Nina Dobrev Wins Best Director At Mammoth Film Festival: 'Incredibly Humbled & Honored' 

“The Vampire Diaries” alum Nina Dobrev is taking her career to new heights!

The “Degrassi” actress made her directorial debut with her film “The One,” which earned her a prize for Best Director at the Mammoth Film Festival!

In a series of Instagram snaps, the girlfriend of Olympic snowboarder Shaun White posted a short statement to say that she was “humbled and honored” for her win.

“Incredibly humbled and honored to win best director at the Mammoth Film Festival,” she wrote in the caption. “The whole festival circuit has been such an exciting experience! Thank you to everyone for your incredibly kind words of support for this first time film maker. It means more than you know! And of course a huge thank you again to my incredible cast and crew without whom none of this would have been possible.”

Actress Madeline Brewer commented, “omfg!!!! Nina!!!! What the heck that’s so cool! So deserved you angel.”

“The Outlaws” costar Adam Devine commented, “???”

Jessica Stam wrote, “Dude you’re killing it! ???”

“I'm so so happy for you Dobrev The Director ?????” a “TVD” fan account commented.

“IM SO PROUD OF YOU,” another fan wrote. “you are so deserving of this and I hope you’re as proud of yourself as we are of you. Words can’t even explain how inspired I am by you or how proud I am. You’re amazing!!!!”

In an interview with Collider, the “Love Hard” actress talked about why she decided to step on the other side of the camera. She revealed that she had initially tried to direct an episode of “The Vampire Diaries” and was “one of the only people” that didn’t get an opportunity to.

“I’ve been wanting to direct for a long time,” she explained. “I remember asking the producers of The Vampire Diaries if I could direct, back in Season 1, and I was one of the only people that didn’t get to direct, which is a bummer. I knew that it was something I wanted to do, for a very long time.”

“I’m very inquisitive. Even from when I was on Degrassi or The Vampire Diaries, I was really close with a lot of the camera operators and DPs, and I was always asking questions and trying to learn and was fascinated by how everything works, she continued. “And so, when it came time to step into the role myself, I really did feel very prepared. I expected to be a lot more nervous but wasn’t. I was very calm.”

“I knew that I belonged and I knew what I wanted, and I had the confidence to do it, but also was really smart and knew where to trust other people who had more experience than I did,” she added. “I surrounded myself with really incredible people, who are at the best of the best at what they do, to help support me on this first journey into directing.”

The high-concept short seems to tell the story of a mother-son day in the park. However, it’s revealed that the woman is actually searching for what she deems the “perfect child” in the age of technology.

“We had a lot of different iterations and brainstormed a lot, but at the core of it, it’s about morality. The main theme is morality,” she explained. “A bit of it is inspired by myself and what I have gone through. I’ve recently frozen my eggs and gone through the process to freeze my eggs. I was really shocked to learn about the concept of designer babies.”

“I’m obviously not doing that because I’m not trying to have a baby right now, but I was introduced to the idea that nowadays not only can you find out the sex of your baby, you can choose the sex, the eye color, the hair color, and the projected height,” she continued. “There are so many things that you can manipulate in the birthing process and the fertility process.”

“That’s what sparked the idea and it made me debate, at what point is it okay, and at what point is it not okay? And what’s the morality behind trying to play God in modern-day fertility, with the liberties that we take when we try to conceive?” she went on. “It used to be nature versus nurture, and now it’s more nature versus technology.”

She added, “So, that’s what was really interesting to me. If we can do that now, I was thinking about what happens 10, 15, or 20 years from now, if you could actually interview your future children, is that right? Should you? Will a simulation really give you the real experience that a child would and how much of your nature will affect who they become as a person, that a computer can’t duplicate or a VR experience can’t bring to life?”