Student

Digital Cinema Student Working as a Post Production Intern

Diamond Perkins was born in Texas and raised in Southern California’s Inland Empire where she attended A.B. Miller High School. A dedicated storyteller since she was a child, Diamond authored two self-published books at the ages of nine and 16. After taking FIDM’s Career Quiz, she realized she wanted to study Digital Media to continue telling stories and was accepted into the Junior Advantage program. “My mom was a huge support for me during this process — even now, she’s still cheering me on,” said Diamond, who graduated from FIDM with her A.A. degree this year and is now pursuing a B.A. in Digital Cinema. She's also currently working as a post production intern at the nonprofit organization Advocates for Children and Youth. We chatted with her to learn more about her journey. 

How did you become interested in Digital Media/Digital Cinema? I have always loved creating and telling stories being a self-published author of Here I Am and Kid Problems. Then, as a film and TV show lover, I found that I too could bring stories to the screen. 

Tell us about your new role as a post production intern at Advocates for Children and Youth: I absolutely love it! They are a nonprofit organization based in Baltimore, Maryland that fights the issues children and youth face. I’m working on their podcast 1.6 and Counting. They feature youth, administrators, and other advocates to discuss the issues in Baltimore. 

What are you enjoying most about this position and why? I love hearing the stories and lessons. With each episode, I'm learning new topics and understanding someone else's perspective. 

How did FIDM help prepare you for your career? They gave me every single tool I needed to get started.

Any favorite FIDM lessons or memories? I want to talk about the project that I spent over 20 hours on and still did wrong. In my Compositing course, we had to remove a pole and some signs from a video. Me, not knowing how to do it, tried to do it frame-by-frame. Mind you, the project was maybe four to six seconds long, so anyone who knows about frames knows this was torture. Thank God my instructor Andy helped us figure it out because, man, I doubt that I would've gotten there on my own. At the moment, that was so stressful, but looking back now, I shake my head and laugh. I loved all of my classes, and I am thankful for all of my instructors. 

What are your ultimate career goals? I am going to edit for long-form TV shows one day. 

Anything else you'd like to share? At times things will get stressful, and you may feel like you're not good enough, but if you step back and remember your goal, you will get through it all and rise above. 

Keep up with Diamond on Instagram @diamondsaremylove.

Categories:  Digital Media Student