The Wayne State College film department is once again at work, with three student films in production for the fall.
Every semester, the film department holds a screenwriting competition, and the top three scripts are made into student films by the film workshop class. For the fall of 2024, the top three scripts were written by Jacob McCauley, T’Kayeh Sterling, and Blake Bodlak & Anja Oelofse.
The third place-winner, “Buried Treasure” was written by McCauley, a sophomore at WSC, who said he grew up on comedies and westerns of the 1970s.
“I really just wanted to make something modern that has the comedy and western sense of America that films had in that time period,” McCauley said. “I also think that clowns deserve a second chance, especially after 2016, and I miss the days of clowns being funny. The three things that really helped me shape my idea was Shakes the Clown, Eastbound and Down, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
The story of the film follows two down-on-their-luck clowns who hatch a scheme to burgle some sort of treasure. This will be McCauley’s second film project, as he said he has previously made a “little, short film.” He said that pre-production is finished, and shooting began mid-September.
“Between the Shadow and the Soul”, the second-place script, written by Sterling, follows a nonbinary student falling in love with their best friend. This will be Sterling’s debut as a writer and director after previously acting in student films. Sterling is currently a freshman and hopes to continue writing and directing films.
“The film is inspired by a moment in my life, slightly changed,” said Sterling. “We have all of our crew and most of the cast.” They plan to begin filming in October.
“The Bittersweet Truth About Parking”, by Bodlak and Oelofse, wasat the top of the podium in the script competition. The pair had previously worked together, with their most recent collaboration being “The Thing with Feathers,y” which was written and directed by Oelofse with cinematography and editing done by Bodlak.
“The film is a surreal comedy about a man going through a breakup,” said Bodlak. “The film was adapted from a short story that Anja wrote that was inspired by something her roommate said in a parking lot.”
Bodlack and Oelofse will be sharing directing and producing duties, and Bodlak said shooting will begin in early October.
Be sure to be on the lookout, as these three student films will air at the fall semester’s Student Film Premiere, which has a date that is to be announced. For more information about student films and the film program, reach out to Michael White at [email protected] or look them up on Facebook at Wayne State College Film Studio.