Palo Alto High School and Gunn High School Media Teacher Ed Corpuz shares his perspective of teaching film amidst a pandemic, his background in filmmaking before teaching at PAUSD, and his advice for future filmmakers.

According to Corpuz, his plan was never to become a filmmaker or work in film.

“A lot of students assume that I went to film school,” Corpuz said. “My background is in corporate communications and marketing…Prior to becoming a teacher, I worked for a large tech company in the South Bay.”

Corpuz says his interest in teaching was sparked when he became a teaching assistant for an undergraduate economics course, but he did not consider it as a career path until an opportunity opened up with the Palo Alto Unified School District.

“They were looking for somebody to start the video production and broadcast program at Gunn, and I thought it was such a great opportunity,” Corpuz said.

Now, with fourteen years of teaching media behind him, Corpuz offers this piece of aspiring advice for future filmmakers.

“We have the opportunity to tell stories every single day, through the phones that we have and the cameras that we have,” Corpuz said. “Try to include media creation in everyday life. It could just be capturing what you do with your family at home. You can practice a lot of technical skills… composition, camera movement.”

Hear more about what Corpuz has to say by watching the full video below: