Starting Monday, October 27 for six weeks meet film industry professionals who are from South Carolina, sharing foundational techniques in storytelling, camera operation, lighting, production design, sound and editing.
Columbia native director and writer Shayla Raquel reminds filmmakers that every great film begins with STORY.
A story has structure, a clear beginning, middle, and end. It has characters we care about, a conflict or obstacles that challenge the characters while they are on their journey, and last but not least, a major change that makes the journey worth watching.
Let's take my short film The Off Brands as an example. We meet Constance, who considers herself an off brand, invisible to her classmates, being met by conflict and obstacles like mean former friends, her chronic illness, and keeping her hair cute. By the end, something in her completely shifts.
So before you pick up that camera, build your world on the page. That's where the true filmmaking magic begins with story.
Learn more about how to submit your film to the 2026 NextLens Online Film Festival.
The Off-Brands is a coming-of-age film set in the year 2004 that follows Constance McKinney, a quirky Black teenager who wants to become known in her southern high school for something other than being sickly.
