When it comes to student success, nobody does it better than Diamond Perkins. This Southern California native completed her A.A. in Digital Media and will finish her B.A. in 2023. She’s an entrepreneur and author, and we recently had the good fortune to catch up with her.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your FIDM experience: I’m heading into the last quarter of my Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Cinema. I love film and T.V. and having the ability to learn the industry with hands-on experience is unbeatable. FIDM not only gave me amazing skills to create a film from start to finish, it opened many doors for me. I began working toward my A.A. in Digital Media in 2019, and when I look back over the last few years, I see nothing but growth. I have been working full-time as a Digital Media Artist for FIDM Fashion Club for a few months now and I absolutely love it. I have also had the opportunity to serve as an assistant editor on a few projects for FIDM Productions.
You are also an author and entrepreneur. How do you balance it all? Notepads and the calendar are my friends. I work hard on prioritizing and scheduling properly, but I also schedule moments for rest, too. Balancing school, writing, and work aren’t too difficult because I do love what I do.
What is your proudest accomplishment so far? This is slightly unrelated to FIDM and creativity, but I started running this year and training for marathons. I never thought I could do it; one mile seemed taxing, let alone twenty-six miles and some change. I have an amazing friend from FIDM who invited me to join her and now we’ll be completing our first marathon this month.
What has been your biggest challenge and how did you conquer it? Working on my documentary this quarter, on top of everything I am doing now. There is so much that goes into making a film, especially when you are relying on other people and working with their schedules. I am conquering it with the help of my classmates and instructors. This is something you absolutely cannot do alone.
What are your career goals and how is FIDM helping you get there? I am currently working my first creative job with FIDM as a Digital Media Artist, which has been amazing and I am so grateful for this opportunity. In the future, I plan to work as an editor in television for long-form content like House of Dragons or Westworld.
What advice would you offer someone who is interested in pursuing a career in digital media? Firmly hold onto your dreams and passions, because it is easy to get distracted or stuck along the way. If you let it drive you and work hard, you can do anything.
Anything else you’d like to share, such as hobbies or new obsessions? Right now running is exciting for me; I used to run track but those were short distances. I was never good at running long distances or doing much distance, and now that I am making great improvements it makes me so happy.
Learn more about studying Digital Media and Digital Cinema at FIDM.
