Four months after submitting a short commercial to two student film festivals, Dominick Argana was shocked to hear that he won two awards and a $2,000 scholarship.
His first work to debut during his junior year of high school, Argana’s short commercial for the brand Raid depicted Spiderman being ousted by the bug killing spray, with the sloga, “Kills even the mightiest spiders.” He submitted his short commercial to the Los Angeles Student Film Festival and the SoCal Student Film Fest with no expectation of winning. The two awards he received for best commercial helped him realize that his hobby could turn into a career path.
“I remember when they called my name and I was shocked because I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t think my work was good enough to win at a festival,” said Argana.
Argana, now a sophomore at CSUN, is studying to become a film director under the Cinema and Television Arts department two years after receiving his award and scholarship.
Creating films started out as just a hobby for Argana. As an avid fan of films by Wes Anderson, David Fincher, and Stanley Kubrick, he became a member of a film club. The $2,000 scholarship he received from winning at t the student film festivals went toward creating a better film program at Saint Genevieve High School, where he shot commercials for school announcements and projects during his time there. This allowed the film program to gain better editing software, more film equipment, and an upgrade of the equipment room.
His senior year of high school, he applied to film programs at University of Southern California, New York University, Chapman University, and California State University, Northridge. But the comfort of being where his hobby began being close to family and friends led him to attend CSUN, where he also heard great things about the Cinema and Television Arts department.
Outsiders may think that he did not face struggles with his hobby.
“Sometimes it was difficult at first because I didn’t have much experience filming and editing,” said Argana.
He spent a lot of his time watching video-editing tutorials and read a myriad of books on film making and writing to gain skills.
His stepfather, a professional editor, also mentored Argana and helped him generate ideas for his stories. At his stepfather's studio named Pistola Studios, he interned and sat in with his clients, while simultaneously learning about film making and editing his own work.
Another problem of his was telling his family about his career path. Argana identifies himself as an Asian American. In many Asian American families, there is an expectation for children to study in the fields relating to science or business. Argana steered toward a path that is often discouraged by many Asian American families.
"There is a lot of expectation to do a profession that is stable and makes a lot of money," he stated. "Some of my family members didn't take me seriously."
Fortunately for him, his stepfather, and mother, a fashion designer, were fine with his decision.
"I'm really lucky, they were completely supportive," Argana stated.
As a filmmaker, he enjoys writing dramatic romance stories and plans on expanding his genre in the future. He also is fond of casting Asian-Americans in his films.
"I take a lot of pride in using Asian-American actors, actresses, and crew members to give them a chance because there's so much potential in our community," he stated.
Argana plans on expanding his artistry at his time under the Cinema and Television Arts program at CSUN and constantly uses his awards from the film festivals as a testament to his abilities. He strives to become successful in the future and hopes to create stories that can move people.
"Once I realized people could relate to my work and actually like it, I knew that I could do it," said Argana.