🔺 The Cult – Student Short Film

Fortuna High Photo & Design Production

📺 Watch the Film

The full short film is embedded below from the Fortuna High YouTube channel.

The Fortuna High Photo & Design program proudly presents The Cult, an original student-produced psychological thriller that explores mystery, manipulation, and the dangers of blindly following those who seek control.

The story follows Mikey, a teenager whose behavior begins to change after becoming involved with a mysterious group led by the calm and unsettling Tony. As Mikey becomes increasingly distant, his friend Carter grows concerned and begins to investigate what is really happening behind the scenes. What starts as curiosity soon develops into a chilling mystery as Carter uncovers signs that something is very wrong.

Filmed on and around the Fortuna High campus, the project challenged students to create suspense through cinematography, pacing, performance, and atmosphere while maintaining a school-appropriate approach to the thriller genre.

Students were involved in every stage of production, including:

• Acting
• Directing
• Cinematography
• Editing
• Audio recording
• Story development
• Production planning

The project served as a hands-on learning experience in visual storytelling, suspense, character development, and collaborative filmmaking.

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🎥 Student Film Credits

Cast

• Lan Rae Arellano as Mikey
• James Grant as Tony
• Cater McPherson as Carter
• Amyah Hawthorne as Amyah Papaya
• Emerald Reveles as Emerald

Cult Members

• Nelly Torres-Catana
• Lily DeShon
• Gideon Levier
• Ella Thomson
• McKenzie Hawk
• Brianna Cuacua-Beltran

Behind the Scenes

• Story & Script — Lan Rae Arellano
• Director — James Grant

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🐾 Student Creativity in Action

Projects like The Cult showcase the storytelling, filmmaking, and creative problem-solving skills being developed through Fortuna High’s Photo & Design program. From concept development and scriptwriting to filming and editing, students gained valuable real-world production experience while creating an original narrative film.

Go Huskies! 💙🎬🐾