to make their own choices but we had just a little to promote the movie, I wish we could get the movie out there and make a difference.
The project I’m working on right now is about refugees who live in San Diego. It’s another subject that is so interesting, people have no idea how the process goes so I would love to have the movie seen by as many people as possible. In the end, what I like the most about what I do is telling good stories and trying to make this world a better place.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I work for a company in San Diego as a social media manager. I create social media videos, sports videos, corporate videos, etc. And in the meantime, I work on my personal projects like the short documentaries.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I think my favorite memory is playing with my siblings on the streets, doing sports, laughing with them, not much technology at that time. I am very close in age with my twin brothers, so it was almost like we were triplets.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vimeo.com/bettinahanna
- Phone: (619)844-9546
- Email: behanna13@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bettinahanna
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