Since the age of seven, I have been so fascinated by creating videos in order to tell engaging stories, a passion that I have to this day. While a ton of fun, something that I’ve always yearned for was a larger-scale audience viewing the content my close friends and I produce. When the opportunity of submitting a short for the UIL Film Contest at the Young Filmmakers Festival arose, my friends and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to try and get our name out there.

Production for our short film began back in November when me and my friends – seniors Caleb Taylor, Ryan Green and Jack Polishook – had a pitch meeting where we all came up with unique ideas for our upcoming short. From a story surrounding a man experiencing severe memory loss, to a post-apocalyptic film told from the perspective of a security camera, Jack had the winning idea with a heist story surrounding a group of boys who plan to steal a school’s last Verification of Enrollment form. As soon as we had heard it, the idea quickly stood out among the rest, and we knew that it was definitely the storyline we had to try out due to how engaging the concept sounded. 

Although we were stuck in the pre-production phase a lot longer than I would like to admit, our crew was able to quickly assemble a talented and enthusiastic cast that made the filming process a lot more manageable. Principal photography took around a month, and considering how involved our cast is with various extracurricular activities, such as theater and band, filming was able to progress at a relatively fast pace, and by mid-December we were able to present a draft of “Verified” to our friends in an exclusive test screening. Unlike our previous projects, our group figured that in order to make something that could actually be a contender for UIL, we needed the public’s opinion, so we sent out the short to select people from our school that anonymously gave feedback, and it helped a lot more than I realized at the time, with an array of unique feedback that ranged from some of the music selections to little edits and cuts that would help smooth the pacing of the short. 

After vigorously studying the feedback forms, refilming the necessary scenes, and getting all of our actors to sign the consent and release forms, we were ready to present Invision Corporation’s second feature short to the public, and on Jan. 13, 2022, we hosted the official premiere of “Verified.” Shown at Milburn Park with over 60 people in attendance, this event completely took me by surprise, and seeing that many people come out and spend an evening together just to enjoy and support a small film my friends and I produced almost made me emotional due to how grateful I felt. Glancing across the field and seeing everyone huddled together in their lawn chairs and blankets, I couldn’t have felt more proud of everything I had worked towards. 

Considering the fact that I was able to direct and edit a short film with my best friends, premiere it live in front of dozens of people and be able to submit it for the UIL Film Festival in just under two months, I am without a doubt a very lucky person, and this whole production will forever inspire me to keep working towards my passion. My favorite part of this production was definitely being able to collaborate with my friends and use our own unique skills to create one of our best projects yet, and being able to work with principal John Sloan was a huge plus too. Simply put, “Verified” wouldn’t have been possible without us all pitching in our own efforts, and no matter how we do in the contest next month, I couldn’t be more proud of Ryan, Jack and Caleb. We are Invision Corporation.