Private Project

Two Paper Nightingales

In this Student Academy Award short film, experience a breathtaking fairytale retold in three distinct voices. When a fair and lovely princess, living in a kingdom of secrets and mistrust, learns that her country’s so called “enemies” from a foreign state are not so different from herself, she will have to make a bold choice in order to reunite with her most beloved sister. Both whimsical and deeply emotional, this award-winning short has screened at the Director’s Guild of America and at a number of prestigious festivals, including international festivals in Tokyo, Japan and Jaipur, India. From the hearts of passionate, emerging filmmakers, “Two Paper Nightingales” is truly an elevated and radiant adventure.

  • Kaylin George
    Director
  • Kaylin George
    Writer
  • Jeffrey Haskell
    Producer
  • Georgia Franklin-Willis
    Producer
  • Yukina Takase
    Key Cast
  • Narisa Suzuki
    Key Cast
  • Ria Patel

    Key Cast
  • Shreya Jhalani

    Key Cast
  • Félixe de Becker
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Fairy tale, Fantasy, Fiction, Alternative
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 46 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 24, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    12,498 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, French, Hindi, Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Red Scarlet Dragon
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Chapman University
  • Student Academy Award Finalist
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Finalist
  • Vail Film Festival
    Vail
    United States
  • Jaipur International Film Festival
    Jaipur
    India
  • Temple Japan International Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    April 1, 2019
  • Pasadena International Film Festival
    Pasadena
    United States
  • Burbank International Film Festival
    Burbank
    United States
  • Leo Freedman First Cut - DGA
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 17, 2019
  • Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
    Fort Lauderdale
    United States
  • Lady Filmmakers Festival
    Beverly Hills
    United States
  • Nevada Women's Film Festival
    Las Vegas
    United States
Director Biography - Kaylin George

Kaylin Melia George is an award-winning writer, director, and entrepreneurial maverick. In her early career, Kaylin’s first short film immediately caught the attention of the entertainment world with a nomination for a Student Academy Award. Later, Kaylin's passion and dedication saw her promoted to the position of full-time Resident Writer & Director at an LA-based production company. In this role, she expanded her portfolio to include national commercials for publicly traded companies and compelling documentary pieces for some of the most recognizable nonprofits in the world—including a documentary featurette commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund, which premiered for the United Nations. In 2023, Kaylin ventured into the world of literature with her premiere book, Aloha Everything. The book became the #1 most successful AAPI children's book to ever launch on Kickstarter. When the title was later released for traditional retail markets through all major book retailers (including Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, Amazon, and more) the book was awarded a Pele Award and the coveted Kirkus star as well as rising to #1 Amazon Best Seller for New Releases in its category. Today, as the Vice President of Development at Mythify Studios, Kaylin continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and world building. Balancing her roles as a director and a key player in development, she remains dedicated to crafting stories that resonate deeply with audiences on a global scale.

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Director Statement

Before man invented written language, before the wheel, before nearly every cornerstone of humanity as we know it, people told stories. When I was a young girl, my mother read me fairy-tales. There was one story in particular that I always returned to. This story rooted itself in a specific time and place with mentions of food, clothing, and names. Tucked inside the cover of the book was a note reminding the audience that this story originated from Iranian culture. Years later, at university, I still had a love for fairy-tales. One day, I found the exact story I heard as a child-- only, the food, clothing, and names had changed. This time, the book claimed that the story had originated in Greece. In that moment, I felt that the idea of a story “belonging” to a group of people was very odd— when the world’s best stories are the ones that transcend all boundaries and are shared between different peoples. From the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Odyssey, the stories that persevere as folklore and fairy-tales are proof that, as different as we may seem, we all share many of the same core values: honesty, loyalty, friendship, and family. “Two Paper Nightingales” is a fairy-tale which intercuts between the perspectives of three warring cultures, as the lovely princesses of each group struggle between prejudice or acceptance of those who are “other.” Ultimately the women will have to discover a universal human experience in order to be reunited with each other. My team and I created this film to show that, through story, we can discover that the things which makes us all different are less important than the things which makes us all the same.