‘The First Date’: A Woman-Directed Short Film about LGBTQ Dating

“Amanda recently went on a blind date with Kelly, the perfect woman. Unfortunately, their romantic encounter didn’t go so well. Amanda retreats to her work bathroom to vent to her friend Jill, but both are in for a shock when they find out there’s someone else there hanging onto their every word.”

The First Date

The First Date

“Amanda recently went on a blind date with Kelly, the perfect woman. Unfortunately, their romantic encounter didn’t go so well. Amanda retreats to her work bathroom to vent to her friend Jill, but both are in for a shock when they find out there’s someone else there hanging onto their every word.”

The First Date is a short film directed by Janella Lacson as part of the OutSet Film Mentoring Program with Outfest. The principal cast features Sonal Shah, Natalie Dreyfuss, and Kate Miller.


https://youtu.be/vRhQmvM_8WA


Janella Honorio Lacson always had a growing passion for cinema and the art of filmmaking, leading her to participate in art and theater-related classes. Having several self-published novels, screenplays, and short-films under her belt well before her 19th birthday, Janella’s strongest desire was to be a screenwriter and director. Her first short film The First Date, was produced in March 2012 with the help of LifeWorks and Outfest Film Festival while Janella was a student at California State University, Northridge. The First Date first screened at Fusion Film Festival (Los Angeles), OutFest Film Festival (Los Angeles), and NewFest Film Fesival (New York).

“Janella recently completed her BFA at Tisch School of Arts at New York University.”

You can follow Janella Lacson on Twitter @RELACSONME. Filmmaker bio and film description courtesy of Film School Shorts.


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Film School Shorts is a national half-hour weekly series that showcases short student films from across the country. Each week, viewers can watch well-crafted films with high production values, strong dialogue and riveting drama. Grouped together around a central theme or topic, and featuring production values that rival their indie film counterparts, KQED is proud to present award winning entertainment to a national audience. Featured are the best short films from major institutions like NYU, Columbia University, UCLA, USC and University of Texas that have wowed audiences at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Telluride and SXSW.

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