2023 Summer: All-American High School Film Festival

Never have I ever imagined that I would be creating a film one day. Just before Summer vacation had started, I asked one of my friends who was founding a Film Club if he was interested in creating a short film together someday. A casual conversation turned into a seed that beautifully sprouted its leaves once we decided to make this dream come true.

Creating a short film was – most definitely – not easy. Shortly after we had decided to create a short film, we found out that the deadline was in two weeks, and that other competitors had already started creating their films months ago. With much doubt and unpredictability at hand, thus began our grind to make our hopes a reality.

The first few days were spent brainstorming and scavenging our contacts for feedback and actors. The result was devastating: our story outline was pointed out to be banal, and out of nearly 30 people we had contacted, only two people were willing to act. It wouldn't have been surprising for anyone to have given up by then. But there was something. There was something that didn't allow me to give up then. Let's call it a tingling passion for now.

There was a passion in me to finish what I had started. Throughout the project, I had the roles of being Editor, Director, Community Relations Director, and Sound Designer. With the entire team composed of four technology crews and two main actresses, I had no choice but to be involved in a lot of jobs. Even when we had decided to continue making this short film, we had both small and big troubles like our cameraman having to leave for Spain after finishing filming for a total of three days and our editing software shutting down just before the submission deadline. We had no budget whatsoever and had to film in my room for the sake of availability. However, all the nights that we had spent working hard for this short film together proved their worth when we finished the short film and submitted its final version to the All-American High School Film Festival.

At the moment, our short film, Contacts, has been selected to be included in the Film Festival. While we wait for more results to come out, I thank everyone for allowing what seemed impossible to be possible in such a short period!

Picture of our entire crew

More updates on All-American High School Festival coming soon!