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Katelynn Tiffany wins filmmaker award at festival

Seniors Marlee Moeder, Shaye Comes and Elly Greenwood act in “Cul-de-sac”

Alyssa Lai and Nik Shay
August 17, 2021

Senior Katelynn Tiffany won the Tallgrass Emerging Filmmaker award for her short film “Cul-de-sac,” this past weekend during Take 36.

“It was a 36-hour film competition that started at 7 p.m. Friday night,” Tiffany said. “I had all day Saturday, and then I had to turn it in on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. So I did it in the course of 36 hours, shot, edited and produced.”

Tiffany was one of two teen filmmakers competing out of 20 teams of contestants.

“I was very overwhelmed because it was mostly adults,” Tiffany said. “I was one of the youngest ones competing, so I felt very stressed out. Then I just kind of did my thing. I did what I was comfortable with, and seeing my film be featured in the Top 10 was like, I don’t know, I felt like a little kid for some reason.”

“Cul-de-sac” follows her three friends, seniors Marlee Moeder, Shaye Comes and Elly Greenwood as they navigate their suburban town and come to the realization that they are growing up.

“It relates to my own life,” Tiffany said. “The film features my three best friends sitting in parking lots, going to Sonic, eating Taco Bell, talking about college and sitting in the middle of the road. Just small town things that I think every Derby kid can relate to. It’s just very relatable to not just me, but my target audience.”

Moeder identifies the movie’s honest portrayal of youth and sincere acting as the cause for its award.

“There was never really a set plot,” Moeder said. “It was just teenage girls being themselves. It wasn’t as complex and artsy as the other ones. But, it was simple and didn’t feel as scripted, which I think made something special.”

For Tiffany, it seemed like she was meant to direct and produce “Cul-de-sac.”

“I’ve always wanted to do a Ladybird or the Florida Project-esque coming-of-age drama type film,” Tiffany said. “It’s from the perspective of teenagers rather than adults or little kids. I think in a lot of media, teenagers are usually played by grown adults rather than 15, 16 and 17-year olds. ‘Cul-de-sac’ is very raw and true to what it is.”