Meet Victorya Cintra

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Victorya Cintra. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Victorya , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

My acting teacher, Jim Jarrett, always says “Be inspired by great work, not intimidated by it.” I have always really resonated with this idea, especially when it comes to how I fuel my creativity. I am constantly reading, watching movies and shows, listening to music, really anything that tells a good story. I love leaving a theater or putting down a book and feeling absolutely moved by a piece of work. I always end up using that feeling as motivation to continue my own work.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a filmmaker and actress based in the Bay Area. I actually never imagined I would work in the film industry, especially as an actress. When I was younger I was interested in politics which led to me to the University of Virginia, where I majored in international politics. However, since a young age, I loved reading and storytelling. I was never without a book in hand. For a bit, I considered also majoring in creative writing. But then I joined the Filmmakers Society at the university, and the rest was history. I fell in love with the collaborative effort of putting together a story visually; that I could pull an idea from my head and see it come to life on a screen. I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

After college, I interned and later worked at a few production companies, where I learned the ropes of the business and determined specifically what it was I wanted to do, which was to write and direct. In the summer of 2022, I directed my first short film; it was the most exhausting, difficult process I’ve ever gone through but it was also incredibly rewarding.

I fell into acting around the same time. I had read that good directors are often actors themselves in some capacity. That made sense to me; how can you tell someone what to do if you’ve never really done it yourself? I started taking my first class and quickly caught the acting bug. Three years later, I am so privileged and grateful to have worked in front of the camera. Not only have I a found a profound love for it, but it has undoubtedly made me a better director.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

resilience, confidence, and drive

I think one of the most important qualities to have as a filmmaker and/or actor is resilience. This is such a hard business to be in and you have to get comfortable with the fact that you’re going to get the door slammed in your face all the time. But you have to keep knocking. It’s definitely easier said than done and it’s something I am constantly working on.

Having confidence in yourself and your work is another critical skill in my opinion. At the beginning of your career, you really only have yourself in your corner which can be hard. But if you don’t believe in yourself, then no one else will. People and collaborators are attracted to confidence, so if you put yourself forward confidently (even if you don’t always feel it), people will start to believe in you as well.

I think having a strong inner drive is crucial as well. Becoming skilled at something takes so much discipline and focus. I think this goes hand in hand with resilience as well because you have to really really want something in order to continue doing it despite so much rejection and hardship. If you have a strong inner drive and are truly passionate about your path, then the speed bumps along the way are a bit easier to handle.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

Having a community of creative people in my life has been invaluable. Not only are these the people you work and collaborate with, but they are also the ones that understand what it’s like to be stuck writing a scene or how it feels to completely blow an audition. They are the ones that pick you up when you feel down and encourage you to keep going. We’re also always teaching each other and sharing our experiences, along with helping one another network and grow. I remember once watching Ava DuVernay giving a speech and when asked about how she grew her career, she advised filmmakers to network horizontally; that is, try networking with the people close to where you are in your career instead of only trying to reach the people way higher up. You can find your most important collaborators this way (many artists have!) and then when one of you grows, the whole community is brought up.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @victoryacintra
• Other: cintravictorya@gmail.com