What's It Like to Be in Film School? We Asked Lauren Forlow!

Lauren Forlow is opening the scene of her film career as she enters her last year of college in the Fall of 2024. Forlow’s first major film that she wrote and directed is called Loose Change, and her most recent film is I’m Thinking Of Ending Things. Lauren’s goal after college is to enter the field of sound, with a focus on live sound mixing or post-production sound editing. All in all, she’s very excited to step into the film industry.

By: Abbie Overdorf 

After originally attending college for musical theatre, Lauren Forlow found her passion for filmmaking at Messiah University. Forlow’s decision to enroll in college was to delay thinking about her future—until she fell in love with everything behind the camera. 

“I graduate next May. I’m so excited to just start my life and to start a job, move to a city, and get all the good stuff rolling,” Lauren said in an interview with Zhive. 

Lauren grew up in Seaspan, Canada, a small Japanese fishing village that borders Vancouver. She appreciates Canada for its public transportation as well as being able to grow up around different cultures, beliefs, and media. She now lives in rural Pennsylvania, where she attends college. Lauren is a Christian at heart and when she’s not filming a project for class, she’s working at Daybreak Church as a videographer. 

Loose Change, Lauren’s first major project, is about a girl who finds a magical coin that changes her hair, body shape, facial structure, and clothing. She thinks that all she needs to do to be happy is to look how society expects her to look. In the end, the girl realizes that she doesn’t need to change how she appears. She only needs to accept herself, love herself, and know that there are people around her who love her for who she is. It becomes clear to her that it’s better to be herself than to live like someone she’s not.  

Lauren confesses that the piece was a soul-healing film and discusses how any form of art brings healing: “We use [art] as human beings to express ourselves and our true, deep emotions because sometimes it’s just really hard to be a human being, and we need to process it in a way, and the arts is like one of the most impactful ways.” 

Lauren told Zhive that she wrote and directed Loose Change for her film class in the fall of her sophomore year. She was going through a lot, changing her major as well as losing several friends. For a long time, Lauren believed what the girl in the film believed, that you have to change your appearance—hair, body, and clothes—to be happy. However, Lauren eventually discovered that at the end of the day, there’s only one you, and you shouldn’t change who you are for other people. The right people will love you just the way you are. They won’t expect you to change even when the world tells you to. 

Lauren Forlow’s recent film, I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, is a personal story about her experience with her brother’s drug and alcohol addiction. 

“The idea came to me through a letter I wrote to my parents basically saying, ‘I don’t want to be associated with our family anymore, like I can’t deal with this anymore. He needs to go get help, and he refuses to go get help.’ I revisited this letter one day when I had gotten this assignment for class,” Lauren confessed. 

This project provided a lot for Lauren. She was able to tell the story of how siblings are affected by addiction, which is an aspect that is often not talked about. The film carries conflicting themes of jealousy and empathy towards family members and how to overcome it. Even though Lauren says directing is not her strong suit, she appreciates how understanding and patient the crew, actors, and actresses were. 

Lauren and the majority of her crew became very emotional when her actress read the final part of the letter in her film. She used the actual letter she wrote to her parents, removing some of the more private parts of it. Lauren recalls that moment in her interview with Zhive, “For me, it was a true reflection of finally getting to see somebody read this letter, that I wrote to my parents, read it to a parental figure because I had never sent it to them, so it was just a very full circle moment.” 

In July of 2021, while on summer break, Lauren was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. She had tried to get diagnosed when she was a child, but was told she was “too social.” Today, she is glad for the diagnosis. It has helped her understand how she processes and feels things differently, as well as how to navigate life.

When asked what she’s learned about the industry, Lauren pokes fun at how many people hate doing sound, a part of production that she loves. She, however, told Zhive an important note she’s learned. 

“You need to advocate for yourself because nobody else will. That’s something I struggle with because I don’t want to step on other people’s toes, but in order to break into this industry, sometimes you have to,” Lauren says. “It’s not necessarily in a bad way. It’s just trying to get your foot in the door and say, ‘Hey, I am more qualified than other people, and you need to see what I’m doing and to believe in me, and you need to trust me because I will give you the product you desire.’ You need to make sure you are known and that your presence is seen.” 

Networking is a huge part of the film industry. Lauren’s advice for upcoming filmmakers is to put yourself out there, make a LinkedIn profile, go to events and film festivals, and talk to people. Start by filming weddings, birthday parties, or nature. You never know who you’ll meet or who you’ll be able to connect with. It’s very important, even if it’s scary. 

At the moment, Lauren’s favorite movie genre is comedy-horror. She enjoys weird little movies that are borderline bad. For her final project before graduation, she and a couple of her friends are making a horror film.

“We’re trying to really create this atmosphere through visuals and through sound and composition to make something that we’re going to be really proud of and that fits into the standard of horror,” Lauren said, speaking about her next project. 

As for the future, Lauren Forlow hopes to go into the sound aspect of film, doing foley work or post-production sound editing. Lauren is very passionate about sound design. 

“I love doing live sound mixing and boom. It really makes or breaks how something sounds if it’s not boomed correctly or if it’s not mixed properly on set,” she told Zhive.

Through Lauren Forlow’s films, she hopes to bring characters to life that can reflect everyone, characters that anyone can connect with. She aims for her films to be relatable and to be as healing to people everywhere as they are to her. 

To learn more about Lauren Forlow and her film career, you can visit her website. You can also find her on Youtube, Linkedin, and Instagram. Follow this aspiring filmmaker to see what she creates next!