New Media Arts teacher Carla Villela brings film industry know-how to the classroom

Carla Villela, middle left, and her team at Stereo D on Star Wars, storyboarding with her old team.

She previously worked at Santa Teresa High School.

From the bustling streets of Los Angeles, amid the glamor of the film industry, to a quiet corner of a small town, unfolds the story of an extraordinary transition from Hollywood to the world of teaching.

Before teaching students in the Media Arts Program here, Carla Villela, who has four media classes and one digital photography class this year, came from the male-domianted high-pressure world of movie visual effects and 3D conversion.

After working in the visual effects industry since late in high school, Villela has grown passionate about media arts and the power to connect and finally found her calling in the world of education.

Before coming to SHS this fall, she worked at Santa Teresa High School for seven years. While there, she was with principal Greg Louie when he was the school’s principal.

Starting her career animating movie sets in the United Kingdom as well as working in the world of cinema in Brazil, Villela is now committed to guiding the next generation toward creative fulfillment.

Villela’s passion for film stemmed from her family background in cinematography in Brazil, a country she has close family ties to, though she was born in and grew up in the U.S. She fell in love with animation at a young age because it helped her transform her idea through a unique form of art, which led to a career in visual effects.

After graduating from high school, she studied illustration, painting and media arts at CCA California, an art and design college. As a junior in college, Villela worked on a film in Brazil in 2009, igniting her journey in the film industry. She continued her work in the UK and Los Angeles.

One of her favorite films to work on was “Mad Max Fury Road,” a critically acclaimed movie that came out in 2015.

She enjoyed working on this movie because she had a lot more creative freedom than any other film she’s worked on, ones like “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Said Villela about “Fury Road”: “It was super fun because we could make decisions in a way that we really couldn’t in Star Wars or Avengers, and that was really cool.”

She lived in Los Angeles while working in on these films. There she specialized in visual effects and 3D conversion. Fourteen-hour shifts and tight deadlines were regular parts of the job Villela said it was often stressful and high pressure.

“During non-work time, we would have regular eight-hour days, we’d sort of leisurely get through the shots and we would play a lot of ping pong and we would talk a lot and go on field trips and stuff,” Villela said. “But then when there was work time, which was about 60% of the time; it was like 12- to 14-hour day shifts working at a small cubicle, seven days a week.”

Her team faced numerous challenges, including collaborating with other companies that often struggled to meet deadlines and respect production schedules. Despite the immense pressure and obstacles, Villela’s determination and resilience allowed her to succeed as a female in a male-dominated field.

One of Villela’s sophomore students, Kate Vasquez, describes her passion for digital art.

“Right when you walk in the classroom, you can tell that she’s a really knowledgeable teacher and she’s been working on media arts her whole life,” she said. “She’s very organized and helps me understand subjects really well, like drawing on Photoshop using drawing tablets. I have a newfound respect for media arts after her.”

After working in the visual effects industry all over the world, Villela became a teacher in search of a more human-centered career. She wanted to explore the possibilities of a student’s potential, and she is very passionate about people and what they are capable of.

“I love teaching and enjoy engaging my students in something I’m truly passionate about and care for,” she said. “I’ve spent most of my life doing animation and media and I’m really excited to motivate and educate kids about this subject.”