I Think I Love You

I delete emails from school, unread, on principle (especially the ones they send out at the start of summer break), but I’ve already read this one four times. I scroll through it once more, my eye lingering on the phrases that made my heart jolt. NYC-LA Film Festival, emerging student artists, and my personal favorite, fully funded trip to Los Angeles.
The guy walking behind me huffs as I commit the cardinal New York sin, stopping in my tracks in the middle of a busy sidewalk. I ignore him, scanning the email one more time. Kate, my cousin, peers over my shoulder curiously, but I can’t tear my eyes off it. I’ve been putzing around New York with my uncle’s camera for years, but I’ve never shown my stuff to people who aren’t related to me. This film contest is a chance for me to show it to industry professionals-people who will take my work seriously.
This could be my chance to tell the gay rom-com story of my heart, the kind I’ve never seen on-screen before, despite the hours of my life I’ve spent glued to the Netflix romantic comedy section, falling in love with the idea of love even as I yearned to see myself in the stories about it. Just because the straights in Hollywood don’t know how to tell my story doesn’t mean it’s not out there.
“Look at this.” I tilt the phone screen so Kate can get a better look, and read it one more time along with her.

Dear Students,

We hope you are having a lovely summer break! Here is a wonderful opportunity from the NYC-LA Film Festival. The festival supports emerging student artists and has opened a high school division within its student contests.
The contest entry requires a fifteen-minute short film in a genre of your choice. The grand prize winning team will receive a scholarship to be used for tuition toward an undergraduate degree related to film, and a fully funded trip to Los Angeles, where the team will attend networking events and have the option to interview for summer internships at high profile film production companies. The winning student film will also be presented at the NYC-LA Film Festival alongside the winning entries from the undergraduate and graduate student contest divisions, and winning filmmakers and their guests will be invited to the screening. We hope you will represent Messina High School with your fabulous work! Click here to find out more.

Best,
Jennifer Austin
Dean of Student Life