Behind the Scenes

Chapter 1

Ryan

Ms. Begg's Contemporary Filmmaking class is a cult favorite at my school. It's only for seniors, and it's reserved for students on the filmmaking track here at Performance Collaborative Academy. There are a total of ten people enrolled this semester.

I'm looking around and wondering how we're actually going to pull this off. Ms. Begg has us split up by gender (Frankie, the only non-binary person in the class, got to pick their team. They picked the girls.), and she's rolling her infamous assignment wheel to the front of the room. It's like the Wheel of Fortune, but every wedge has a different genre of film written on it.

"Okay, everyone. Pick a point person for your team." She takes a shoebox from her desk and waits.

I survey our team. There are only four of us— obviously all guys.

Me, Ryan Sellers, who loves film production, but couldn't care less about acting. It's a blessing and a curse that I'm actually a pretty good actor, because I've always gotten stuck with the lead part in projects like this one.

Caleb Valdez— Latino heartthrob and bound to become a hotshot director before age thirty. He's got the eye and the balls for it.

Victor Sobol— renown here at the Academy for playing an excellent villain. In real life, he's really shy and kind of a big dork. In a good way.

Last to be named in the group is Matthew Avery. He's basically a seventeen year-old version of Brad Pitt, taking this class to round out his portfolio. He's hoping for a romantic lead, because somehow that is the part of his experience that's lacking on screen.

We all swing our heads to look at Caleb, who's already pushing aside his notebook to stand up. Caleb's the only possible option. He's more responsible than all of the rest of us put together.

Frankie saunters up to Ms. Begg's desk behind Caleb.

"Okay, point people. Here's the deal. You each spin the wheel to determine the genre of your short film project." She waves Frankie toward the wheel, who spins it with a flourish. It lands on "90's action" and Frankie pumps a fist in the air.

"Please tell me we can use explosives." They plead.

"Not so fast." Ms. Begg puts a hand up in protest. "There's a twist."

"Plot twist!" One of the girls yells. Shayna. Long, straight brown hair and a loud mouth. Ms. Begg ignores her.

"I want you to draw a card from this box to find out who your protagonist will be." She extends it to Frankie.

"What does that mean?" Frankie asks skeptically. The only answer is a shake of the box. Frankie shrugs and pulls a card out. Their eyes scan the card and a smile curls their lips up. They have a stunning smile, and I imagine them as a queer Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. "Trans man." They read the card aloud. "90's action flick with a trans protagonist. We are so going to ace this."

Caleb is up next. He spins the wheel in a more restrained manner. It lands on "teen romance," and Matt claps loudly as Caleb grabs a card from the box and reads it. He looks up at Matt, eyebrows raised and smirks just the slightest bit.

"Teen romance with a fat female lead, Matthew. It's your lucky day."

Matt freezes and slumps back into his chair.

"The reason for this little twist is to open the opportunity for you to explore the experiences of marginalized people. It will make you better artists, and it will make you better people." Ms. Begg explains. Caleb and Frankie make their way back to their seats, and Caleb immediately starts writing something in his notebook. Victor leans over and says something to him, and he nods. "I'll let you have the rest of the class period to brainstorm and divide responsibilities. You're allowed to ask for outside help as long as the bulk of the work rests on your team's shoulders. Good luck!"