A Little Mind: A UCLA Capstone Film

Hello, my name is Danielle Robinson and I am a senior in UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. I am incredibly excited to be directing my own short film entitled A Little Mind, which is my culminating senior project!

The Story

A Little Mind follows the troubling journey of a therapist, Arri, who is frustrated in her romantic relationship with her boyfriend Jordan, a photographer. After Jordan quickly rejects a life changing job offer in New York, Arri decides to address his noticeable lack of ambition. Challenging him becomes a challenge of her own, as she embarks upon a difficult exploration of Jordan’s psyche, traversing beyond both of their boundaries, venturing into his literal subconscious mind. In going to the full extent, Arri is challenged to discover what’s most important to her own journey.

Inspiration

This story was inspired by a lesson I learned the hard way— sometimes, you have to let the people you love go. In the relationships that we value most, we often assume we know what’s best for the people we love, and not always in a prideful way. Sometimes we value their gifts, personality, potential in different ways than they do. But you have to learn to accept the decisions they make regarding their lives. That can be very difficult. I thought it would be interesting to explore how a therapist, someone who is paid to give life altering advice, handles this, and what the attempted fixing of another person can reveal within ourselves.

I am also very interested in the study of psychology and specifically the inner child. The subconscious mind holds memories and experiences that often shape how we see the world; it;s often the “why” behind our good and bad behaviors. Some research says the inner child forms thinking patterns that can stick with us for life by the age of 9. Exploring the mind has been constructed with these topics and theories in mind, and I hope for my audience to consider their own inner child and its impact on their lives, hopes, dreams, and need healing.

Our film shoots November 22-24th this year, and I need your help to make it happen!

Filmmaking is both beautiful and expensive. While I’ve worked hard to save up funds to complete this project, I am still in need. Funds will go towards permits, locations, production design, transportation, etc.

Thank you for your contribution! Please revisit to learn more about my amazing team!

Director- Danielle Robinson

Danielle is a writer director from South Central LA. She has always been passionate about writing and stories but discovered her love for stories on the screen during the pandemic. She majored in English for her first two years at UCLA before switching into the film major, a spot given to only 2 UCLA per year, a 1% opportunity. She has directed and written projects and is one of the only black filmmakers in her class. She is inspired by her faith, culture and thrives on stories that reveal the lessons in her life experiences. While working on this project is currently her main focus, she also works as a Student Broadcast Operations Assistant for Big 10 and can always be found watching the recent Dune film series.

Producing Team

David DeRosier

Gina Thumm

Kolette Tetlow

Directors of Photography

Ryan Fajet

Paloma Ronquillo

Assistant Director

Alexander Alas

Production Designer

Malena Morrone

Editor

Paige McGowan