Since Marlena Lerner ’18 was four years old, filmmaking has been part of her life. She recalls going to the movies with her dad every weekend and feeling “astonished” by what she saw. 

“Every time I would walk out of the theater, I remember being encapsulated in the world I was just in,” Lerner said. “Whether it was fantastical or dystopian or a period piece, the element of having the ability to create your own universe through film fascinated me.”

Eventually, Lerner began asking herself, “Why can’t I do that?”

In 2011, she started creating a series of episodes on YouTube with her friends. Her channel, “The 3 Tails,” was a web-series about mermaids that became an instant hit, racking up over 50,000 subscribers and 25 million views.

Natasha Garreton ’18 and Sofia Garreton ’18 also worked on “The 3 Tails” with Lerner.

“Working with Marlena inspired me to become a filmmaker because of her incredible work ethic and creativity on set,” Natasha Garreton said.

Lerner’s passion for making videos only grew as she got older. One of her biggest inspirations, she said, is breaking gender stereotypes, as the film industry is a male-dominated work field.

“I try to be as authentic as I can and make sure that I am staying true to myself and what I know. I’m inspired by a lot of things — and, yes, obviously the iconic filmmakers and fantastic women of our time: Kathryn Bigelow, Greta Gerwig and Ava Duvernay,” Lerner said. “[They] are paving the way in the industry for young filmmakers like myself to have equality in the male-dominated industry. But [I] also seek a lot of inspiration in what I’m learning, in terms of social concepts and the environment and then, of course, my family and experiences. It’s sort of a mixture of all those things.”

Lerner participated in a film program at New York University in Manhattan last summer. She said the program strengthened her knowledge of film techniques, and she also learned how to work with new people in a different environment.

As a student at an all-girls school, making films with men was a brand new concept to her.

“I’ve always made films in the company of solely girls, which made it very easy for me to feel comfortable and confident in using my voice. The first time I worked on an all male-shoot, I was appointed the role of the cinematographer for my peer’s film by our supervisor,” she said.

In the all-male environment, Lerner said she experienced sexism.

“It was shot in a garden in Brooklyn in the middle of July, and it was brutally hot. But nevertheless, we shot for a few hours and made really great work out of it, coming up with shots on the spot that turned out beautifully,” she said.  “After the shoot, I distinctly remember [a guy] saying something like, ‘You know, when I found out that you were gonna be my cinematographer, I was bummed. But now I’m really happy you did. Thank you.’ Even though the comment itself was a little backhanded and definitely ignorant — meaning I know that he had no other justification for feeling that way other than the fact that I’m small and was the only girl — it made me feel empowered knowing that I could change somebody’s expectations like that simply by working hard and through dedication.”