Student film generates hype prior to filming

41,000 interactions online, a fan base forming and a chemistry-filled cast — all for a student-made short film that hasn’t even begun filming.

“Goin’ Out Hair” is a student-produced short film that is projected to be released in late March or early April. A date will be put out once they finish filming, which Sariel Singletary, the film's director and writer, said is starting this week.

The short film can be summarized as a young Black college student’s battle to get through her hair-wash day in time to go out with her friends. 

“It explores friendship and sisterhood, as well as the topic of natural hair in the Black community,” Singletary said. “It's fun and it's light-hearted, but it also kind of makes you think a little bit about how hair plays a role in our lives.” 

Singletary is a senior communications major at UNC from New York. She wrote “Goin’ Out Hair,” as a screenplay for a final project in the UNC course, “Communication Studies 331: Writing the Short Film.”

When picking a subject, Singletary looked at what felt true to her and what experiences she faces regularly.

“For me, doing my hair is sometimes like a three-day process,” Singletary said. “I'll have to spend all 72 hours on it, just to put a protective style in so that I can function for a couple of months without having to stop and do my hair every day.”

Singletary has spent many years of her life writing screenplays; she even attempted to pitch scripts to Disney Channel at 10 years old. 

“Growing out of that into something a little bit more professional and a little less silly, and honing in on who I want to be as an artist and what I want to be my impact on the industry,” Singletary said. “I think that's where this script varies.”

“Goin’ Out Hair” follows four characters, the lead being a girl named Marie,played by senior Nyla Guilford. 

“It’s her own little coming-of-age story,” Guilford said about her character. “She's like the girl next door, kind of naive in the way people perceive her, but she’s also this great friend.”

Marie’s two best friends are also a part of the story, with Halle being played by Camille Dunn and Hannah Peterkin filling the role of Olivia.

The film also has major themes of romance, with UNC senior Connor Barnes making his acting debut as Marie’s love interest, Aaron. 

“He’s the best friend’s brother kind of love interest,” Barnes said. “He’s very confident, but when he comes into contact with Marie, all of that confidence seems to go away magically.”

Singletary is thankful for how the cast came together, as she solidified Guilford for the role before reaching out to Barnes to audition. It took many chemistry reads to find the right actors to tell this story.

“The cast is so wonderful,” Singletary said. “It’s such a unique situation to have everyone like each other so much.” 

Something else unique to this short film is its marketing team, which is rare for a production that hasn’t yet been filmed. With the help of the “Goin’ Out Hair” marketing team, they have had an engagement peak of 41,000 Instagram users. 

So far, the cast has shot promotional videos, content for posters and events, photo shoots, a Christmas special, table-read footage, a podcast episode and behind-the-scenes videos of the cast. 

“Even before we put up posters, my actors were telling me they were being stopped,” Singletary said. “‘Hey, aren't you from that thing?’ And ‘When is this?’ And people asking us when it's coming out. I really want to be able to facilitate the hype that we've brought up and allow everyone to see it.”

Singletary plans on debuting the film in a larger setting in Chapel Hill to bring in fans who have had their interest piqued by the film’s advertising.

“This is the first piece that I feel really represents me as an artist,” Singletary said. “There's nothing like hearing it and seeing it in a dark theater for the first time with everybody.”

Updates on “Goin’ Out Hair” will be posted on their Instagram, @goin_out_hair.

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com