Project Spotlight: 'LoverGirl', A Rom-Com About Baby Queers

Shawna Khorasani is a San Jose, California based writer, producer, and director and creator behind ‘LoverGirl’, TLL’s next project spotlight. When thinking of how to explain Shawna’s creative vision, her short being spotlighted, ‘LoverGirl’ is a perfect example. It’s an adorable LGBTQ+ romantic comedy about the awkward, anticipatory, and magical moments that can happen in young love. We love seeing a joyful wlw coming of age romance on screen in the female gaze and Shawna shares a very relatable plot as well! 'LoverGirl’ is about Dakota, a queer girl who has a crush on her straight girl BFF, Danny. One day Danny comes out as bisexual and Dakota’s world is rocked- so she turns to planning large romantic gestures (like in the movies!) to woo her crush. ‘LoverGirl’ is any and all queer bbs that have a crush asking themselves, “Is this too much too soon?”. Shawna fell in love with filmmaking and telling LGBTQ+ stories, and since then, has taught herself by attending countless workshops, seminars, mixers, and working on several film sets all over the San Francisco Bay Area. As a queer woman with an immigrant parent, Shawna firmly believes in telling stories for, about, and by the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and marginalized groups. We’re so excited to chat more with her and share ‘LoverGirl’, learn more about Shawna below! <3

What drives you to be a filmmaker?
I love telling stories you don't see every day! I'm a real fan of the underdog and the underlooked people whose stories we may not know. What excites me about being a filmmaker is knowing my voice is unique and only I can tell the stories I want to see. Plus, it's pretty cool creating something and leaving your mark on the world.

How long did this take to shoot?
LoverGirl was shot over the course of around 3 days. It was a lot of work, but everyone had a blast!

What equipment was used to create this project?
My awesome DP Katherine used a Sony camera. For sound, we used Zoom recorders and lav mics, along with a boom pole and other misc pieces. We also used some light reflectors and other misc items, like apple boxes and C-stands.

How have you been able to successfully market your project to festivals?
It was not easy! One of the extra "marketing" things I did was actually inspired by our Consulting Producer Marissa. I made postcards of our final film poster and sent them out to the first and second round of festivals I submitted to, along with writing cover letters with my submissions. Film Freeway is the bomb! Those extra steps seemed to pay off for sure.

What do you wish the world of LGBTQ love lives on screen looked like?
Everyone's love stories and relationships are different. I would love to see many kinds of LGBTQ love stories, romances, and relationships. Messy, complicated, happy, everything. So much of the time with LGBTQ media representation, I feel that audiences tend to see only one portion of our community. There are so many differences and ways to be and exist in the LGBTQ community. Part of my work is to help achieve that.

What creative decisions are you most proud of in this piece?
I'd have to say one of the decisions I'm most proud of was in the writing stage. I wanted to focus on both a bisexual character coming into her own identity and a young lesbian stepping out of her comfort zone and chasing her heart. I also prided myself in the fact that most of my team were queer women or women of color.

How have your experiences as a queer woman informed your filmmaking?
A large part of it really came from what I was watching on screen and the stories I was seeing. Especially in terms of LGBTQ representation, I felt strongly that there needed to be more, specifically positive and accurate representation. No more unnecessary drama or tragedy, no forbidden love between same sex people...and no deaths for queer female characters! Thankfully, I learned that I was not the only one who felt this way. It's important to tell the stories you want to see--because chances are, someone else probably wants to see it too! In terms of casting and hiring too, it was important to me to cast LGBTQ actors in LGBTQ roles and hire as many LGBTQ crew as I could. I strive in everything I do to deliver more authentic and diverse representation for the community.

LoverGirl has already reached over 500,000 people on YouTube alone! How do you tell stories that resonate with your community?
That's amazing and surreal to me to know that many people have been watching and enjoying! I am so so lucky and grateful, and even more motivated than ever. All the views and comments from people have shown me that people are starving for these stories. Especially now, during a pandemic, I feel that people are looking for feel good stories. I'm ready to keep telling them! I think my stories resonate with the community because I listen for what people want to see, along with what I think needs to be represented. It's all about originality and authenticity for me. I'm so excited to keep delivering that and improving LGBTQ representation!

Here’s where to keep up with Shawna!:
Youtube
Twitter
Instagram