After receiving her bachelors in psychology from University of California Davis, Monica turned to the DVI to prepare her to pursue her love of film. In addition to her work on classmates' films, and the various exercises, she produced 3 shorts in the DVI. This includes her final project, All That Now Has Left Your Reach, which went on to take the BEST MUSIC VIDEO award at the Hollywood DV Festival.

After the DVI, Monica went on to a paid internship at Digidesign (in Daly City) followed by internships at Studio Funny films and PlasterCity Productions. (both in Hollywood).

She was then hired by E! Entertainment where she has become editor and color corrector. Monica also continues to work on indie films. Her work has also appeared at the Cannes Film Festival.

Ben Pierce retired as principal dancer for the San Francisco Ballet when he decided to learn how to make films. In addition to his personal projects for the DVI, The Dying Swan (featuring Muriel Maffre of the SF Ballet) and a Cooper Mini Commercial, Ben directed the class project which made it into the International 48 Hour Film Festival.

Ben is currently on staff at San Francisco PBS station KQED, working on its celebrated arts program, Spark, consulting with other PBS affiliates around he country, and is developing new ways to use digital video to revolutionize stage production.

After selling his successful business, Jay was determined to pursue his life long dream of making films. His final project for the program, The Hope, earned a $25,000 grant from the Gates Foundation.

In the summer of 2006, Jay travelled around the U.S., filming footage for a documentary he had planned.

Sadly, we lost Jay to agressive forms of cancer. "During his final months, Jays' overwhelming desire was to complete his film, even posthumously," says Craig Abaya (DVI Director). "However, his life is a great triumph. He came to me at 61 expressing years of regret in not following his dream to study filmmaking at 18. I told him that technology had made this much more exciting time to make films than in 1960." Jay final became the filmmaker he had dreamed of becoming.

Upon enterting the DVI, he stated: "My Life Begins Today."

School teacher, Doug Nunn, wanted to take his eclectic skills to the next level by learning digital filmmaking. During his time in the DVI, he put to use his voice talent and writing skills by creating a parody of the West Wing using action figures.

Nunn has worked as a comic in Europe and the USA, having appeared on CBS "Murder She Wrote", BBC's "Combing the Fringe", and Comedy Central’s “Win Ben Stein’s Money”. He has coached improvisational theatre extensively in the US & Europe, where his book “Show Up—Theatrehandbook for Shows with Teens” is published in German speaking countries.

If you've seen you've seen his screen credit for his After Effects work on The Simpson's Movie. You can learn about his own company "Large Child Productions" at www.dougnunn.com.

Matthew Goldade took a hiatus from his job at Oracle to take the DVI. He return to Oracle for a while then eventuallly set his sites on the Southern Californiaq where he landed the position at Yahoo Media Group, recently relocated to Santa Monica alongside MTV Networks, MGM Home, and Universal. Read the CNET story on Yahoo's move into the multi-entertainment venue.

" A month ago I moved on to FOX from Yahoo! and owe so much to your program for helping me go in the right direction. I'm doing things today I didn't think were possible - walking on the FOX lot watching various shoots, working with the FOX Sports guys on video creation, working in 'Nakatomi Plaza' (FOX Plaza) from Die Hard. :)"

Multitalented author, motivational speaker and management consultant, Dia North (dianorth.com) attended the Digital Video Intensive in the spring of 2007.
"I wanted to add something new to my telling of stories. Because of the great interest in YouTube and other video-based websites, I decided to learn about the complexities of filming with professional video equipment, along with the technical intricacies of digital non-linear editing, budgeting, screenwriting, producing and directing. The DVI exposed me to all of these things and even more – including hands-on experience doing special effects and effectively preparing video for the web. I went into the DVI with a strong desire to learn new ways to tell stories. I received these skills and much, much more. After just 16 weeks, I now feel prepared to produce and direct my own video productions and work confidently with cinematographic professionals. I have been interviewing people for my new book and now feel qualified to take high-quality videos of these interviews. Thank you, Craig, Phil, and all of the instructors in the DVI."

Tony Sondag traces his transition into filmmaking to the period when he was working on his masters degree in sculpture from California College of the Arts. A video documentation of his class trip turned into a personal journey. After taking a class in digital video from DVI grad, Chris Gee, Tony was hooked. After receiving his masters, he enrolled in the SFSU Digital Video Intensive.

Since completing the DVI, Tony has worked on numerous projects in capacities including editing and color-correction. Recent projects include Crossroads in Nihonmachi (Urban Voice), Her Best Movie (Summertime Films), Italian Rock Group Strane Pretese's latest music video, a documentary for the San Francisco Choral Society and several installation videos.

Tony also serves as the editor/color corrector, camera operator and associate producer of the Stern Grove Festival concert film crew.

After much searching for an intensive program to train her in digital filmmaking, Amy Spadacini discovered the DVI on the web.

In addition to her Aesthetics project, Amy produced two final projects for corporate clients Lufthansa Airlines and NextBus for the DVI. In addition, she served as camera seven operator for the Bruce Hornsby Live at Villa Montalvo, the DVI concert film for DIRECTV.

Amy resides in Cernobbio, Italy where she produces documentary, broadcast and promotional films from her home studio.

"I thought of you and the DVI and thanked my lucky stars that I happened upon you guys. I really will never be able to thank you enough for the training and help you have given me over the years. I am so grateful!