Sophomore Olivia Meredith recently made her debut as a rising filmmaker at North Atlanta’s first original Film Festival on April 15. Students of all grades were able to showcase their creative side through a short film. Among many submissions, Meredith’s short film, “Disconnect,” was a huge hit. “My short film was based off of my own personal experiences. I’ve had the idea for a while, but the festival gave me an open opportunity to do something with it,” said Meredith.

Because the film was based on Meredith’s personal life, she felt it was an easy story to tell. “Disconnect” is about a teenager who loses interest in things she once enjoyed. “I felt like this was relatable for a lot of students, especially because I know many people who have gone through this,” said Meredith.

It took a lot of effort and a surplus of sleepless nights for her to meet the submission deadline. The hardest part for her was making sure she was getting her ideas across in a comprehensible manner. “Often what happens for inexperienced filmmakers is you can make an entire short film thinking it means one thing to you when in reality the audience doesn’t understand it at all, and that’s what makes film-making extremely stressful,” she said.

As an aspiring filmmaker, Meredith applied to various summer film programs and ended up choosing to go to a media-and-film-intensive month-long program at The New School in New York. Initially, Meredith wanted to go to a program at New York University, but felt the The New School’s program was more of a fit for her. “I’m looking forward to it because I will get to go out in the city and film various topics that are assigned. It’s exciting to think that I will basically be an independent film student in New York for a month,” Meredith says.

Both the exciting summer opportunity and North Atlanta’s strong audio/video department are sure to give Meredith the strength and experience she needs for a successful career following her film passions.