Lily Zaldivar’s short film “B*tchology” has spread like wildfire through SF State, popping up on everyone’s dashboards and their latest views on YouTube. A part of the film fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha and long involved in the world of film and acting, Lily shares what it was like to put together this film for Campus MovieFest and how it’s one of her proudest works.
Tell me about yourself and how you got into film.
Well, I started film in high school when I was 13—or around 14, I don’t remember—and I wanted to do film then, but I didn’t. I was really scared about the idea of like making movies, so I didn’t pursue that, I pursued acting instead. And then starting junior year, my teacher who was also my acting teacher was also the video production teacher, suggested I try it. And then after that I continued on to making films, and then what I wanted to do within films, and then to where I am now.
So what is B*tchology about?
It’s about a girl who basically wants to change herself into this idea of what a popular girl should be, but then realizes that by doing that, she loses herself. And by the time she realizes it, it’s too late and the friends that she created turn on her, and the only people that can save her are a bunch of nerds.
Where did the idea for B*tchology come from?
It came from my head, to be honest. I’ve always wanted to create a film like that, like a mix of Mean Girls versus Revenge of the Nerds, which are two films. But ideas come into my head and I either go with them or I don’t, and this was one of those ideas where I was like, “What if this scenario happened? What if just like the unthinkable occurred and nerds just overpowered everything?” So, I just ran with it.
How did you end up getting it started?
I wrote the film in a month, and then asked my friends to read it and then revise it. So my friend Jamie Schulthorp and I, we decided to change the dialogue a lot, because the dialogue was what was most important, to the witty banter and whatnot. And then I asked my good friend Stephen Hannibal to record the film, or be the cinematographer, and he was more than willing to do it. And then all of my friends read the script and were like, let’s do it, let’s like just have fun with this. And the hardest part was casting the film more than crewing it, because it was hard to find the right people to do each personality. Cause every character’s one huge point. One is super b-tchy, another one is just like super nerdy, so you had to find those dichotomies in the characters.
What was it for?
It was more for a competition called Campus MovieFest. Like I initially thought, oh hey let’s make it just you know for fun, just to like have the film and just be out there. But then, uh, this movie, campus fest was starting, so we decided to like make it so we could do it for that. And it went to, it like didn’t win anything in the voting round, but we got it to wildcard at the moment, but it lost in the second round of wildcard. But, we’re trying really hard to see if we can still get it to Hollywood. That’s just like the most important part. But it’s viewable on Youtube!
So Campus MovieFest, is that here at SF State?
Yeah, it’s a hugely run cinema competition, it happens…once (for a) week at different schools. So it’s not just our school.
How do you feel that B*tchology impacted its viewers, or how did it end up impacting you?
It impacted me with thinking about what I want to do in the future, because directing is really hard. Working with twelve cast members and about twelve or eighteen crew members, for a film that’s only five minutes long and you can only film it for a week—really stressful. It made me realize that I want to do this, and maybe not so much directing but more editing and writing ideas. But my main thing is animation, so it made me think about animation more, maybe that’s where I want to pursue things.
What was your favorite part about making B*tchology?
The fun of it was being with my crew, because when we were filming it the dialogue is ridiculous, and we always just joke around with it when we’re on set. If you’ve seen the film, there’s like panties in certain areas and we had to go out and buy it, and we had to go and just like find stuff to make the film look good. So, the best part about it was working with my crew. They were very supportive.
What was your least favorite part about making it?
The hours. We would set a time, from like six to 12, and it’d run from like 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. You can tell in their faces, the cast members, that they were tired and we were all tired. So it was the morale was probably the hardest part, and time wise.
So you had to make it within a week?
Yeah.
How many hours do you think you spent during that week working on it?
I have no idea, to be honest. Because we had to film it and we had to edit it within a week, so me and Stephen took most of—and Sahar, Sahar Navid—we like took most of the time to just edit it. I don’t know how many hours, to be honest, maybe like a good 48 hours, 72 hours of life taken away. But it was worth it.
So you feel like the end product was what you imagined in the beginning?
Yeah, it is. It’s one of my proudest films just because it’s something that is enjoyable for people to watch, and it’s just like go with it. Just run with it, that’s how the film is, just run with the film and just let it do what it’s doing. And that’s something that you just have to accept about the film. I’m proud, I’m happy with it.
And it still has a chance to go to Hollywood?
Hopefully. We’re trying to figure that out. We don’t know, but it may just stay where it is right now. And hopefully next year we’re planning to compete again, make another film. Probably not like B*tchology, but somewhere in between that.
What time of year is (Campus MovieFest) here at SF State?
The competition starts usually at the end of September, and the awards show is in the beginning of October.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about B*tchology?
Just watch it. No matter what, the best part about it is even though we’re not in the competition, I just want everyone to watch it and enjoy it. Just because I enjoyed making it, and I want people to enjoy watching it. But it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.