Glenbrook South Filmmakers Find Perfect Setting For Project At Home

GLENVIEW, IL — Like any filmmakers, a group of current and recently graduated Glenbrook South High School students knew to get their latest project right, finding the right setting was essential.

But when the creators and crew of “All Right”, a short film about a 20-year-old man who strives to do everything right, were looking for the perfect backdrop for their production, they quickly discovered they had to go no farther than their own backyard.

The student filmmakers are wrapping up production on the film this month around Glenview, which serves as the setting for a project that not only puts the group’s filmmaking and storytelling skills to good use but is also giving the aspiring artists some real-world experience.

The project is an extension of the skills the students learned in the classroom at Glenbrook South. The filmmakers raised more than $7,000 through a GoFundMe effort and a one-day fundraiser at Glenview’s Laughing Academy, which featured five local high school bands.

The money raised covers the cost of equipment, film locations, props, costumes, and talent. But for the film’s director, Noah Collins — a recent Glenbrook South graduate who is headed to film school at Syracuse University in the fall — the project served as a chance to put everything he and his fellow students have learned into action.

Production began in early June after Collins, assistant director Omar Shoreibah, Will Kasher and Josh Patt wrote a 22-page screenplay. The script came out of an extensive brainstorming session in which the filmmakers collaborated to think out every possible scenario in the plot, which chronicles the main character’s efforts to keep his aunt’s flower shop open while following a strict moral code.

The story dives into how the desire to live by the book affects the character's personality and actions as he considers his own moral standing in the community.

After Glenbrook South teacher Julie Benca, who teaches Advanced Film and TV and the school, set the foundation for the group’s filmmaking skills, the group took it from there. From keeping the project on schedule and working within the budget they created after raising the funds for the film the group has worked throughout the summer to make the film a reality.

“I think it’s really great to have that we made this project and that a lot of it does take place in Glenview with these people that we kind of grew up with,” Collins told Patch this week. “Now that we’re all graduated and going off to different film schools all across the nation, we kind of have this memory and this visual example and project of what the town was and the people that we can have forever.”

“All Right” follows up an award-winning short film “Free Time” which was first featured at Glenbrook South’s 2022 Variety Show and was honored with a top Crystal Pillar Student Production Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chicago/Midwest Chapter in the Short Form Fiction Category.

Like with their first project, the filmmakers are hoping to submit “All Right” for some awards later this year, But with many of the crew headed in new directions as they begin college, the opportunity to work together in a familiar setting was too good to pass up.

“With many of us going off to college this fall, we weren’t ready for this experience to end,” Shoreibah said. “So we all got together and decided to make a 20-minute movie.”

The filmmakers wanted to make Glenview seem as realistic as possible and Collins said the town the group in provided the perfect setting for the script that “All Right” follows. The combination of Glenview’s eclectic shops and downtown area provided exactly the environment the group was looking for.

With an ideal backdrop, the filmmakers said that the project allowed them to put not only their film skills to work, but also learned the meaning of collaborative teamwork as they filmed and produce the 20-minute production in a relatively short time.

Past projects provided a foundation for how the film came together, but from the extensive work that went into developing the plot to actually seeing the story through to completion provided another level of experience that the filmmakers will take into the next chapter of their young careers.

“This is a great thing to have in all of our pockets going into film school,” Collins said. “Coming off this project, we can kind of be big fish there and really step into more leadership roles in each of our respective programs.”