“I grew up making films with my friends, just running around with a camera and filming whatever we saw,” the 2019 CWU Film Studies alumnus said. “Having the opportunity to learn about the equipment and the process from my dad was huge, too.”

Fellow Film Studies alum and now-wife Sierra Sarino found her way into the field through inspiration from an iconic film franchise.

“I knew I wanted to do film the first time I saw the behind-the-scenes footage of The Lord of the Rings,” she said. “Everyone looked like they were having a great time, and I was drawn to the technical aspects of it as well.”

Sierra (’18) grew up in Kent and was looking at film schools in California and Hawaii, but she ultimately decided on CWU after receiving some advice from former Department Chair
John Ward.

Her decision to enroll at Central came down to a desire to stay closer to home, and the ability to connect more deeply with her instructors via CWU’s relatively small class sizes.

“The instructors at Central were really pivotal for me,” she said. “There’s something really special in the ability to connect with them, and it would have been a completely different experience if I didn’t have that access.”

Julian’s experience with the program mirrored his wife’s. While he was happy to be able to talk to his professors at eye level about their shared passion for film, what caught him off-guard was the ready availability of the tools of the trade.

“It was amazing how quickly we were able to get started and get our hands on some professional-grade equipment,” he said. “In my first year at CWU, I had the opportunity to work on multiple sets, which was kind of a pivotal moment for me. Being able to taste every aspect of film production in a professional setting, and then being able to bring that with me into my classes, was really helpful, and it let me make the most of both sides of the program.”

Julian and Sierra met through the film program and eventually got married in March of last year. All the while, they have built on the successful film careers they began at CWU, where they both honed their skills and developed their portfolios.

For Julian, his work with Hype magazine was a treasured source of experience during his college career.

“By the time I graduated, I felt like I already had a couple of years of experience under my belt, thanks to my work with Hype, as well as student media,” he said. “Sierra and I always enjoyed working together when a project came up, too.”

Sierra found working on the Student Fashion Show to be an invigorating way to merge her cinematography expertise with an in-person event, shooting video on site and then incorporating it into the background of the Apparel, Textiles, and Merchandising department’s annual creative showcase.

“Going out to different locations and putting together a variety of packages for them gave me some real breadth of experience,” she said. “Seeing it all culminate in the fashion show itself, and getting to film that for posterity with our video packages playing in the background, was a fun, layered experience of my work taking on a life of its own.”

To round out their time at CWU, film majors are tasked with putting together a professional-grade short film that will be screened for their classmates and mentors at a year-end film festival. Sierra has fond memories of the event, and the collaboration with her peers that led up to the big day.

“When we were doing our senior films, everyone treated it as a professional project, with professional roles on set,” she said. “Getting to call myself ‘cinematographer’ for a couple of projects and really feel like I was shooting it myself and making it my own, that was pretty empowering. The fact that I got to do it with some of my best friends was amazing, too.”

Following graduation, Julian and Sierra ran a small Ellensburg film business called Media Pending for about a year, until an opportunity at DigiPen led Julian to move to Redmond. Sierra joined him on the west side, and ever since, the two up-and-coming filmmakers have followed the work, branching out into a variety of businesses before settling in San Francisco in 2022.

“One thing I took away from film school is that there are many more ways to be in the film business than just working in Hollywood,” said Julian, who now works as the multimedia manager at the University of San Francisco. “There are so many creative applications for the medium. I enjoy marketing and producing creative content that serves an end goal, so I’ve really enjoyed my career so far. Being in San Francisco, there are so many incredibly creative people around.”

As Julian and Sierra settle into their lives as professional filmmakers in the Bay Area, they know they have a bright future ahead.

“Having found our footing, it’s nice to look a few years ahead and see that we’ll be able to continue doing the kind of creative work that we love,” said Sierra, who is currently using her talents as Senior Video Director at drone manufacturer Skydio. “Whether it’s marketing or documentary work — or something we don’t even see coming — I know we’re prepared for whatever lies ahead.”