Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1469942
44 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2022 We all recognize the hum of a helicopter's blades slicing through the sky. It's something that most of us are used to, right? Now imagine getting used to an air raid siren. Picture that surreal noise becoming a part of your daily routine to the point that you just stop reacting to it—you stop going to the bomb shelter. Why so reckless? Because "it might just be another false alarm" or "it'll probably miss home again" or you are "too tired to walk seven flights of stairs a couple times a day." These are the quotes my mother told me after the first week of the war in Ukraine. She was trying to explain something that I, luckily, never experienced before and hopefully never will. I was born in 1993, right after the USSR collapsed, in the free independent country Ukraine. I studied journalism in Poland and, during summertime, I would go back to my hometown to work as a local news correspondent. You see, being able to study abroad and travel to Europe was very much an "eye-opening" experience. When I'd go back home and see all the unfairness my own people would go through, my heart would ache. I needed to do something. So I started writing blogs, attending demonstrations and protests, finding likeminded people to unite, and hopefully help our country fight the internal enemy. It happened right before the revolution that took place in the end of 2013. During those years, I was getting more into film craft and understanding the possibilities of the art form—the way you can interact with the audience, communicate with them. Speaking your mind is as subjective as it is liberating. It's up to the viewers to agree or to disagree after all. I didn't feel that my message ever went far enough in journalism, so I started working in film. Parallel with that, I started to have a lot of problems with the government of my country. They did not take kindly to all of the protests over as quaint an idea as "free speech." Pfff who needs that anyway? Things got so bad that in 2015, I had to leave Ukraine to protect my freedoms, liberty, and probably even my life. I was forced to seek political asylum in the U.S. It took about three years of travels across America for me to experience life here and to have some solid integration into the local society. I knew eventually I'd have to end up in LA. All of my goals were there. As I would explain it to my friends, "Yes, you can make films anywhere, but why hit blood vessels if you can target the heart?" And so the pursuit of the big dream began. Targeting the heart of the industry was a bit of a long and difficult process. As is the case for most of us, I started as a PA, working for free, chasing coffee, driving trucks, and taking out the garbage. I worked on a lot of college and passion projects until my first big breakthrough—reality television! I booked my first solid big gig after almost a year of trying to break in—the overnight success—PA on an MTV reality show. I was proud of myself. Though it may not have been exactly what I aspired to, I now had a massive opportunity to network and develop contacts. And so I did. From Ukraine to the Final Frontier: The Story of Vadym Medvediuk