“I know some people would feel represented if they see the film.”

Senior Samiya Ellis is creating her first self-directed horror short film “Loralie/Lorelei” about a young Black girl who attends an all white school, with one of her biggest inspirations being the horror film “Carrie.”

“[Carrie is] always portrayed by a beautiful [white] actress and I always wondered what she would be like if it was a Black main focus,” Ellis said. “I wanted to get rid of certain stereotypes and I want the main character, Lorelei, to have more of a soft focus. I definitely wanted a soft black girl type [to play the main character] because you usually don’t see that a lot in the media.”

Ellis would realize that in all the films she watched since sixth grade featured a majority of white actors. She also faced experiences that would set her apart in middle school, contributing to this realization.

“In some classes, I was the only Black girl and some people would say, ‘You don’t act Black,’” Ellis said. “I was like, ‘What does that even mean?’ I did want to start writing more stuff like [“Loralie/Lorelei”] in eighth grade where [young Black girls] weren’t so stereotyped. But [that experience] did affect my middle school years and the way I saw it myself.”

Because of her quiet nature, people would comment on that negatively in middle school, which affected Ellis.

“The stereotype is that we are loud and ratchet, and it made me upset when I was younger, and [my classmates] were always upset that I wasn’t like that and that I was more of a quiet, mousy type,” Ellis said.

That is what prompted Ellis to self-direct her own short film: getting rid of that stereotype for many young Black women and bringing more black actors to the screen.

Freshman Zahra Aboagye, playing the main character, Lorelei, in the film, also cares about reaching a young audience of color, especially from the acting side.

“It’s rare to see women of color in these roles at all, so I think it’s definitely important for this movie to get made,” Aboagye said.

Aboagye is hoping that some younger Black audiences will relate and feel a sense of representation with this film.

“[I want to reach] other teenage girls, other people that would fit into who I am, a teenage woman of color,” Aboagye said.

Ellis had been planning to submit this film for the Texas Thespian Short Film Festival in November 2023, but because she was so busy, she never did. However, she was still committed to her self-directed film and wanted to see it through to the end, especially since self-directing would look better on college resumes.

“I want to direct it myself to get that experience because I have experience with stage directing, but I want to try a film directing route,” Ellis said.

This process hasn’t come without its challenges though.

“The thing about short films is that it’s actually more complicated having more than at least two people in the process because you have to get the scheduling together and get all the permissions to film in different locations,” Ellis said.

Even though she is mainly directing the film by herself, she does have an assistant director who helps with props and scheduling of the actors, junior Miroslava Conflenti.

Conflenti is one of Ellis’s closest friends and partner for an even larger project that they have been working on since December: a website for aspiring youth in film.

“We wanted to create an outlet where young writers, directors and actors all work together, and we get them started [with their short film].” Ellis said. “I know it can be hard to get started when you don’t have much support and this would be a way to get them that support.”

The platform is also where Ellis will upload her short film as a start. Their Instagram, @b18filmproductions, is how they are spreading word currently about the website also named b18filmproductions.

While the short film is geared more towards a young audience of color, the website is more than that. It’s for everyone.

“It’s for anyone who doesn’t have the opportunity to go to an agency and say, ‘Hey, I can’t get the resources [for this film] because of a financial thing or because I’m being discriminated against,’”Conflenti said. “This is for everyone. If you have a dream, we believe that you can go ahead and have a chance to connect.”

In the future, once the website has been published, their goal is to spread the website past Bellaire.

“I definitely want to spread this further because I am graduating this year and I know I want to go to college for a film major, so I know that I’ll meet other people who are passionate about it,” Ellis said. “Since Miros is staying here next year, she could [gather support] here, I can form students wherever I go, and it can be a whole thing. We can all encourage each other.”

Even though “Loralie/Lorelei” is Ellis’s first short film, she is not planning on it being her last.

“I would definitely want this to be my career,” Ellis said. “It’s definitely something I’m really passionate about and it’s definitely something I really know how to do. I think if I have enough support, then I definitely would want to do this [in the future].”