Johnny Santo Domingo: Creator of “Imagine” May Be a Dreamer, But He’s Not the Only One

Johnny Santo Domingo (Class of ’07, B.A., television arts/digital graphics) was awarded the first place Rosebud Award in the television category at the California State University 2007 Media Arts Festival, which was held November 2-4 at CSU Channel Islands. His entry, “Imagine,” which was partially filmed in the CSUDH Mac lab, depicts the creative process a student goes through in presenting a film project.

“It shows the whole process of storyboarding, conceptualization and finally executing it in a non-literal way,” Santo Domingo says. “All [our class] projects really help you develop those skills. In the TV project, we’re on location, shooting our own production, shooting, editing. With ‘Imagine’ being my last project here, I wanted to incorporate all those skills, so that I could use it in my portfolio.”

Santo Domingo continues to gain professional experience at his alma mater as a production manager in the campus’ Department of Digital Media Arts. In addition, he is building on his technical skills as an intern at Zoic Studio, a visual effects studio in Culver City.

“I help out the artists, doing runs for all the producers and soaking up all the information that’s passed around,” he says. “Ultimately, I want to direct. But, for now, I’m a compositor of visual effects. When you get a shot, there are usually multiple elements, like the live action, which you shoot with a camera. Then there are other elements, like for example, a book floating around, which has to be done digitally. I have to take all those elements and piece them all together to make them realistic.”

“One thing I’m working on now is developing a style,” he says. “A lot of my work is music-based and influenced by photography.”

The Media Arts Festival is intended to help students in the CSU system make a successful transition between producing films, video and interactive media in college classes and working in related industries. Finalists were judged by a panel of industry experts in the categories of narrative, documentary, television, animation, music video, interactive media, experimental, feature screenplay, and short screenplay.

Santo Domingo is grateful to his mentor, Michele Allan, professor of digital graphics and chair of the CSUDH art department.

“She’s a really big supporter, especially with this project,” he says. “It was my first time shooting on film, so we had to get a lot of insurance to be able to rent a film camera. She called on a lot of favors, including the support of the dean. I don’t think this really could have happened without her help.”

A $500 prize was awarded to Santo Domingo, and his talents also earned the Dominguez Hills art department a $250 prize. In 2006, he was also a Media Arts Festival finalist in the experimental, music video and television categories.

“It feels good [to win],” Santo Domingo enthuses. “I’ve never won anything in my life. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it, since there were 230 submissions in the entire festival. Knowing that and making it to the finals was pretty exciting.”

Fellow Dominguez Hills student, senior James Oda, was also a finalist in this year’s festival. His “Roll Real Slow” placed fifth in the music video category.

For more information on the CSU Media Arts Festival, visit www.mediaartsfestival.org.

- Joanie Harmon