Board Member Spotlight: Ilanna Barkusky

Ilanna is an internationally awarded commercial director, filmmaker and photographer. Through her work, she looks to elevate and explore at the intersection of dynamic movement and inspiring storytelling. She is passionate about being involved in the creative community, as a member of the board of directors for The One Club For Creativity San Diego, as well as judging for the ADC Awards and One Awards. Her first and second short films have screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals including San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFilm) and AmDocs. She was named a silver winner for New Director of the Year in 2024 by shots. 

Q: This has been a big year for you! What have you been up to?

A: The year has been such a blur. I’ve been working on commercials and short films - both documentary and narrative, and I’ve been attending film festivals.

Q: Can you tell us more about your upcoming short films?

A: They are still on the festival circuit right now, but hopefully they will be released online in the fall. They are two short documentaries. “Don’t Look Down” is about an athlete with hearing loss and “Take Me to The Ocean” is about an underwater photographer that works with cancer and trauma survivors. Both were filmed last summer.

Q: What inspired you to create short films?

A: I attended SXSW in 2023 and got to see all the wonderful films that premiered there and meet the crews behind the films. I recruited those people to work on projects I wanted to do. One of the subjects - the sports documentary - is a friend of mine, but the other documentary focuses around a topic that I wanted to explore. We searched for the right person to tell that story in that instance. Now I’m doing a dance film and narrative since I wanted to try that as well.

Q: “Don’t Look Down” was filmed in San Diego. Can you discuss the themes and messages you aimed to convey through the film?

A: We shot it at the Chula Vista Athlete Training Center and some other areas around San Diego like the Gliderport and the outskirts of the training center right by the border. There are some beautiful nature spots around there, Otay Lakes. The Training Center has gone through multiple owners and now the city of Chula Vista owns it so there are some Olympic programs that still train there but because the city owns it there are parts of it that are open to the public. It’s state of the art and so beautiful.

“Don’t Look Down” was about challenging our preconceived notions of success, approaching success in a more nonlinear way, and celebrating the wins along the way as opposed to an ultimate goal. Basically embracing the process instead of a given result.

Q: Can you talk about any interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes or moments that occurred during filming?

A: The athlete that we were following was trying to find her way while shooting, so we ended up filming her first race in the track meet, the 800 meters. We had this idea for our story which was "Don’t Look Down” and pursuing what you’re going through no matter what’s happening around you. As it happens in the filming process, things pop up and you have to embrace it and keep going. For the most part it was smooth, but she was also in the process of figuring out which events she wanted to compete in going forward and we got to document those beginnings, which was exciting.

Q: From taking home an ADC Cube to jetting off to Cannes, you are having an exciting 2024! What has been the highlight so far?

A: That’s so tough. Probably winning silver for shots New Director of the Year for North and South America in May. I really admire a lot of the directors that have won that over the last few years. They’ve gone on to do really incredible things in their career, and it’s already led to some really cool opportunities to work with and talk to new people. It has opened a lot of doors.

Q: How was Cannes?

A: It was good. Extremely overwhelming. It was crazy to see that many people internationally in one place. I’ve never been at an event before that had the entire community globally represented in every type of event and meet up. It was one-of-a-kind. Nothing compares to it. It was too humid for me [laughs].

Q: What have you been working on for The One Club for Creativity?

A: I went to the ADC Awards and Creative Summit. I got to the Summit because I judged the ADC Awards. The Summit was really inspiring to be in a room with the leaders of the industry and listen in on community discussions. It felt very community-oriented and I found it very inspiring, had a lot of takeaways, and made some good connections. 

The ADC Awards were great. I was judging for photo and I won a Cube for film as well. We got on a Zoom for four hours to discuss. Judging is great. I got a lot out of that and would definitely do that again. It’s very international. We got on at 6AM because of New York, but there were people from overseas and UK, China, Taiwan, wherever else. It’s cool to have a global meeting of the minds of 20 people in a room discussing creative work that’s the best work in the world that year. 

Q: How do you go about finding your next project?

A: My next project that I’m working on right now is a narrative film that I wrote from personal experience. I took the inspiration that I had gathered from the documentary and the insight into the filmmaking process and I wrote a 5 page script that I wanted to shoot. That was shaped from things I had been through before and wanted to explore on screen. 

Q: Can you share what it’s about?

A: It’s about a surfer and the metaphor of waves as it pertains to life. You can either ride the wave or the wave is crashing down on you. It’s a short exploration of surfing as this vehicle to how we interpret life’s challenges.

Q: When you’re not working, what are we most likely to find you doing?

A: Right now I literally do work all the time, but I have shot a lot of stuff at the Gliderport. I just shot there again. I love it. It’s my happy nook in San Diego. Not so much the nude beach [laughs], but there are other parts of that area that are so gorgeous. I love Torrey Pines.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers?

A: Definitely I would say that filmmaking can be done independently. You don’t need to wait around for anyone to tell you to do it. This film we made because I decided I wanted to make it and that was it. Any film can be shot on the weekends or whenever you have spare time. If you want to make films, grab a bunch of your friends, make a crew, and get out there and start filming. Find a story that inspires you or that you’re looking to tell, whether narratively you want to shape that story yourself or if there’s someone you want to shine a light on, through the filmmaking process you have the ability to showcase anyone in your life that you think deserves that shine.

Q: What’s next for you?

A: I’m trying to work on film TV projects at the same time as commercials. Whatever commercials I can direct will be what’s upcoming, and also getting into writing feature length scripts and still pushing things on my filmmaking side of my career with the shorts and writing longer scripts that I can eventually start the process of finding people to get excited about them. It’s an 8 year process usually to make a film. 

The reason you make shorts is to gain buzz to move them into longer form projects or other things. Don’t Look Down is eight minutes, so it’s more like a proof of concept of something longer. The way it was shot, trying to appeal commercially as well with production value and the artistry behind it.

Feature-length films are my goal. In the last few months, I’ve met people in Hollywood, successful directors, who have films coming out right now. There has never been a better time. I have so much support and the network and need to strike on it.