STUDENT SPOTLIGHT – REESE TILMAN | YEAR 8

A SHORT FILM BY REESE TILMAN (YEAR 8)

At ISW International School, we love watching our students turn big dreams into reality. We are thrilled to introduce Reese Tilman, a student who isn’t waiting until "grown-up" status to kickstart her filmmaking career.

With a passion for storytelling and a vision for the big screen, Reese aspires to be a professional movie director. She’s already putting those ambitions into motion by writing and directing an original short film, which will make its grand debut at our ISW Arts and Culture Exhibition!

Balancing creativity, leadership, and technical skill, Reese is a fantastic example of the initiative and dedication we cherish in our student community. Keep an eye out for her name on Hollywood marquees in the future—but for now, you can catch her premiere right here on campus.

Reese, what first sparked your love for filmmaking, and who are the directors or movies that inspire your vision the most?

What first sparked my love for filmmaking was the process of getting to where I am today. It started back when I was about 8 years old making silly little movies with my childhood best friend in my backyard during lockdown in 2020. I didn’t know it yet but I was already acquiring some movie directing skills! Then at about 9-10 years old, when I joined the theater on my military base back in Belgium, there I acted in a play called “ Matilda”. I got a real taste of being on some sort of set with a full cast and people helping out with everything. On the nights we had our performances, sometimes it would get chaotic backstage. I was the person who was in command when nobody else was back there with us. A few months later our play had one over 8 awards at this big ceremony combining every theater from U.S bases in the area. I learned that hard work paid off. The award for best director went to our Director and I just saw the way it lit up his face. About a year later I had to answer the common question : “ What do you want to be when you grow up?”. Honestly, I had no idea. That question jumped around in my brain for what seemed like FOREVER. After some thought it just clicked. I wanted to be a movie director. I wanted my stories and skills on the big screen, to be enjoyed by lots of people like the movie director that inspired me, James Cameron. James Cameron’s movie Titanic is a huge inspiration to. This to me is an incredible movie that ended up super big time. He inspires me because he simply makes incredible movies and creates an atmosphere in his movies that you feel a part of, like you're there with the characters. I want to make movies like him. What started as simple movies in my backyard eventually became the career I dream of pursuing. Directors like James Cameron showed me how powerful filmmaking can be when a story truly makes people feel
something. I hope that one day I can direct films that leave the same lasting impact on audiences that Titanic left on me.

Can you give us a little teaser about your upcoming short film? What was the inspiration behind the story, and what has been the most exciting part about directing your peers?

The title of the movie pretty much sums up what it’s about, feeling invisible, feeling ignored. Pretty much a feeling everyone has felt at least once before. The inspiration behind the story is something that a lot of girls feel with the large amount of social media present in our daily lives. The inspiration comes from people who hide behind their screens. People who act so much differently online than in real life. For me the most exciting part about directing my peers was probably wrapping up a scene for the day or accomplishing way more than expected, this just makes everyone in the team feel like they have a part and that everyone worked together and really can accomplish great things as a team. The film highlights how social media can make people feel unseen, judged, or disconnected, even when surrounded by others. I wanted to create something relatable and honest that audiences, especially young people, could recognise in their own lives. The experience of directing my peers made me realise how rewarding filmmaking truly is, because every successful scene felt like proof that collaboration and creativity can turn simple ideas into something meaningful.

Every director faces a few hurdles on set. What is one challenge you ran into while making this film, and how did you solve it?

A big challenge we faced on set was the dreaded hallway echos. When filming in the hallways and almost every room, there was an extreme echo. This made the audio for the film incredibly uneven. To fix this I worked with the music teacher Mr. Jo and we re-did all audio voice over and audio effects and noises until it sounded to our liking.

What do you think is the most important skill a good director needs to have, and how has your time at ISW helped you develop it?

A very important skill a good director needs to have is FAR communication and reasoning skills. Without good communication and organization all will fail. Everyone needs to be informed exactly what is happening and when it’s happening. This keeps the cast and crew sharp and ready for what you have to do that day, my way of staying communicated with my cast and crew was having a schedule for almost everything I did. Filming dates, a schedule. Audio dates, a schedule. Meetings, a schedule. I also made sure every time I had an update I made sure to let everybody know, even if it wasn’t concerning them. My time at ISW helped me develop my sense of communication by allowing me to feel open to speaking to people. If I didn’t feel comfortable speaking to certain people I pretty much wouldn’t have done this. But I felt very comfortable and open to express my feelings and ideas to people who would listen to me and help me. My time at ISW helped me develop strong communication and organization skills by giving me the confidence to openly share ideas and keep my cast and crew informed and prepared.

After the curtain falls at the ISW Art Show, what is your next big project or step toward making your dream of directing a reality?

My next steps to achieving my dream are to just never give up, to keep making short films. I have to remind myself often that doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. I have to keep looking towards the future and do what I need to do. Because one day I honestly just want to say “ I made it.” The next steps I will keep taking are simply just making more short films, films, scripts, ideas, stories and mistakes. Because to become the best director I can be I need to make those crucial mistakes. My dream will become reality through hard work, passion, and perseverance, and I will continue creating films until I become the director I know I can be.