Inspired projects created at VFS live on after students graduate. As part of our commitment to exposing our best student work to the world, we upload many films to the VFS YouTube channel and also submit them to international festivals and competitions.

Perfect example: Cyburbia, a short film directed by Film Production grad Arun Fryer, went up on YouTube in September of last year and has engaged a growing audience of fans. This week, it’ll hit the screen at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF).

Showcasing a high level of student achievement, Cyburbia examines themes relevant to our increasing reliance on digital communication. We asked Arun to tell us a bit more about the making of the film, his time spent at VFS, and what he’s up to now.

Hi, Arun. Can you start off by telling us a bit about what drew you to filmmaking?

Arun: I originally enrolled in film school to learn how to make documentaries. I believe we are living in a golden age of docs, and I wanted to participate in the expanding and evolving medium. That said, while in VFS I fell in love with fictional storytelling and became fascinated with the creative process of putting together a film and all of its many parts.

How would you characterize the year you spent here at VFS?

Arun: My year at VFS was one of the best and most rewarding years of my life. To be able to devote an entire year learning the craft and techniques of filmmaking is a real privilege, and although the program was intensely challenging, I fulfilled a dream of directing three short films: Tic, Tomorrow’s Love, and Cyburbia.

But, to be honest, the best part of the program is the people and contacts you meet at VFS; the school is a beacon for attracting some of the top talent around the world, and I know I’ll still be working with some of my classmates for many years to come.

What was the inspiration for Cyburbia?

Arun: Cyburbia is based on a classmate’s script originally called “Clandestine”, by Jackson Harper. He wrote a story in which people were able to access the online world through brain implants, as told through two characters, Joseph and Lynne, who struggle to stay alive when the implants begin to fail and kill the user.

Jackson originally intended it as a government or CIA plot to take over people’s brains, but the producer, Josh Stern, and I steered the story to focus more on the couple of the story and what their lives would be like if one of them had the implant and the other didn’t. We also changed the title to further reflect the shift in focus.

What was the production process like? Were there any specific challenges?

Arun: It was a challenging script to produce, especially when dealing with things like tasers and bloody head wounds, but we were blessed with great actors – Bradley Stryker, Natalie Moon, and David McGlade – who brought our world to life and made the process fun and enjoyable. Our biggest obstacle was trying to figure out how to show the brain implants onscreen, and eventually we settled on 2 blue stick-on dots, which in turn acted as a tracker for our digital designer to make them glow red later on.

Last year you worked on Growing Up Julianne, an Entertainment Business Management final project. What was that experience like?

Arun: Growing Up Julianne was another great experience through VFS. I had never been involved in a fantasy production before, and it seemed like an interesting concept based on the script. Both the producer, [EBM grad] Sandra Gonzales and the director, Juan Riedinger, were a pleasure and an inspiration to work with, and I think the finished product shows their hard work.

What are you working on now?

Arun: I am currently directing a documentary about online aggression called “Don’t Feed the Trolls”, which happens to be another EBM final project and is being produced by [current student] Jen Conley. I’m also working on a web series with another VFS grad, Drew Hutchinson, which is scheduled to begin production in August.

Thanks, Arun! Best of luck for Cyburbia at SIFF!