UNC grad wants to direct

Raleigh's Hannah Sink, 23, was one of 50 filmmaker hopefuls chosen from 12,000 applicants to compete for a major Hollywood deal on the Fox reality series "On the Lot," premiering at 9 tonight.

Previously, the 2006 UNC-Chapel Hill graduate worked as a production coordinator and assistant for the locally produced Spanish-language TV show "Nuestro Barrio," and she made documentaries while living in Thailand.

Sink was chosen for "On the Lot" based on a five-minute trailer she shot in three days for $2,000 at a rock quarry, for a feature-length film she hopes to make someday called "Fire in Fallujah."

Recently, she talked about her experiences in filmmaking.

Q- What is "Fire in Fallujah"?

A- It's about the war in Iraq. It's about a man who goes off to war, and has sort of a dysfunctional family life here. Through something as horrific and chaotic as war, he finds out who he is, and ends up falling in love with an Iraqi woman. It's actually a story that I was writing. It was based on -- I called on my grandparents, their story in World War II. He was German, and she was American, so I kind of put a twist on it.

Q- How long have you wanted to be a filmmaker?

A- I think I wanted to make films from the time I was 3 or 4 years old. I have old home videos of me running around, directing and making kids in the neighborhood go be in these plays that I was putting on, and we'd videotape. My nickname growing up was Hollywood.

Q- What was the atmosphere like on "On the Lot"? Usually, people competing on reality shows are portrayed as nasty and conniving.

A- It was very much of a collaboration of ideas and work. It was all positive.

Q- What's your dream project?

A -My dream project is a psychological thriller that I'm writing right now, which will have a lot of different locations involved, so it'll definitely have a lot of high production values. Hopefully, it'll be sooner than later that I get this thing done.

Q- What's next if you don't win?

A- If I don't win, then I will brush myself off, hold my head up, and continue to write and direct, and maybe even make that move to L.A.