16 years old from Pasadena, California
Violet Zueg
Favorite Food: Tempura Vegetables
What is their mission/cause? Sharing stories through her films.
How is she doing it? Creating short films and entering them into short film competitions in her local area.
Fun Fact: Violet recently got a guitar, so she has been teaching herself how to play guitar.
Inspirational quote: “If you do not have a path to follow, sometimes you just have to make your own.” Violet follows this quote all the time; it inspired her to start writing a script and coming up with a film to make.
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Date of recording: September 24, 2022
When the pandemic shuts down life, what are you going to do? Baking, cooking or watching TV are some of the things that Violet Zeug loves to do to get inspiration about life. But this time, this high school girl wanted to do something uncommon. With her sharp eye for surrounding detail, Violet took on a different challenge in the acting and film field. Inspired by the work of other female actors and directors, Violet made her movie "Trapped During Quarantine" and won the LA County Student Young Filmmaker Award at the Burbank International Film Festival in 2022. This film tells about her experience during the aftermath of the pandemic and how the pandemic continuously affects teenagers. After the unique shooting experience and being acknowledged, she believes in herself more and continues to pursue her dream bravely. She plans to shoot more films and pursue acting. Her goal is to study acting and filming at NYU. Let's give this girl our best wishes about her dream-pursuing path.
About Violet
By Jenny Lyu
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Doing something when you have nothing to do
During the pandemic, many were forced to stay home with little to do. This included 16-year-old Violet Zueg – but Violet wasn’t just going to sit around idly. Inspired by her muse, Amy Poehler, who is both an actor and director, Violet thought to herself: what if she made her own film project so she could act and have a creative outlet during the boring quarantine time? ​
And then Violet did just that.
Violet’s short film "Trapped" follows a teen girl coping with
the ongoing stress and repetition of the pandemic after
returning to “in-person” learning at school. Violet starred in
it, in addition to writing and directing the project.
All of Violet’s hard work and creativity were soon recognized.
In 2022, "Trapped" won the LA County Student Young Filmmaker
Award at the Burbank International Film Festival.
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Filming "Trapped"
"Trapped" focuses on the aftermath of the pandemic and how it affects teenagers. Violet noticed that most short films at that time were just about in the middle of the pandemic, and she wanted to touch on the aftermath because people are still being affected by Covid and anxious about it.
Violet recounts on her website, Films By Violet, “As an only child feeling isolated during the pandemic, I started playing with making short films as a way of expressing myself. Although there may be student films more technical than mine, I hope my films will give a small glimpse into what this pandemic feels like for teenagers, even after things have supposedly gone ‘back to normal.’”
She hoped other teenagers would see her film, relate, and know that they are not alone. Turning her feelings and personal experience into a story that others could see and relate to made her feel worthy.
But being a filmmaker isn’t always easy. The first try was
challenging for Violet. After she finished writing and needed to
start filming, Violet wasn’t sure how to film some scenes even
though she had laid it all out. She changed her mind during the
actual filming about what she conceived before because there
was a three-month gap between when she wrote it and when
she started filming it.
But such difficulties as these are easily overcome with the
support of friends and family. When Violet gets stuck and
does not want to continue, her mom cheers her on and
ensures that Violet keeps on top of it.
Winning the LA County Student Young Filmmaker Award
When Violet won the LA County Student Filmmaker Award, she was shocked because she did not think the film she had made could win a prize. She criticized herself extensively when she saw her work during the screening. She felt remorseful, thinking she could have done much better.
Sitting among all the nominees, Violet thought about what she should do when she was called on stage. When she heard her name and went up on stage for the first time, she started bawling and crying.
Whenever Violet is assailed by self-doubt, she watches the video of her speech. It felt surreal to receive so many compliments and congratulations about what she had created.
Overcoming Obstacles
Being immersed in the happiness of a dream come true is
sweet, but Violet still has to wake up and work harder. Finding
inspiration for filming needs repeated practice to become
natural. Getting stuck and losing the idea of where she is
going during writing is often the first hurdle to conquer.
When Violet's film team hit a rock and could not find an
apparent climax, Violet stayed up all night trying to figure it out.
The pressure from her surroundings, even from herself,
is another challenge for her to digest. The title of “16-year-old
filmmaker winner" may walk with her for a while. This has
affected her in unexpected ways. The teacher of her
filmmaking class knows that Violet just had a film that won
an award, so he expects more from her. Meanwhile, she
feels pressure to ensure the work is good because of her
"Award Winner" title.
But Violet has the support of friends and family on her side.
All of Violet's family members want to see her succeed and
help however they can. When Violet needed a good-quality
microphone, she received a high-quality microphone on her next birthday from her grandparents. She appreciates the surrounding love – it helps her get through those rocks bit by bit.
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What’s Next?
Violet is determined to keep following her dream and continues to write, direct and work. Making more films and attending other film festivals is her next step. She wants to join a film-related program in college, focusing on film and acting. She has a dream college – NYU, and a plan B to get an agent to pursue acting more.
Through her work, Violet wants to shape different characters and describe other groups' and communities' life stories to audiences. Violet thinks media representations of teenagers are inaccurate and sparse. Teenagers are complex individuals, unlike the stereotypical characters shown in the media. Young people are very diverse in personality, not just nerds or people who go out and party all night. Instead of reinforcing these generalizations, we should value and find each character’s particular uniqueness to make the whole industry diverse.
All in all, seeing another person's dream come true is very inspiring. We at Zhive are here to share her story and encourage everyone to trust themselves in their creative endeavors.
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Words from Violet
Violet also wishes to share the following advice with other young friends who are trying to make their own films: "write about your personal experience, and make what you want to say loud and clear. If you get stuck, take a day off and watch some TV. Take your time to think about what your original idea was. Remember the reason you wanted to make this film."
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