About Us

Via Optima was founded by two lifelong friends: David Torcivia and John Merizalde. The two met in sixth grade where their interest in film allowed them to quickly bond. David Torcivia had run a daily news show in 5th grade and John Merizalde had already decided he wanted to be a director. Clearly, film was in their blood.
Soon after meeting, the duo created their first bit of media that someone, somewhere certainly considers a movie. Regardless of it’s quality (or lack thereof), the film would jump start countless productions the two would create.
After their first creation, a slew of poorly animated creations emerged from JASC Animation Shop. Tired of animating every frame by hand, the now seventh grade duo looked to new software and discovered the mother of all internet video: Macromedia Flash (as it was then called). Macromedia Flash presented a steep learning curve but after a few test creations (and more importantly – the discovery of motion tweening) a decent movie was made. This movie was expanded into a trilogy starring a type of character animation invented specifically for these films – Chibis (pronounced Chee-Bees).
Finally, in eighth grade, John Merizalde received a camcorder and the first live action short was create. Terrible though it was, it was light-years beyond the flash and JASC monstrosities the two had suffered through previously. Throughout high school David and John slowly built up their filmmaking skills through the creation of numerous shorts and school projects. During this time, several media companies were conceived, created, and then slowly corroded until a new one would rise again from the ashes. It was great sport and endlessly entertaining.
At the conclusion of their senior year, the two determined that they must create a final film before their departure to college that would epitomize all they had learned in their 15 years of combined film experience. David dusted off a script he wrote in ninth grade and production soon began. Thus was born The Shepherd. A film created on an incredibly low budget (many would say no budget) but made to look as professional as possible. David and John worked tirelessly to find the best way to do everything a two-man crew could. And so Via Optima, which translates to the best way, was created. It’s name is a mantra the two hold dear and follow everyday in the journey that is filmmaking.
In college the journey has continued and the pace has quickened. Quality and quantity have drastically increased as the duo begin to attract interest in the world of film.
Check back often for updates and new media at Via Optima. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please contact us, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Via Optima was founded by two lifelong friends: David Torcivia and John Merizalde. The two met in sixth grade where their interest in film allowed them to quickly bond. David Torcivia had run a daily news show in 5th grade and John Merizalde had already decided he wanted to be a director. Clearly, film was in their blood.

Soon after meeting, the duo created their first bit of media that someone, somewhere certainly considers a movie. Regardless of it’s quality (or lack thereof), the film would jump start countless productions the two would create.

After their first creation, a slew of poorly animated creations emerged from JASC Animation Shop. Tired of animating every frame by hand, the now seventh grade duo looked to new software and discovered the mother of all internet video: Macromedia Flash (as it was then called). Macromedia Flash presented a steep learning curve but after a few test creations (and more importantly – the discovery of motion tweening) a decent movie was made. This movie was expanded into a trilogy starring a type of character animation invented specifically for these films – Chibis (pronounced Chee-Bees).

Finally, in eighth grade, John Merizalde received a camcorder and the first live action short was create. Terrible though it was, it was light-years beyond the flash and JASC monstrosities the two had suffered through previously. Throughout high school David and John slowly built up their filmmaking skills through the creation of numerous shorts and school projects. During this time, several media companies were conceived, created, and then slowly corroded until a new one would rise again from the ashes. It was great sport and endlessly entertaining.

At the conclusion of their senior year, the two determined that they must create a final film before their departure to college that would epitomize all they had learned in their 15 years of combined film experience. David dusted off a script he wrote in ninth grade and production soon began. Thus was born The Shepherd. A film created on an incredibly low budget (many would say no budget) but made to look as professional as possible. David and John worked tirelessly to find the best way to do everything a two-man crew could. And so Via Optima, which translates to the best way, was created. It’s name is a mantra the two hold dear and follow everyday in the journey that is filmmaking.

In college the journey has continued and the pace has quickened. Quality and quantity have drastically increased as the duo begin to attract interest in the world of film.

Check back often for updates and new media at Via Optima. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please contact us, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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