Meet an AWC Alum: Tulica Singh

Learn about one of our past AWC alumni from Class of 2016, Tulica Singh, who directed the short film "Family Portrait." 

The Armed With a Camera Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists has opened its call for Fellows for its 2017-2018 cycle. Applications are due October 6, 2017. For submission guidelines and more info, click here.

What’s been keeping you busy? How has life been after AWC? What projects are you currently working on right now?
I'm developing a couple of pilot scripts, and working as an editor at Whohaha, Elizabeth Banks' female focused digital channel. Also doing some freelance directing. Life has been up and down. A lot of promises that don’t come through. And random opportunities you never expect. Learning a lot. I just finished my first freelance commercial, and I’m working on a few sketches to shoot outside of my job.

How did you first hear about AWC? What made you decide to apply?
I learned from being a part of a summer series screening. A fellow screener had made their film through AWC and it was great! They loved the program and suggested I apply.

Tell us, how has the program experience challenged your filmmaking process?
I made a documentary that was about a serious subject. It was very close to me and was extremely hard to screen because I felt it was not as good as it could have been. I wanted to do my family justice, and I don’t think I did. I mostly do irreverent comedy, but the program got me over the hump of putting something serious out there.

How did it feel to be a part of the AWC Fellowship - working amongst AAPI filmmakers?
I felt like the conversations were something I was missing, that I didn’t even know I was missing. I felt understood. It was not directly about race, but more about the lens through which the world is seen, and the way we are seen in it.

Who do you think would benefit most of the AWC Fellowship?
I think someone willing to take a big risk. Someone ready to be creative, without an ego, and willing to listen to others.

What did it mean to you to have your film premiered at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival?
I was very proud of the other fellows, their films were amazing. I was intensely nervous screening my film. I have screened at other festivals, and at LAAPFF before. But at those festivals, I was not as close to the material as my AWC film, and I was more in my comfort zone. However, the venue we screened the AWC films at was amazing, and the support from the fellows and the program got me through it and more!

The Armed With a Camera Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists has opened its call for Fellows for its 2017-2018 cycle. Applications are due October 6, 2017. For submission guidelines and more info, click here.