Kelly Santos ’19 understands how a movie comes together in editing.
Every choice an editor makes in piecing together the film’s footage shapes and tells the story. Santos, who is completing her self-designed Film Studies major through the Whittier Scholars Program (WSP), has earned a wealth of hands-on experience—on campus and off—that’s prepared her to help other filmmakers tell their stories.
She gained much of that experience through Video Production Studios (VPS), a student club that produces creative and promotional videos at Whittier College. She joined as a first-year and jumped on any project she could, excited for the opportunities to learn new skills, experiment, and grow as an editor. After years of dedication, she’s now club president.
She credits VPS with much of her experiential education, and her film classes for sparking her love and appreciation for a wide variety of cinema. Every time she sits down to edit a video, her classes inform her deepening understanding of the many ways that moments can weave together into a complete story.
“Editing is really a second way of telling the story,” Santos said. “That’s where it really comes together and it can really shift or change a story.”
Besides leading VPS, Santos is already working in the industry as a freelance editor for Avenida Productions, where she interned last summer. The Burbank production company supports independent filmmakers of color, women, and others overlooked by bigger studios. As their intern, Santos edited pitch videos, worked on their crowdfunding campaigns, and helped edit a documentary that they want to submit to the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
“It was really hands-on every day that I was there,” she said. “What attracted me to that internship in particular is that the people who are in charge are Latino, just like I am, and I liked that they took initiative to create a way for filmmakers to make their films, even when they encounter obstacles… There has to be avenues for people to make their films and to get their word out there.”
Back on campus, she’s busy helming a video series to introduce WSP’s new senior projects database. Santos is directing, shooting, and editing the series (her favorite project thus far) with her dedicated team of fellow students.
Working closely alongside the team at VPS, she also found a community to call her own.
“I was like, ‘This was my place,’ especially as a commuter,” Santos said. “It helps me feel connected to campus in a way that I never thought would be possible.”
