To be working on the production of Fast and Furious 8 was like a dream come true for the 8 students of Professor Cardenas. It was the perfect opportunity for them to see how it was to actually be part of the crew of an actual movie.
The opportunity came when one of Cardenas’ first students, Allie Toman, emailed him know that there were openings for production of the movie and that his students were more than welcome to join!
“I was glad that our alumni are reaching out to us!” Professor Cardenas says. “It’s a good reason to know you should never forget what you came from.” Like he says, the Falcon alumni are strong and always want to help!
Cardenas said the students were really excited about being given the opportunity. It didn’t even take them long to give their answers to the proposal after he emailed the students!
“In seconds, I just hit send and there are emails popping up already!” Cardenas said.
As the students got ready for working on Fast and Furious 8, Professor Cardenas gave them advice on being part of the crew by telling them to be work hard on the set, and if someone needed help with anything or needed something, they should do it right away.
While working with the producers, they usually became Personal Assistants. For example, A couple students had to handle crowd control, making sure pedestrians don’t walk onto the set while they are shooting dangerous scenes. That way, no one got hurt while the movie was being shot.
This could lead to some of the students finding out what they want to do. “With an experience like this you could be like, ‘Wow! This is what I want to do,’” Cardenas says. With all the work helping with the production, the students could possibly find out what they want to do in their future careers!
“What you learn working on production is teamwork, being self reliant, and asking questions,” Professor Cardenas on learning on how to work with the film production team. “It’s all about figuring yourself out about what you need to do.”
When asked if there would be a possibility of there being more opportunities like this in the future, Professor Cardenas said that there are many opportunities like this that could happen (especially up in Cleveland, where it is always a place for producing films.)
“We have a lot of BG alumni that have careers like this.” So as long as the students are willing to travel at the right time that there is an opening, there is always an opportunity.
