The end of high school.

Throughout high school, I was pulling off straight A's, and I could get into any program I want. I was hesitating between a science program, a literature program and a cinema program. I knew I needed to be thoughtful about this. It was kind of maddening.

Choice 1 : Apply in literature.

Choice 2 : Apply in cinema.

Choice 3 : Apply in science.

Apply in literature.

Since my childhood, I have always admired the great works of western literature. My teenage years were mostly spent alone at the library, getting sucked up in novels. At the beginning, I felt like the program was made for me. I even got the opportunity to get an internship in a library.

Choice 1 : Library internship.

Apply in cinema.

I'm now in a cinema program ! Movies are part of my life since I was a little kid. I don't have much experience with a camera but that's why I'm here. I can't wait to make a first short film.

Choice 1 : Make a first short film.

Apply in science.

This environment felt strangely hostile. People were constantly in competition with one another and there was no team spirit. It was all about whose getting the best grades. It felt so hierarchical. Individual human qualities faded behind the triumph of numbers. I could see it everywhere. I wasn't at the bottom of this social pyramid, but I didn't find myself at the top either. I was in between everything. It felt so alienating. I needed to go. I had two choices : taking a break and volunteering abroad or just dropping out and working.

Choice 1 : Dropping out.

Choice 2 : Volunteer abroad.

Dropping out.

I found myself a small job in a hardware store. It was hard work, and I earned my money by the sweat of my brow, but at least my colleagues felt like real people. They were sincere and authentic. It was refreshing. My blue collar colleagues kept telling me that I should go back to school, that I was too smart for this kind of job. They told me I should get back into school, but into a program I liked. That's when I thought about cinema and literature.

Choice 1 : Apply in literature.

Choice 2 : Apply in cinema.

Volunteer abroad.

When I arrived at the airport with the other volunteers, Germany felt like a breath of fresh air. My science program had felt a dead end job. A very nice man came to pick us up and brought us to the orphanage. When I arrived there, I felt like I found my purpose. I wanted to volunteer, to give back. All these children and their difficult lives made me understand something about my life : I need to be grateful. Travelling abroad was a gift. Volunteering is a gift. This was my premium wage : helping others. I was going to stay in Germany.

Choice 1 : The end of high school.

Bookstore internship.

It was not like I thought it would be. It felt like everyone at the library was just there to make money. At this place, profit must have been the word I heard most often. It didn't feel like people had a passion for literature. I was expecting a haven of culture and knowledge, and I felt more often than not disconnected about the work. And all that without forgetting all the office politics. Employees were more interested in undermining other people's work than selling books. That constant hindering was frankly discouraging. It got so much to my head that I wanted to burn the book store.

Choice 1 : Burn the book store.

Burn the book store.

Pages and flames swirled in a terrible dance that drifted serenely towards the blazing sky. And I laughed, and I laughed like Icarus when he fell. The commercial aspirations of this declining company were falling apart and I couldn't be happier.

Choice 1 : Wake up.

Wake up.

I woke suddenly and had an epiphany : literature was visibly not for me and I really needed to find a program that I liked. I should apply for cinema.

Choice 1 : Apply in cinema.

Make a first short film.

I met two wonderful people at the program. Their names are Robert and Anna. However, there is a problem. Our teacher asked us to make teams of only two. Anna wants to be my art director while Robert wants to be my cinematographer. I have to choose between the two.

Choice 1 : Work with Anna.

Choice 2 : Work with Robert.

Work with Anna.

Since I've chosen Anna, I'll need to be my own cinematographer. I'm a little stressed out, but it's fine. It's maybe to my benefit to learn how to work with the camera. I'll need to learn what an aperture, shutter speed and what's a two shot! If I move forward a little in time, let's get to the film set of the short film. Anna arrived late, and I'm doing all the leg work. It's starting to irritate me.

Choice 1 : Get frustrated.

Choice 2 : Stay calm.

Work with Robert.

Robert is already used to the camera. He brought his own equipment to the set : Steadicam, boom pole and apple boxes. As a director, he's very valuable to me, but he's very bossy. He withholds the camera for himself. I'm starting to get a little irritated.

Choice 1 : Get frustrated.

Choice 2 : Stay calm.

Get frustrated.

They're looking at me like I'm the crazy one! I'm not the problem here. I'm getting out of here. This is not for me.

Choice 1 : The end of high school.

Stay calm.

Let's take this step by step. We don't need to yell at each other. I can handle this calmly. Let's put those issues behind us and concentrate on making a good film.

Choice 1 : Submit the short film to a festival.

Submit the short film to a festival.

The short film was a success! My teachers loved it and encouraged me to send it to a film festival, and it got accepted! I'm so excited to finally see it on a big screen. I feel like an auteur.

Choice 1 : Go network with people at the festival.

Go network with people at the festival.

After the projection, there were so many people from the industry standing around, and I thought it would be a great opportunity otherwise expand my network. As I was talking to them, I realized there was some corruption going around. Producers were paying the festival organizers for the prizes!

Choice 1 : Call them out on the corruption.

Choice 2 : Say nothing.

Call them out on the corruption.

I intervened. It was theft. I told those producers what I thought, and we started to fight. Turned out they were some of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, my career was done for.

Choice 1 : The end of high school.

Say nothing.

I passively watched them. I even went to them and gave them my phone number. I felt absolutely disgusting about that. A few days later, I received a call from one of them.

Choice 1 : Get an internship at the production company.

Get an internship at the production company.

The film industry is rotten. Everyone's corrupt. Nothing is legit. But I'm still there. I'm working as a lightning technician. I'm basically manipulating barn doors all day long. I need to get out of here. It was a dream, but it now feels like a dead end job. Maybe should I try to write a new short film?

Choice 1 : Work on your next short film.

Work on your next short film.

This one will be the one.

Choice 1 : The end of high school.