Meet Film Youtuber: “A Little Bit of Monika”

[UNPUBLISHED:] First of all, thank you so much for joining us today for this interview. We’re so excited. We also wanted to congratulate you for hitting 100k subscribers on YouTube - that's so awesome. How do you feel about this accomplishment?

[MONIKA:] I'm so happy. When you start a YouTube channel, you don't know where it's gonna go, and then you start seeing it grow and grow and grow, and it's like, wow I could have a ‘play button’ someday.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Can you tell us a bit about your channel, what you do on YouTube, and your main focuses?

[MONIKA:] My channel is all about movies, basically I just talk about movies that I like and movies that I've watched. Movie recommendations are the base of the channel. And then I have mixed in some aspects of my life. I feel like it started more as a channel about my life, that’s why it’s called “A little bit of Monika”, and then this year it has started to focus more on movies, entertainment, and TV shows that I like.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Why did you decide to start a YouTube channel, and how did you decide to focus mainly on movies?

[MONIKA:] I went to film school four years ago. I was learning about movies, filmmaking, and stuff like that, but obviously when you're in film school it's not like you're actually making films like all the time, you're just learning about it - at least in my film school. And then, we were learning about cameras, sound, and all that stuff, and I really wanted to put it all into practice. So, I just started making YouTube videos. They were really random. I would hear songs on Soundcloud and imagine a music video in my head, and then I would just film it in my living room or around my apartment complex. I would then edit it to the music, and play around with editing. So that's how it started. Then I started putting more of my personal experiences into my channel, my life, and the things that I like. Then, once in a while I would talk about movies. I realized that's what I like doing the most, talking about movies, recommending movies, and I feel like that's what resonated the most with the people that were watching me, because most of them were film students, so they already liked movies. I think that it just happened really naturally. Then this year that's pretty much what I've been doing. Also those were the videos that we're doing the best on my channel, so I was like, I'm just gonna keep doing more. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you hope to one day go back and focus more on filmmaking, or do you prefer to talk about movies?

[MONIKA:] That's a good question. I definitely want to actually make movies, someday. Because right now, obviously, I'm making YouTube videos, and not movies. I do want to make a proper movie someday. But I do really like talking about movies, so I feel like I want to do both.

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some things that you have learned throughout your YouTube career so far?

[MONIKA:] I feel like I've learned to be more, (I guess that's something I'm still learning). I'm still learning to not necessarily put out content or make things just for the sake of making them just because, “Oh it's been a week since I've uploaded, or two weeks since I've uploaded, I need to make a random video just so I can keep posting”. That's something that I'm trying to learn, because I still feel bad when I don't upload for like two weeks. But also, I feel like it's more important to really have a video or an idea that you're proud of, and that you really put your time into. So that's something that I'm trying to do more. That's why now, I'm not uploading once a week, like I used to, because right now it's a little too much for me, because I have work, I have other things happening in my life - I've just moved, and I've been super busy. So, I feel like that's something that I'm learning; I need to be more easy on myself. Just like, not putting out content just to put something out.

[UNPUBLISHED:] What would you tell someone who wants to start a YouTube channel but is too scared or can’t seem to find the motivation to do it?

[MONIKA:] I think you should start slow. We're used to only seeing the very big YouTubers being very professional, having these huge personalities, and knowing exactly how to edit their videos. When you think of a YouTube star, what comes to your head at first is like, they're very confident. And I feel like you shouldn't really have to try to achieve that right away. I know that I didn't. If you watch my videos from when I first started making videos, I was super quiet, like, I wasn’t showing any emotion. But it's just because I wasn't really used to talking to the camera. So I started making videos that were more like voiceover; I would just do things and then put a voiceover over it. And then I started talking more to the camera, and little by little it worked. So, I think that just starting slow and not beating yourself up about wanting to have the perfect channel, and the perfect is editing. Trying to not be perfect right away, I think that’s the key. Don't be too hard on yourself, just start making things. Just start. And if it's not perfect, it's fine. You're just gonna keep making them and keep getting better with each video. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some films that you watched growing up that made you love movies, and what do you love about them?

