We recently connected with Laura Martinelli and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

I can speak directly to my high school experience on this one. I went a Big Picture Learning school called The Met school in Providence, Rhode Island, where their educational model is “one student at a time”. There are schools all over the country, and some internationally as well. Students attend internships in their desired fields 2-3 days a week, and the other 2-3 days they’re in advisory at school working on projects related to their interests. Having graduated from The Met, I completed six media-related internships and took college classes on filmmaking. All of this experience made me feel more confident choosing a major going into college, and prepared me to kickstart my video production service (Ehfar Films) at the age of 17, Giving students the ability to take control of their own learning promises deeper interest in school and a passion that is infectious. Everyone wants to follow their dreams, and starting in school allows for faith in the process to flourish. Personally, I’m going 12 years strong at this point with my business. To come full circle, I’ve been making docu-promotional videos to raise awareness about Big Picture Learning and all of its educational offerings.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I became a filmmaker and entered my industry by way of an entrepreneurship program ran by NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) at my high school. So I started young! We were learning about development of business plans, how to pitch in front of investors, etc. I ended up pitching my video production service to a panel of judges and won funding and was approached by an audience member, Paul LeBlanc (former President of Southern New Hampshire University), and was offered a full a scholarship on the spot. I continued on my path of filmmaking and videography at SNHU and continued to make humanistic promotional videos for businesses and organizations throughout college and beyond. I’m most proud of my travel videography work I did in Kigali, Rwanda, and all around the US for Big Picture Learning focusing on the leadership of educators of color and their fight for educational justice. My style is fly-on-the-wall and I enjoy discreetly operating in spaces in a way that makes people feel most comfortable on camera. This leads to a more personal feel, and I frequently end up forming close working relationships after collaborating with people!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Trusting that my perspective is unique and worthwhile, and effectively telling the stories of others’ because of that confidence. This allows me to fully lean into the moment and capture what’s happening in front of me without missing many beats. It’s only when I doubt myself that my work suffers. I bring this same self-assurance and attention to both my narrative film work and my documentary work as a videographer, and it pays off when the finished work honors the truth of each story.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Creative self-expression feels somewhat compulsive to me. It’s more of a “need” than a “want.” The goal has always been to help others feel less alone in this world, and I know I tend to gravitate toward people and organizations that value a sense of community in the same way. I knew when I was 7 years old that i wanted to be a writer and director and I just feel so grateful that my collaborators have trusted my vision and/or my ability to execute on theirs, whether that be through a fictional narrative film or a mission/vision documentary for an organization.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ehfarfilms.com
• Other: https://vimeo.com/lauramartinelli

Image Credits
Nick Deveau (headshot photo)