Millions of people worldwide watch movies and TV shows every day, but very few can say that they have worked on them.
After Mr. Mejia’s well-deserved retirement at the end of the last academic school year, Chandler High welcomed one of our own to fill the new role. Meet Ms. Julia Vollaro, the newest multimedia and film teacher here on campus.
While attending Chandler High School, Ms. Vollaro always loved film and decided to become a film editor for her future profession.
“I started doing film stuff in junior high school and going into high school. I wanted to work in film, and Chandler High allowed me to pursue that passion,” she stated in a recent interview.
Vollaro attended Scottsdale Community College to earn a degree in filmmaking and then Arizona State University to continue her studies in the art of film with a bachelor’s degree. She built an impressive portfolio of her time in Hollywood as an editing assistant for the Warner Brothers marketing group, working on hit shows such as “Young Sheldon,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Ted Lasso.” During her time in Hollywood, Vollaro also worked on a lot of promotional content for HBO Max, as well as collaborating with international partners for Warner Bros. Her favorite project she worked on was the Warner Bros. 100th anniversary event, given all the rich history of television and movies produced by that studio. In addition to her commercial film work, Vollaro was also simultaneously working on indie projects such as the award-winning short film “Breakfast at the Saloon” and many more as an editor.
“Film was my life, and it still is my life. Whether I’m behind a camera or a computer screen working on a film, you will always find me doing something with film,” she told us.
As the new Multimedia and Film instructor, Ms. Vollaro teaches the ins and outs of filmmaking, ranging from recording to editing and everything in-between. She also manages the production of Wolf News and its studio. Outside of school, she continues to edit on the side and is currently working on a hush-hush project that she cannot disclose to us just yet! She also loves to edit films for non-profit organizations or film festival features.
On a more personal note, Ms. Vollaro’s favorite films of all time are “Inception” by Christopher Nolan, “Eight and a Half” by Federico Fellini, and “The Shining” by Stanley Kubrick, which she considers cinematic masterpieces. She also told us that her favorite celebrity interaction was with Frankie Muniz, the star of “Malcolm in the Middle,” while she was working on an indie film at the former Arizona attraction Big Surf.
Vollaro has these words for students who want to work in film one day: “It’s tough to be an artist, and sometimes you just have to push through things.” However, she reminds us, “Don’t do it by yourself. You have got to find your crew. Nobody can do it all by themselves.”
You can find Ms. Vollaro in the CTE building; she always encourages students to take her Multimedia and film classes.
