Four Years at the Media Lab with Dina Zhanybekova

The Vitale Digital Media Lab always sees an uptick in student engagement the closer we get to graduation. Seniors working on their thesis projects and freshmen going through finals week flock to the lab to get their work done on one of our 10 Mac workstations. During this time, I always get a glimpse of so many work-in-progress projects, but unfortunately I rarely see the finished products. Luckily, I’ve been able to connect with the students I work with on a daily basis and see their projects from the beginning to the end. Dina Zhanybekova, current Penn Senior, Cinema Studies major (and most importantly, long time Vitale work-study student) has been gracious enough to share her talents with our team over the years.

Throughout her career at Penn, Dina has had a hand in many different roles on a film set. She’s written, directed, and produced her own short films, as well as assisted different student groups at Penn with their film projects. For the last two years that I’ve known Dina, I’ve never seen a student as passionate about their craft as she is. From dragging around large suitcases filled with Vitale recording equipment, to staying up to the early hours of the morning editing a film, Dina has shown a dedication to filmmaking that has been inspiring for myself and other students to witness. 

“Making films has always been the one thing that made me get up at 4 am and stay on my feet for 20 hours without exhaustion, so I always knew I wanted to study film! And I came to Penn because I loved the campus and the opportunity to pursue multiple disciplines.”

Dina has been a frequent media lab user, and devoted Vitale employee, since she was a Freshman at Penn. She first discovered the media lab on workday, and because of her scope of work, the Vitale Digital Media Lab was a perfect fit for her first job at Penn. Since joining our team, Dina has helped hundreds of students, staff, and faculty trouble-shoot video projects, taught them to use editing software, answered their photography questions, and shown a genuine interest in the artistic pursuit of others. 

“My favorite thing about working there is meeting new people, hearing about their projects, and helping them make it in any capacity. So, one would say the media lab helped me make new connections at Penn.”

Congratulations to Dina and all our graduating Penn seniors. You can check some of Dina’s photography here. Feeling inspired? Browse our selection of video cameras, lenses, and sound equipment to make your filmmaking debut today!