Shelley, a film by Ian Carr PO ’10 and his childhood friend Andrew Wesman, was recently accepted as an official selection in the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation competition for student films. The 21-minute film—Wesman’s senior thesis project for Harvard University—was one of 13 films selected from a pool of over 1,600 applicants.

Carr plans to make the trip to France the day after he graduates with a degree in computer science. Carr sat down with The Student Life to talk about the film and the experience of a lifetime.

The Student Life: What is Shelley about?

Ian Carr PO ‘10: It’s about a young girl, a 14-year-old girl named Shelley, and her boyfriend Roger. One night they commit a horrendous act and the repercussions of that continue through that night and the next day.

TSL: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

IC: The film was directed by my good friend Andrew [Wesman]. We decided that we wanted to turn his thesis film into a project that I would be involved in. We threw around a lot of ideas and were interested in doing something a bit more on the thriller side of things. I don’t know if the resulting film can actually be called a thriller, but it had some dramatic aspects to it.

It was a long process. I wrote the original draft of the story and literally the only thing that the story has in common with the film that we have today is the name of the characters. We went through 20 - 30 drafts before coming up with a story we liked, and then Andrew went and adapted that into a screenplay. I wrote the first story idea during finals week of the fall semester of my Junior year, and the film was filmed in late June-early July. And that’s just for 21 minutes of film.

TSL: What did you do as producer, and what was that experience like?

IC: It was stressful in a good way. We were a low-budget student film, and we didn’t have the luxury of a full supporting crew. We had a decent size crew—including actors, there were about 11 people who were actively involved in the production.

I played my role as a producer: if there were any questions that we needed to answer, I had to have the answers. What were we doing next? How were we going to eat? How were we going to have 11 people living in an isolated house that’s also a live set? And that’s just during the production.

I was also heavily involved in both the pre- and post-production. These past few weeks, back when our acceptance into Cannes was still confidential, every week i had some reason to go to LA.

TSL: So you and Andrew have worked together before?

IC: Andrew and I have been best friends growing up. We grew up next door to each other. While some friends go hiking together or play video games, Andrew and I, since middle school, used to make films together. It’s how we bonded. So, it’s been wonderful. It’s never been about “oh, let’s get into some festival,” it’s always been about telling the story and just being with my best friend making films. I couldn’t be happier working with him on set.

TSL: What were your expectations for the film?

IC: Cannes was not something we even discussed or even really thought about. For us, making the film we were trying to make the best we could. We were trying to make it a personal best, which I think it is. I’m very proud of it. And even if it hadn’t been accepted into Cannes or even if showed at no festivals, I would still be really proud of it.

When were done with it, we wanted this film to do as well as it could. It really needs a lot of support, even at this point. We are not out of the woods. It’s almost like sending a child off to school.

We got out sound work done at Skywalker Sound and the sound engineer who did it, Juan Perlta did the sound for Avatar, for Wall-E, for Where the Wild Things Are. This is one of the most gifted and talented sound engineers in the world, and the way he treated us was like we had some $200 billion film. It’s been such an honor. It’s surreal to be in these places. I’m sitting there thinking, “Francis Ford Coppola was sitting in this room less than a year ago. One of my heroes was here.”

I may never make it back there, but it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

TSL: What was your reaction when your film was selected? The reactions of your friends and family?

IC: Over spring break, I went on a road trip with Andrew. It was wonderful. I had not spent that much time with him since the film shoot.

On the last Sunday of spring break, we were back [at Pomona]. That morning he and I were in my room when he got the email that was accepting us. It was wonderful that we were able to be there together when we were accepted.

I couldn’t speak for about 10 minutes; it was just unbelievable. I’m proud of the film. I always hoped it would do well, but it’s a whole new experience to see in writing that you’ve just got accepted to Cannes.

Andrew and I have been very lucky that our families have always been supportive of what’s not necessarily the wisest career choice. People who are more familiar with the festival are aware of maybe what it means to me emotionally as a filmmaker. Other people aren’t as aware of the film festival, but are still quite excited. There’s been a range, but everyone has been so supportive and so happy for us. It’s really been nice to share that with our actors and the crew. They should all be very proud of what they’ve done.

TSL: What is the cinefondation category? What sort of films are usually in this category?

IC: Cinefondation was created 11 years ago by Cannes as a way to include student films into their official selection. At Cannes, there is a distinction between films that are official selections and films that just play. To be in the official selection is a very large honor.

In those 11 years, it’s only screened 206 films and those films come from a variety of different countries, and they are all student films. Most of those films come from students in graduate school, so were competing against MFA students from around the world. In those 11 years, only 26 of those films were from the United States. They average about 1,500 submissions and, this year, they say they got 1,600. The numbers are sobering.

TSL: What are your expectations for Cannes? What do you hope the reception is?

IC: I’ve never been to Cannes, so I don’t have a very good idea of what to expect. I know I personally plan to enjoy it and soak it all in. This very well could be a once in a lifetime experience, and I plan to treat it as such. We’re going to one of the most beautiful parts of France. We’re going to a legendary film festival. So many amazing filmmakers have screened there. To even be in the city is almost a religious experience for me.

For the film itself, I hope people love it. I really want it to do as well as it can. There are three awards they give out—I would love if it won one, but to be selected is such an honor. I hope to meet people; I’d love to meet those other filmmakers. I just want to enjoy my time there.

TSL: So what do you think: Is Andrew going to get an “A” on his thesis now?

IC: I certainly think he deserves it. Although I think Harvard thesis films are graded on more than just their festival successes. I think the film stands up on its own merits.

Carr will hold a screening of Shelley with a question and answer session May 3 at 6 p.m. in Rose Hills Theater. Check out Shelly online at www.shelleyfilm.com