[MONIKA:] It’s not very filmmaker of me to say, but I liked High School Musical and Twilight. I'm kidding. Um, no, I did love those though, and I did make a Dominican version of Twilight when I was like, 14. It did inspire me, watching Twilight. I wrote a script in Spanish, like in Dominican Spanish. I would say, definitely Spirited Away. I feel like I've said it before, on my channel I always talk about Spirited Away and Studio Ghibli films. But, I think watching Spirited Away at a young age really inspired me to then watch all of the other Ghibli films. I'm really inspired by Studio Ghibli. I would definitely say that it’s Spirited Away, it's the perfect film overall; I feel the magical sense to it like that's the kind of movie that I want to make in the future.

[UNPUBLISHED:] Something that I really appreciate about your channel is that you speak a lot about international films. What do you think are the staple movies that people should check out when exploring international cinema?

[MONIKA:] I think I still need to watch more international movies myself, but I do like a lot of Korean movies. I think Korean cinema is, like - I mean you can see it with Parasite (2019) - it's amazing, I would recommend Parasite if people haven't watched it already - I feel like everyone has because it made such a boom. But another Korean movie that I love is Burning (2018), it's on Netflix and it's also really good. Of course, any of the Studio Ghibli films. They’re in Japanese, and in the Spanish language I really love Pan's Labyrinth.

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are your favorite directors?

[MONIKA:] Hayao Miyasaki, of course. I really love Wes Anderson, and his style. I really like him. I really like Guillermo del Toro, yeah oh! And I really love Greta Gerwig. I really like her and I'm really excited to see her next movies. I heard that she is making a Barbie movie. I really want to see that for sure. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] How has your taste in films changed over the years?

[MONIKA:] Now I can appreciate slower films a lot more, and films that aren't necessarily too out there. They don't give you as much exposure. I don't know how to say that in English but, um, movies that are more ambiguous, I guess, and slower movies like the ones that I mentioned before. Burning (2018) is a movie that I wouldn't have liked before, maybe like four or five years ago. I think going to film school and appreciating how a movie is made really helped me appreciate these movies and other types of movies more. I think before I wanted to be more entertained, but now that has changed. 

[UNPUBLISHED:]  Is there a movie that you used to love, that you've seen recently and you're like, wow, I don't know why I liked this movie?

[MONIKA:] I would have to think about it. Maybe any of those Adam Sandler movies. I don't know, I still kind of enjoy them. I'm not sure, I did see on my Letterboxd the other day, and I was looking at my liked films and I was like; “Oh why did I like this?” I had completely forgotten about it. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some movies that you've watched during this 2020 quarantine, and do you have any recommendations? 

[MONIKA:] Recently? Oh, I recently watched a movie called Shoplifters (2018). It's on Hulu and it's a Japanese movie, and that movie is… it really broke me. I watched it recently when I was super sick in bed, and I was crying. But that movie is amazing. It's a story about a family, but it's like a chosen family kind of situation; they're thieves, and the little kids that can’t be with their parents, and they make their living by stealing and doing things like that. But yeah, that’s a really good one if you want to cry - I recommend it. 

[UNPUBLISHED:] Has the way you watch movies and analyze them changed since the pandemic started?

[MONIKA:] I feel like at first, during the first few months of quarantine, all we wanted to do was watch uplifting movies, and movies that would make you happy instead of making you cry, but I do love movies that make me cry so I don't know. I feel like a movie that makes me cry, makes me feel good for some reason. If it makes me cry, I like it, because I can feel the emotions, I can feel it and it really gets to me emotionally, so I’m like; “It was great.” 

[UNPUBLISHED:] What are some of your favorite movies of 2020?

[MONIKA:] I would say- hmmm. I watched Minari (2020) recently, and it’s an A24 movie with Steven Yeun, who is also in Burning (2018), which I have mentioned a lot. But I would say Minari, it's amazing and also a movie that will make you cry. It's a South Korean movie. And, yeah, what else came out this year? I don't know why I've been forgetting what I watched. I need to check my Letterboxd, that’s why I have it now, so I can look back at it, because I will forget what I’ve seen. But yeah, so far I would definitely say Minari.