Every independent filmmaker dreams for their work to be projected onto the silver screen.

For a McNeil student and filmmaker, this dream has become reality.

Julian Montez entered his junior year with three official films under his belt, the last being No. 45, a 30-minute short film that used the campus as a backdrop to a dark satire which questioned the current system in schools. His other films include Afterlife and The Last Thing I Said to Her.

Julian’s most recent film, Epilogue, was accepted into the Los Angeles Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals across the globe, and will premier at the Arclight theater as part of the Festival’s future filmmakers section June 1-9. Members of the team behind Epilogue will fly out to view their work on the big screen.

“I was excited when we got the news, but not too surprised,” junior Sophie Niles said. “Everyone in the production is so talented and passionate about the film; it just seemed there was no way things wouldn’t work out with all the positivity and effort put into Epilogue.“

The film follows two people making peace with their lives as the world around them comes to an end. Niles and senior Jude Benham act off of each other as Lena Holloway and Alexander, respectively.

“The process was really interesting,” Benham said. “Sophie was only available for half a day, so we had to film the entirety of the movie in just a few hours. To top it off, it started to rain. Luckily we had an extremely talented cast and crew that were able to work under the circumstances and create something truly viable.”

Montez, Niles and Benham weren’t the only McNeil Students working on the project.  Alumni Thomas Blanks and Andrew Herrmann served at Director of Photography and Musical Composer. Herrmann is a member of a local rock band, Polymer, and offered insight on the musical process of the film.

“My part involved seeing the finished visual project and figuring out what music to add,” Herrmann said. “Julian worked with me to find the emotional heights of the film that needed to be matched with the music that would give audiences the intended feeling he was looking for. I started playing something on the bass without thinking about it too much and Julian just looked at me with wide eyes and told me to record it.”

Originally, the film was bound for the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

“[SXSW] had a time limit of five minutes and that was very interesting to me, the idea of only having five minutes left and what one would say in that short time,” Montez said. “We spent about $200 to rent wireless microphones and a dolly for the main five minute tracking shot on the two actors. When we set everything up it began to rain, of course, so we changed locations to a covered bench, set up a large tarp for the camera, and rolled with it. I was a bit worried because we were running out of time and every take was running at six and a half minutes.”

This was a problem since films more than five minutes were disqualified in the SXSW Film festival.

“My actors ended up pulling me aside and cut down lines that weren’t absolutely necessary. I wasn’t sure it would work, but we ran it with their cuts and got a time of 4:58.”

Epilogue was not accepted into the SXSW Film Festival and made it to semifinals in the Texas UIL Film Festival, but news from one of the most prestigious film contests in the world more than made up for it.

“I believe anyone with the talent and drive are bound to make it in the industry, so when I heard the news I was both grateful and – in a way – unsurprised,” Montez said.

The cast and crew will fly to Los Angeles to catch the film festival and attend the Future Filmmakers event held in their honor. Montez already has plans for the near future, having been funded to film a feature this summer. Keep an eye out for Montez’s next film, Wind, coming out late 2016.