Satya Sullivan, Filmmaker and ‘Future Fil-Am’
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Satya Sullivan (left) working on the SET of the “Stripes” music video with Madison Hullsiek (Photo by Rich Ferri)
She co-founded Colorful Lineup, a Rhode Island nonprofit that provides surfing clinics and advocates for girls and women of color who find their beach access mediated by those male surfers who are congenitally predisposed to marking off swaths of public beaches like feral tomcats.
“Ocean access is a contested issue on Rhode Island. You have to pay to go to your state beach. The beaches I surf at, you don’t have to pay,” Sullivan says, living by her principles.
Sullivan was raised in the Bulacan City of Valenzuela, which is bordered by the Tullahan River and Rio Grande de Pampanga. She came to America with memories of surfing off scenic and warm Siargao Island. She remarks, “I love Rhode Island, but the water is so cold. When I surf, I wear a wetsuit, gloves and a hood to stay warm.”
She wasn’t just snorkeling through the coral reefs of the Pacific one day then scuba diving in the frigid waters of the Atlantic the next. For the intervening three years, Sullivan grew acclimated to U.S. weather in film school at the Savannah College of Art and Design (“Scad”) in Georgia.
On Art and Decadence
In January 2023, her work on La Mariachi earned her a Best Mini Documentary at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. While she doesn’t rule out directing in the future, today Sullivan concentrates on colors and visuals in cinematography.
“The director is the person in charge of delivering the overall script.” She elaborates, “The cinematographer partners with the director to manifest the director’s vision through the camera lens and lighting.”
Close friend and director Sarah Menasce appointed Sullivan her cinematographer for the music video for Stripes by Quinn Bentley. The accolades stacked up with a Best Cinematography at the 2024 Prague Music Video Awards, Finalist for Best Music Video Cinematography at the 2023 Canadian Cinematography Awards, and Official Selections for the 2023 Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival and 2024 Cinematography and Photography Awards.
Quinn Bentley in the “Stripes” music video (Photo by Satya Sullivan)
In the Stripes music video, it’s hardly polemical to note that the story defers to the atmosphere, but it might be further asserted that the music supports the visuals instead of the other way around.
“It’s hard to hear what Quinn is saying in the song,” Sullivan admits, “because Stripes is about debauchery, chaos, and vices. The character of the song is seen in the changing textures. The tempo speeds up and slows down. Both the textures and tempo make the song fully formed.
“I can picture the song being used in a party scene in TV shows and movies. There’s a grunginess to it. I would listen to this song when I feel something good happens.”
In the future, Sullivan intends to shoot a documentary with the Tagalog theme alagà, which means someone who’s cared for.” “My mother (Mylene Santos) was a doctor and a single mom with four kids. We had a yaya, who’s a type of nanny, taking care of us. I’m still close to my yaya.” She says, “I would like to do a documentary on this common phenomenon of women who leave their families to take care of other families.”
Her reputation won’t be founded on personal projects. Most of her films have had a journalism emphasis. They are derived from her work as a research assistant in cinematography.
“For my niche, I straddle the traditional film industry, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) academia, and the sciences.” In this vein, she says, “My graduate thesis is a film on people of color and their relationship with seafood and the ocean. I interview recreational fishermen, professional fishermen, restaurateurs, the whole gamut related to seafood. My film is an ode to Rhode Island the Ocean State.”
On Becoming an Immigrant
Most of her future plans hinges on whether she can make her stay in America permanent. Sullivan corrects folks who call her an immigrant. She is here on a student visa with the dream of attaining immigrant status.
“In the future, Sullivan intends to shoot a documentary with the Tagalog theme alagà, which means someone who’s cared for.” ”
“After I finished my film degree at Scad I could only stay one more year. I could extend my stay by three years by doing my graduate studies in STEM OPT (Optional Practical Training). The problem is Rhode Island’s graduate program in Marine Affairs doesn’t have STEM accreditation.”
Rather than request that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services make her an exception, Sullivan hopes to make extending a stay in the U.S. easier for future students like her.
“I’ve filed a case to give Marine Affairs STEM OPT accreditation. The case won’t be resolved until after I graduate, but future Marine Affairs graduate students will be given visas for three years instead of one.”
As for the interior meaning of her efforts, she believes, “You can change the system if it’s not working for you.”
Anthony Maddela’s roots are in Seattle. He was born at the former St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Hospital which is now the site of a Capitol Hill parking garage, lived the early years he can’t remember in the Central Area, and calls Beacon Hill his hometown neighborhood. His BA is in International Studies from the University of Washington, and he has a degree from the Masters of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He lives with his family in Los Angeles.
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