Hello
My name is Tori Smith, and I am a senior digital filmmaking major at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. I started How They Made It because there is no one right way to become a filmmaker, but from talking to people in the industry, I have learned some great techniques that I think deserve to be shared with other up-and-coming filmmakers.
My Story
My passion for filmmaking started in the world of theatre. I started performing in sixth grade and continued throughout middle and high school. My senior year of high school I was given the opportunity to direct an original one-act play, and I found I was much more passionate about the behind-the-scenes aspects of storytelling rather than performance. I was set to be a theatre major at UCCS that fall, but a world-wide pandemic altered my plans and led me to take a gap year as I waited to see what higher education, and more broadly, the world, would like like after a series of lockdowns. In fall of 2021, I started at UCCS but I had changed my major to digital filmmaking. In my time in college, I was given the opportunity to be the show runner for Season 10 of the campus anthology television show The Bluffs, work on film races, and develop my own short films. I found a true passion in creating television content, and after graduation I hope to pursue a career in television writing.