For Sequeira, the past few years have not only been incredibly busy, but astonishingly successful, as her work in a variety of formats has gained worldwide attention. Most recently Sequeira worked as the editor on the music video for songstress Katie Burden's "My Blind Eye," the award-winning film Nothing Funny About a Clown in Love, as well as the assistant editor on the multi-award winning feature film East Side Sushi. Sequeira also work as an editor with Oct28 Productions where she edited a long list of promotional videos for Rams Gate Winery, Magnolia Brewery, Off The Grid and others.
Originally from Costa Rica, Sequeira discovered her love for editing, often referred to as the "invisible art," in her youth. She recalls, "When I was 13 I saw a video my brother had put together with iMovie and I was so amazed by the whole process of how he made it that I couldn’t wait to make one of my own. Ever since that glorious day when I discovered iMovie I’ve been in love with editing and I continue to be amazed at the vast possibilities of the medium."
After spending her youth shooting and editing her own videos, Estefania Sequeira took her skillset to the next level several years ago when she attended San Francisco's Academy of Art University where she received a BFA in Motion Pictures and Television.
Sequeira says, "One of the most valuable things I think an education can offer is it can provide you with a strong foundation to have the flexibility to adapt to any of the tools available."
Estefania Sequeira's flexibility as an editor provides her with the ability to bring captivating stories to life regardless of the genre and, it is this flexibility that separates her from most other editors in Hollywood. While many editors get pigeonholed into working in a specific genre early on in their careers, Sequeira has made it a point to take on projects that add diversity to her repertoire.
A few years ago when Sequeira was living in San Francisco, she shot, edited and produced a documentary on a local black and white photography magazine entitled Dust. The documentary, which screened during an art exhibition at San Francisco's Book & Job Gallery, captured the edgy nature of the photography included in the magazine as well as the magazine's creators' passion for black and white film. Combining the footage she shot of the magazine's photography with commentary from the creators, Sequeira did a brilliant job of creating an engaging story that takes viewers into the process of taking an issue from the beginning stages to completion.
Her work on Dust opened her eyes to a new genre of filmmaking. She explains, "My experience producing that documentary was what sparked my love for documentary filmmaking. I had so much fun filming it, I got invited into a world that was different and unfamiliar to me and I got a behind the scenes look into people's life and work."
Further diversifying her portfolio, Sequeira recently worked as the assistant editor on Anthony Lucero's multi-award winning feature film East Side Sushi.
"It was very fun to work with Anthony Lucero on this film, he wasn’t your typical director since he actually works as a VFX editor at Lucasfilm. I felt I was able to connect with him more as an editor and able to learn a lot from him," explains Sequeira.
East Side Sushi brings to life the story of Juana, a single mother who, through her years of experience working as a fruit-stand vendor, learned how to slice, dice and carve food at record speed. Needing a more stable job than the fruit-stand, Juana takes a job in the kitchen of a local Japanese restaurant where she is exposed to the magical world of sushi. Setting her sites on becoming a professional sushi chef, Juana is challenged by the fact that she is the wrong race and gender, which forces her to work even harder to attain her goal.
A testament to Sequeira's work and the rest of the team responsible for bringing the film to the screen, East Side Sushi did astonishingly well on the 2014 festival circuit taking home the Best Screenplay Award at the Napa Valley Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Narrative at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award at CAAMFest and the Audience Favorite Choice Award at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival. It is clear from the film's collective awards that audiences across America universally agree that "East Side Sushi" is one of the best films to have been released on the festival circuit in 2014.
To find out more about Estefania Sequeira's captivating work check out her website http://stefsequeira.com/ as well as her documentary Dust below.
DUST from Estefania Sequeira on Vimeo.