Spotlight Detail

The First Annual University of California, Irvine Film and Media Studies 2018 Spotlight Showcase

Film and Media Studies 2018 Spotlight Showcase

2018 Alum Honoree, Jess dela Merced-Writer, Producer, Director
 
Jess dela Merced is a Filipina American writer/director from San Francisco. She is currently a director in the Disney ABC directing program. She holds an MFA from the NYU Grad Film Program where she received the Spike Lee Fellowship as well as the Lorraine Hansberry Arts, Performance, and Media Award. Her award winning thesis film “HYPEBEASTS,” written under the mentorship of Spike Lee aired on PBS. Her short film, "Wait 'til the Wolves Make Nice," premiered at SXSW and won the Grand Jury Prize in Detroit's Cinetopia International Film Festival. She is currently in development of her first feature film “CHICKENSHIT” in Detroit, Michigan to be produced by Chris Columbus. The feature script is a winner of NYU's 2016 Purple List, a San Francisco Film Society grant recipient, and a Hamptons Screenwriters Lab participant. Jess majored in Film and Media Studies and graduated from UC Irvine in 2009, having won that year’s Film and Media Studies’ Outstanding Production Student Award.  We are proud to honor her at our first Spotlight Showcase. 
Jess dela Merced’s link to her incredible film Hypebeasts https://vimeo.com/170070172
 
FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES 2019 SPOTLIGHT SHOWCASE

GUESTS LEAVING THE THEME PARK
(Karina Acosta, 1:05 Minutes, Color, Documentary, 2018)
At the happiest place on Earth, a crowd disperses after the World of Color show.
 
SIBLING BOND
(Nia Jarquin, 1:11 Minutes, B&W, Documentary, 2018)
What looks like a harmonious bond between siblings, ultimately turns out to be the complete opposite. 
 
TO LET GO
(Lloyd T. Ea, 11 Minutes, Color, Drama, 2018)
A man tries to forget his past as he faces hardships letting go of the one he loves.
 
SCATTERPLOTS
(Kathy Nguyen, 8:08 Minutes, Color, Experimental, 2017)
A young individual identifies with an outlying data point on a scatter plot.
 
CLASSIC DANY
(Theone Ly, 8:44 Minutes, Color, Drama, 2018)
A seemingly typical college student defies her mother in her own battle against ADHD, a widespread mental disorder that’s not being discussed enough.
 
16 MB OF MEMORY
(Hanna Hong, 5:40 Minutes, Color, Experimental, 2018)
Since the recent passing of his mother, a young music producer struggles to create new music.
 
CROSS PATH IN IRVINE, THE PROLOGUE
(Haomin Liu, 5:52 Minutes, Color, Drama, 2018)
Fall wrote a letter to his ex-girlfriend trying to get her back after it was found out that he was cheating on her.
 
BASEBALL
(Elliot Surrey, 3:30 Minutes, B&W, Experimental, 2018)
This experimental film tells the story of UC Irvine baseball players and what goes on behind the scenes and how they prepare themselves from game to game.
 
TINY HUMAN
(Maria Fernanda Dominguez, 3 Minutes, Color, Experimental, 2018)
In a world of giants, this one creature does all but stand out. This is a never seen immersion into her daily existence and a field study to try to understand her peculiar behavior.
 
I SEE RED
(Leatrice Ching, 11:30 Minutes, Color, Science Fiction, 2018)
A modern-day science fiction film about war, focusing not on the outside world but on the individuals affected by it.
 
THE BEGINNING
(Marjorie Lapitan, 11 Minutes, Color, Drama, 2018)
A little boy finds confidence and inspiration from an unlikely source.
 
KNOCK ME OUT
(Joanne Ducot, 6:08 Minutes, Color, Dramatic Comedy, 2018)
A musician finds her voice and confidence through her own music while dealing with some S.H.I.T along the way.
 
HYPEBEASTS
(Jess dela Merced, 19:38 Minutes, Color, Drama, 2013)
Ronny lines up for the latest exclusive sneaker, but when racial tensions intensify in the sneaker line, his fear of not getting the coveted sneakers is quickly replaced with the fear that he and his sister may be in danger.