Lights, Camera, Action! Meet Bella Neal
Bella Neal is a name you are going to want to remember. A 7th grader in Elite’s Virtual Academy (EVA), Bella has known for quite some time that she wants to be a film director and make movies. Both of her parents are in the film industry, so she has grown up on set and fallen in love with the process. Bella found a home with EVA, where she is able to take her schoolwork to the film set with her, so she can grow academically and learn from professionals in her pursued field. We interviewed Bella to discuss her passion for the film industry and how she plans to use her current experience to break out in the industry down the road.
How did you find your passion for the film industry, and how long have you been on sets shadowing employees?
I’ve watched my parents working on sets my whole life. When I was in third grade, I went on set to watch a movie that my parents had made and my dad was starring in, and I sat next to the director the whole time. I instantly fell in love with the idea of being in charge of the film. Being a director means I get to help with the script, the editing, the makeup, the costume design, the set design, the location, the music, and my favorite part which is casting and working with the actors.
What does your typical daily schedule look like throughout the school week?
If I’m at home, I wake up at 7:30 AM, have breakfast and then either walk our dog, Gabe, or go to the gym with my mom. Then we go to my mom’s office and I do my school work while my mom works on a script. Then I have the rest of the day to either see one of my tutors or draw, write, and make movies. I have tutors four times a week, two are online through Elite and my math tutor meets me in person twice a week. A few evenings a week I go to rehearsal because I’m currently acting and singing in a musical. If I’m on set, I sit in a trailer or at Craft Service where a tutor works with me. My first time on set, I thought we would do crafts at Craft Service but it’s actually much better, it’s full of free candy!
How does being an Elite Student accommodate fulfilling this passion?
Ever since I was in second grade, I wanted to leave school to go to an online school. I knew that if I went to an online school I’d have more opportunities to work on my movies. I have dyslexia and ADHD and the noise and chaos of the traditional classroom was very distracting to me. Now, I can put my headphones in and concentrate on my schoolwork in the privacy of my own home or office or trailer. Being able to bring my schoolwork anywhere is really helpful because I want to start working on sets as a Production Assistant as soon as I can, and I’ll be able to shadow the director on my parents’ next project, which I’m really excited about.
What are your plans for the future, whether it be continuing academics, going into film, or otherwise?
I’m not sure yet if I’ll go to film school for college; for now, I know that I’m definitely going to keep making movies, and maybe even act. I really enjoyed being on the craft segment on Home & Family (a daytime talk show on the Hallmark Channel). I also really want to publish my own graphic novels one day. My mom and I just started creating a graphic novel together that we hope will get published one day. My ideal future looks like this: Being a director-producer-writer-actor who makes movies and also creates graphic novels with an Oscar or two over my fireplace!
Bella with the hosts of Home and Family being featured in the crafts segment.
Elie Academic Academy is very proud that we can offer a standout student like Bella the opportunity to chase her dream while receiving a superior education. Check out our Virtual Academy Homepage to learn more about this program and find out if it is the right fit for you or your student.
Thank you for providing such valuable information. I really hope that I will get more updated information in the future.