Operation EPIC 2024: A Week of Filmmaking and Fun

by Ana Torrico
in Production Blog
on July 22, 2024

Hello all,

Madeline here again with a quick update. In June of this year, I participated in some videography work at the Operation EPIC conference hosted by the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. This is an event dedicated to children of fallen special operations personnel to prepare them for the next steps after graduating from high school, in addition to several fun events as well.

I previously attended EPIC as a SOWF recipient after my sophomore year of high school, and while I had doubts about it at first (being a teenager back then), I left the event with plenty of useful knowledge that I have acquired from the different events and lectures throughout the week that would be useful in life, not just related to college.

Having also interned with Poor Bear during the summer of 2022 at EPIC with still photography, this time was a big step up from the last. During the week-long event, I was tasked with grabbing plenty of footage and b-roll footage of various highlights throughout the event, such as the students being engaged throughout the lectures and activities, highlights from the wonderful Peter van Buskirk, the main speaker of the event, as well as SOWF staff and other guest speakers. In addition, I was also able to grab plenty of footage from different activities such as bowling and dinner at Splitsville, a dinner cruise with the StarShip Yacht, a campus tour and scavenger hunt at UT, and a grad panel hosted by EPIC’s mentors. Lastly, I assisted in setting up portraits and student testimonials on the final day of the event.

Overall, it was a busy but interesting experience. Getting to hone and grow my skills and talents as I continue to be involved in these kinds of events was super helpful for me and will further my development as a filmmaker.

I’ll also be in Tampa soon for the College to Career Transition conference, which SOWF also hosts. It will most certainly be a change of tempo due to it being a more formal and thorough environment. I hope that this other event will be a great experience as well!