What started off with senior Adriana Wallace’s personal story, ‘See You Later’ has become a fully realized student short film—one born from collaboration, passion, and the willingness of a group of students to step into something new.
‘See You Later’ features the journey of two best friends, Eliza and Evelyn. Although this film focuses on the beginning and end of a friendship, the film’s creative journey started with family.
“The inspiration behind the story is my grandma. I love wearing jewelry and fashion and I love clothing; she passed so I love wearing her jewelry as a representation of her,” Wallace said. “I like to think of it as keeping her alive. So I turned that aspect into a [story about] friendship; thinking of how jewelry can help keep the memories of people and lost friendships alive.”
Senior Riya Kulkarni played a key role in shaping the story as co-writer. What began as one student’s concept quickly became a shared creative effort.
“[Adriana] started off with telling me this base idea of how she wants the film to go, she had a pitch deck and everything, it was super cool,” Kulkarni said. “So we started writing the script, and we made a draft on how the scenes would look like and what the dialogue would be, and we just took it from there.”
For Cady Troxel, who played the lead role of Evelyn, the project was both personal and exciting. The emotional depth of the story required vulnerability, but it also created a powerful experience for everyone involved.
“Adriana’s an amazing person, and we have theater together. And she has been talking about film for quite a while because she wants to go into film in the future,” Troxel said. “She texted me one day saying ‘I learned about UIL film, and I was wondering if you would be interested in possibly being in a film I create?’ I [said] absolutely I will be here to support you because it sounds like a lot of fun!”
Wallace appreciates the student actors that contributed to the production of the film as she watches her story come alive.
“My favorite part was seeing the actors act,” Wallace said. “When I was writing it I wanted [Cady] to be the main role because her acting skills always shine through on the stage so I knew it would translate on to the camera. Watching them truly come to life as the characters I created felt so magical!”
In addition to direction and acting, the filming and editing process was an immensely important one that brought the short film together.
“I was editing a lot over winter break and that was the struggle because the deadline came up right afterwards,” Rallston said. “Scheduling a time where everyone could come in to get it filmed in the first place was our biggest [challenge]. We filmed it in one day over the course of three hours. So we were on a time crunch but we got it all done.”
“I want to shout out Devion he was the editor and cinematographer,” Wallace said. “I would not be able to do it without him, not only did did we use his camera he did bring life into the story so I genuinely appreciate him and all he did for See You Later.”
Beyond the technical aspects of filmmaking, what stood out most to the cast and crew was the sense of unity.
“I loved all the people in the whole process! Everyone is so talented, and I was so in awe, and I could see Adrianna and Devion rise up to the occasion, and it was so great to see everyone doing what they love,” Bhalani said.
Through script drafts, rehearsals, multiple takes, and shared laughter, the team turned a single idea into a finished film, proving that when passion meets dedication, student projects can become powerful works of art.
“I feel like when you take the first step of putting yourself out there and working with your friends and getting a group together, [you realize] we’re doing this for fun,” Wallace said. “It really helps take the pressure off and truly allows you to make real art.”
