With its biggest turnout yet, University of Minnesota club StudioU hosted their second annual Spring Showcase at Coffman Union’s Coffman Theater for its self-produced student films.
The event on Monday night had the largest turnout she had ever seen for StudioU. The showcase featured four student films made by members of the club, “Paranormal Studies,” “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over,” “Lively Mind” and “Stevenson Laundromat, 10PM,” said Studio U president Genevieve Gray.
StudioU focuses on providing a learning opportunity for those interested in filmmaking, especially non-majors, with weekly meetings and film equipment open for members to use. Students are encouraged to participate as much as possible, working on shoots throughout the academic year.
“That’s been a big goal of mine,” Gray said. “To allow a large range of commitment, so that there are more creative ideas in the space.”
Gray joined the club as a freshman before working her way up to leadership positions in the following years. Now a junior studying data science, Gray said the club is an outlet for her creative interests in filmmaking.
Her short film “Lively Mind” depicts a young woman’s journey with ADHD.
“I’ve always wanted to make a short film about ADHD because I feel like I’ve seen a lot on the internet and I was like ‘I want my own spin on this, I want to try,’” Gray said.
Treasurer of the club Shreya Rajiv, a math and computer science major, worked with Gray on “Lively Mind” behind the scenes as a camera operator.
“It’s really great to see such a big turnout,” Rajiv said.
Each film was given a $50 budget and access to the club’s film equipment.
The showcase included the work of third-year marketing student Isabel Chew, whose comedic horror film “Paranormal Studies” followed a trio of university students as they tried to escape a ghostly attack for a class assignment.
Chew developed the idea a year before pitching it in the fall and was relieved to finally share it with others.
“I was very nervous coming into this because I was worried people wouldn’t laugh, so people actually laughing at it made me feel a lot more confident about it,” Chew said. “I’m very proud of it. This has been my baby for a year and a half.”
Third-year film major Will Maas, the writer, director, producer and lead actor of “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over,” said his film took nearly two years to write and develop.
“I’ve had the story idea for such a long time, and I always wanted to create it,” Maas said. “But actually sitting down and writing it and then after that, having to get on set and film it, and then after that, add it together and portray the idea I have in my mind was way harder than I thought it was going to be.”
The short film showed a college couple reuniting after a breakup and reconnecting before ultimately going their separate ways. As his first short film, Maas said he was happy with the final product.
The showcase also included the short film “Stevenson Laundromat, 10PM” by Max Pearson, which depicts a self-proclaimed “nice- guy” Joe attempting to flirt with fellow student Claire at a late-night laundromat as he becomes increasingly aggressive at her rejections.
As its second-ever showcase, Gray said StudioU has opportunities for anyone on campus to try their hand at filmmaking.
“We’ve got a community where you can try and see ideas come to life,” Gray said.
