fiori carmen
Written by: Maria Murphy
Multi-hyphenate doesn’t begin to describe Fiori Carmen. Actress, athlete, content creator, cinematographer, director, screenwriter, and kind soul, she truly does it all. I was lucky enough to interview her, as she is an alumna of Loyola Marymount’s production program. Fiori grew up in a small town, Huizen, 35 minutes outside of Amsterdam, which, for the Netherlands, was a significant difference. Fiori’s central artistic influence was her father, a photographer. She said, “We had a photography studio at home, so I was always surrounded by cameras, but I thought that was normal.” She watched her father work and participated in test shoots as a model; Fiori was intrigued by how he began a dialogue between the actor, the photographer, and the camera. She elaborated, “He has such a good way of comforting people with his energy. He makes people feel safe on set.”
When Fiori was sixteen, she traveled to Los Angeles for a three-month acting course at the New York Film Academy. She was taking a wild risk, as she didn’t know English at the program's start. Fiori learned the language from studying monologues with fellow international actors. She soon became familiar with English in terms of emotion and expression, making her more curious about channeling these feelings into filmmaking. During her acting career, she realized she wanted to delve even deeper into directing. Fiori advised, “I think directors should take acting classes to understand how actors approach their characters and scenes. When working with actors, directors can understand how to communicate and collaborate better. It is their responsibility to create a safe environment for actors to lean into their own vulnerability. Often times, film can become very technical with blocking and lights/camera, so it helps to understand the actor's emotional world.”
Fiori balanced her love of outdoor sports and her hunger for continuing her acting studies in the U.S. Afterward, Fiori earned a field hockey scholarship at the University of Albany in order to study abroad. However, her time as a college athlete was not futile. During the interview, she recalled many similarities between playing on a team and working with a film crew. She learned that no matter who you're working with or what creative differences may be at play, you are on the same team. There is a mutual understanding that everyone is working together towards the final result and making it the best it can be. Filmmakers must find a way to position everyone in a space where everyone can exercise their creative strengths. She said, “This is the beauty and magic of both filmmaking and teamsport, it can never be done alone.”
When moving to the film industry in the U.S., Fiori noticed a difference in the film culture. In Amsterdam, every corner had an art-house movie theater filled with young people, which is hard to find in the States. Furthermore, she lamented that finding working filmmakers in Amsterdam was difficult and still is today. In Los Angeles, if you go to a coffee shop, you will likely meet someone who works in the film industry. Suddenly, she was surrounded by creatives with the same dreams. Their openness with their goals made Fiori’s ambitions seem reachable.
At LMU, she began her production MFA program, where she established meaningful connections on student film sets. She arrived with a lack of previous set experience, but was excited to learn. However, some filmmakers fostered an attitude that made her feel like she should know these techniques already. Fiori described, “...there was a lack of willingness to teach me because I was on projects, and that made me feel super insecure…” She recalled the increase in positive energy when working with women and queer filmmakers from all backgrounds who were willing to help her grow.
When the pandemic stalled her education, she took the opportunity to feed her film hunger and gain some much-needed confidence through creating TikToks. She recreated her cinematographic influences like Euphoria through short-form content, implementing transitions and lighting effects. She broke her cycle of perfectionism by focusing on a specific project for the amount of time needed, posting it, and moving on to the next. Fiori raved about the importance of creating without lingering, "You have got to be okay with the imperfections in it, and if you got what you needed, now you can move on to the next thing.” An LMU professor once told her to “make your first one million mistakes as soon as possible.”
Fiori took that mentality to TikTok and beyond. Fiori’s first short film after lockdown began with an email. A man online was a fan of her TikToks and soon offered his property in Big Sur if she ever needed a film location.
She didn’t have a script then but decided to write something inspired by this scenic plot of land. While she was initially skeptical, the man truly did have good intentions. Fiori has come to learn that trusting her intuition and reading people’s energy is important in the field. She recalled feeling genuine and positive energy from this person and got to know him more. Fiori marveled, "It’s crazy that people can be so giving and kind and want to genuinely support creatives without needing anything back. That’s very special.”
Self Care explored the complexity of manipulation. Her story follows a woman who owns a plot of land overgrown with human plants. These plants give her life, and she gives them life. But these humans were all coerced into becoming botanicals that require constant care. She tapped into the feelings of being manipulated and what manipulating must feel like, using techniques like framing close to the edge of frames. This headspace technique, drawn from films like Cold War or Ida, allowed for more breathing room with each symbolic shot. Collaborating with friend and cinematographer Jordan Breedlove helped enhance her visual style; Fiori said, “I think we understood each other without speaking.”
With the next film Fiori directed, titled Transpassing, she was able to use these collaboration methods with writer Danuta Janiszewski. Transpassing is about a trans man's first day on testosterone and exploring gender identity, what it means to be a man and what society might tell us what that means. She said, “With Transpassing it was such a great experience to direct something I didn’t write, and a story that I couldn’t have written, because then you have another voice, and you need to take that into consideration. it was such a great experience to direct something I didn’t write, and a story that I couldn’t have written, because then you have another voice, and you need to take that into consideration. It was such a great experience to direct something I didn’t write, and a story that I couldn’t have written, because then you have another voice, and you need to take that into consideration. I looked at the script from a different perspective. Danuta also has such a gift for combining their humor and vulnerability within a heart-touching story. The crew and cast was majorily queer, and the set felt like a safe space for all.” Balancing comedic timing and emotional moments allowed for plenty of creative camera work and movement. She elaborated, “This project was very heavy on camera movements and visual transitions, it was like a visual puzzle piece when creating the shotlist. We worked with cinematographer Amelia Asilis, who really turned the no's into yes’s of what we thought was even possible and accomplished. I was able to trust the crew so much with the challenging execution of the film.” Fiori and Danuta's innovative writing and directing duo was nominated at the Television Academy Drama College Awards, a perfect bookend for Fiori’s LMU experience. She met talented film students from every discipline imaginable over a weekend full of activities. These finalists were taken to FX, HBO, and CAA. Each entertainment entity gave insight into their vision for the next five years and what projects they would sign on to. Fiori’s main takeaway is, “I realized that they are all looking for something different...you just need to do you, and there is going to be a fit for you.”
Post-grad life is something Fiori, like many of us, is still getting used to. Navigating the industry today, where content creation and filmmaking are closely intertwined, has been a challenge. Fiori explained, "It’s not necessarily about quality anymore. How fast can you get it to us? How many views can you give us? So, I think the difficulty is finding the discipline and the focus to stay on the path you want to be on. It's about creating space for yourself to continue exploring your creative voice as a filmmaker.” Fiori mentioned her goal for the next year is to write and direct her own feature film. I know she will make it happen.
Finally, I asked her if she would like to thank anyone for supporting her on this journey. “My whole family is always important to me. My dad is someone who’s very similar to me, and I think growing up I didn’t have a ton of creativity around me, so him being that creative spirit has always helped me feel seen and understood.”