The New School for Public Engagement, student
A multi-talented artist with a keen eye for composition, Maderling Suquet enjoyed a successful career as a graphic designer and art director, but longed to enter the world of film. Maderling, who was born in Venezuela but grew up in Miami, considered various options and choose to complete her bachelor’s degree at The New School for Public Engagement in a program designed specifically for working adults and transfer students.
Several qualities of the program appealed to her, including online classes that enabled her to study in Miami until she moved to New York, the fact that she could design her own program, and the program’s flexible schedule. “I work full-time at an ad agency in Manhattan,” she said. “And I appreciate that I can take classes after work.“
Maderling started the program with an online screenwriting class and through additional class work quickly acquired a wide-ranging skill set. “This program helped me to achieve what I never thought I could,” she said, “Which was to write, produce, direct, and edit a film. I’m grateful to teachers like William Pace and Michelle Materre, who have inspired me to do what I’m doing now”
As a student in the Bachelor’s/Master’s program, Maderling has the opportunity to take graduate classes in the master’s program in Media Studies, which is also part of The New School for Public Engagement. Currently in post-production on one film and pre-production on the next, Maderling plans to take graduate classes that will help her develop further as an emerging voice in New York’s film scene. “One thing that’s great about casting a student film in New York is that there’s no shortage of actors,” she says. “All you have to do is put up a flyer.”