Award-winning filmmaker Léo Hamelin breaks down how to land your first nonfiction video job, build a strong portfolio, and stand out in a competitive industry. Learn how to secure paid gigs, navigate freelance vs. staff roles, and pitch your work with confidence. Léo shares firsthand insights on breaking into the field and creating impactful documentaries that get noticed.
Participants will leave this session with practical strategies to launch their careers, find opportunities, and bring their stories to a wider audience.
Léo Hamelin is a journalist and documentary filmmaker based in New York. Most recently, she was the Head of Documentaries at Brut. America, where she led a small team to create impactful, social documentaries across the United States. Léo's work is immersive and aims to create empathy through intimate, first-person accounts. She created 30 short docs about addiction, death, porn, immigration and the environment, reaching millions of viewers worldwide. She previously worked at Blue Chalk Media as a Director/Producer. She has produced work for Netflix, Al Jazeera, BBC, Time, Vox, The New York Times. Her short-doc "Quiet No More' was published in The New Yorker and was awarded a National Magazine Award. Léo regularly teaches at Columbia’s Journalism School.
