Make Room

Shooting “Make Room” was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I had met Maya in a callback for a student film - we were both auditioning for the parts - and was immediately drawn to her acting, I thought: I need to make something with this girl. I dug through some old scripts and found this one about two new stepsisters that was very short, only one scene and about two pages long. I got to work revising it and adding some texture to the characters and situation. Maya was on board right away when I reached out and I already knew Kylie would be perfect for Ava. I put a crew call up on backstage and got a few student DPs applying and then suddenly I got this application from Waleed, who is amazingly talented and I remember staring at the gorgeous shots on his website thinking: this is too good to be true. Waleed was super excited about the project and really brought it to a new level. I’ve struggled at times to be taken seriously because of my age, especially when I was fifteen and writing and directing my own stuff, and sometimes working with adult actors or crew members, but Waleed always completely respected me as the director while being super supportive with all the experience and knowledge he had. I was able to learn a lot from him. We shot this thing in only two days so the pace was relentless - both stressful and exhilarating - and everyone was working very closely. Everyone on this cast and crew was amazing - I could share stories about each individual person and how much they contributed to the project. I’m super proud of this film and the dream team that helped me create it.