A Portrait by Wafa Jaffal
Hi! My name is Wafa (she/her), I am 24 years-old & since graduating from Woodbury in 2019, I've been pursuing a career in Post-Production as an Assistant Editor. I first started in a smaller, but very important role as a Post-Production Assistant for Westworld (2019) to now editing marketing videos for big titles such as Stranger Things! (2022). This probably would've never happened if I hadn't attended Woodbury and I'm very grateful for the connections it inevitably helped me with”.
-Wafa Jaffal
Still Photograph of Wafa and her crew on set for 'Benicio' (2019)
Wafa Jaffal. Where do I start? She is one of the most down-to-earth human beings you could ever meet, I had the honor to first work with her on the set of B2 (2019), a student thesis film directed by Francois Bittar. I remember Wafa noticing how shy and anxious I was assisting the film crew on set. From there she introduced herself to me and right from that very moment she took me under her wing and taught me so much about filmmaking.
Throughout my focus in film at Woodbury, I had the pleasure to collaborate with Wafa on a couple of student projects that have taught me so much about production and post-production. She is someone I look up to and If it wasn’t for Wafa, I wouldn’t have the confidence and experience to be where I am today. Wafa graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Art’s Degree in Filmmaking & since then she has worked on a variety of projects in the entertainment industry. This week I had the honor to sit down and catch-up with her career, her time at Woodbury & talking about her current role as an Editor for the marketing team on the final season of Stranger Things!
Throughout my focus in film at Woodbury, I had the pleasure to collaborate with Wafa on a couple of student projects that have taught me so much about production and post-production. She is someone I look up to and If it wasn’t for Wafa, I wouldn’t have the confidence and experience to be where I am today. Wafa graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Art’s Degree in Filmmaking & since then she has worked on a variety of projects in the entertainment industry. This week I had the honor to sit down and catch-up with her career, her time at Woodbury & talking about her current role as an Editor for the marketing team on the final season of Stranger Things!
How are you? What have you been up to since Graduation?
“I’ve been doing well, I’ve been very busy with work because I am currently working with the marketing team on Stranger Things, Season 4! So, at this current time, things are dropping like trailers, and on their Instagram TV. So it's been very much like go go go, like more content, more videos. But I really liked that because that's how I was trained to operate especially because I first started out as a Production Assistant (PA) for this really crazy show, Westworld. It was one of the most hardest things I think I'll ever do in my life. It was one of the most challenging jobs ever. Even though everything is very much like a sprint right now, it's been very manageable. We do have certain videos coming out on YouTube that the fans are going to love, which will get the crowd warmed up for May 27.
“I’ve been doing well, I’ve been very busy with work because I am currently working with the marketing team on Stranger Things, Season 4! So, at this current time, things are dropping like trailers, and on their Instagram TV. So it's been very much like go go go, like more content, more videos. But I really liked that because that's how I was trained to operate especially because I first started out as a Production Assistant (PA) for this really crazy show, Westworld. It was one of the most hardest things I think I'll ever do in my life. It was one of the most challenging jobs ever. Even though everything is very much like a sprint right now, it's been very manageable. We do have certain videos coming out on YouTube that the fans are going to love, which will get the crowd warmed up for May 27.
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Has the pandemic affected your workflow/plans? If so, how?
“We went to the pandemic, March 2020. So February 2020, I went to Starbucks to meet up with this person that someone hooked me up with for a job. I was supposed to work on Venom 2. I was literally fired on the spot to be a Production Assistant (PA) for Venom 2. Then, the pandemic hit. I was unemployed for a year, which was really difficult. |
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Still Photograph of Amelie played by Angelee Vera, Benicio (2019)
You shot your thesis film 'Benicio' back in 2018, could you tell us a little bit about your story. How was that experience looking back?
“It's inspired by a Spanish poem my mom read when she was in high school. She told me the story and it's a doctor who comes to this family to see a little boy who is dying and this little girl is told by the doctor that when the leaves fall, that's when he's going to pass away. Metaphorically, he meant he was going to die in the winter. The little girl took it literally when she sews the leaves on the tree to prevent her brother from dying which is very sad. When my mom told me that story, I always remembered it. I actually wrote a script for it my sophomore year and then I wasn't actually going to make it my thesis. I was actually going to make a different true story of this but I already have a script of Benicio. I'm just gonna make it".
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“It's inspired by a Spanish poem my mom read when she was in high school. She told me the story and it's a doctor who comes to this family to see a little boy who is dying and this little girl is told by the doctor that when the leaves fall, that's when he's going to pass away. Metaphorically, he meant he was going to die in the winter. The little girl took it literally when she sews the leaves on the tree to prevent her brother from dying which is very sad. When my mom told me that story, I always remembered it. I actually wrote a script for it my sophomore year and then I wasn't actually going to make it my thesis. I was actually going to make a different true story of this but I already have a script of Benicio. I'm just gonna make it".
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"I did not like pre-production, I did not like the meetings. I failed my three week out meeting because I didn't do it right. Xiao (thesis instructor) just left within the first five minutes and I was like, 'I'm not gonna make this film'. But we rescheduled it and we did it right. I had my binder which is the size of five different Bibles. I remember the first day of shooting, I threw up when I woke up in the morning. I said to myself, I can't make it, do it without me. I was super sick through the whole shoot. Honestly, It was a blur because I was falling asleep. I don't know why? I was sleeping fine, I just needed more rest. But it was my story, my script, my thesis, so I had to direct it. All the actors, my friends and families were there. I had to step it up, you know what I mean? It was a good experience for that."
Any advice for upcoming Woodbury students who will shoot their thesis this fall?
“I do have something, Imagine what you want to shoot and don't let anyone change it. Take a walk and think about how you want to shoot it. You have to tell people that's how you're gonna shoot it because otherwise everyone's gonna put their nose in it. Picture it in your head and make that happen, that's my advice”.
“I do have something, Imagine what you want to shoot and don't let anyone change it. Take a walk and think about how you want to shoot it. You have to tell people that's how you're gonna shoot it because otherwise everyone's gonna put their nose in it. Picture it in your head and make that happen, that's my advice”.
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Do you have any advice for any artist making their way in the industry?
“I have one and it's a really important lesson that I learned from working on certain projects. I dealt with egos and everyone thought they were the s***. When they really weren't and if I had to give advice, 'Don't take everything personally' because if you do you're just going to be in a hole. To give an example during the pandemic when I was having a really difficult time. One of my supervisors, Morgan said 'I don't even know why we pay you. I don't know why you're on our payroll, you got to step it up blah, blah, blah'. I'm in my apartment in the middle of a pandemic, 'What do you mean, step it up?' I definitely took it personally and it was not healthy. Learn not to take things so personally. If someone's being like that just remember who you are, where you are, and where you came from. Don't get caught up in it because then you'll end up looking like Morgan. Just be nice to people. |
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