Many teens nowadays think of filmmaking as whipping out a phone to make a TikTok. But for Luna King-O’Brien ’23, it’s a way for her to showcase her talent and passion for storytelling. King-O’Brien, a senior at Ithaca High School, is a triple-threat when it comes to media arts. Not only is she a promising young filmmaker, but she is also a talented singer and actor. If you haven’t seen her on stage (notable roles include Flounder in IHS’s The Little Mermaid, Perch Perkins in Running To Places’s The SpongeBob Musical, and General Genghis Kahn Schmitz in Running to Places’s Seussical: The Musical) then you’ve missed out.
King-O’Brien has been uploading her short films on YouTube since 2021. Her YouTube page which she lovingly refers to as “[the] home of the Lunation,” is stocked with short films ranging from 26 seconds long to just shy of 11 minutes. My personal favorites include “Dear Elisabeth,” a parody on the last letter written by Marie Antoinette, “new hot dating show” (self-explanatory), and the music video “TEAM EXTERNALITY,” a hilarious but also important PSA on the effects of vaping. In each video, you can tell how hard she and the rest of the cast and crew have worked to create these films.
To dive deeper into the world of Luna King-O’Brien, I asked her a few questions about the filmmaking process, her achievements, and future goals.
Zadie Wang ’26: What got you into filming?
Luna King-O’Brien ’23: My mom is a documentary filmmaker and so I think the idea really popped into my head from seeing that she made films. I used to make a lot of iMovie movies on my mom’s laptop and I would make a lot of trailers and music videos. Starting https://www.youtube.com/@lunaisawesome from a young age, I think just practicing editing really got me to where I am now in terms of speed and knowledge of what makes a good edit.
To be honest, I didn’t have much interest in being a filmmaker or anything of that sort until COVID hit … When COVID hit I wanted to be a famous actor, so I filmed a lot of myself acting and made short films like that. Nowadays, I don’t really do that because
I hate seeing myself on screen, but that’s where I started.
ZW: Are there any artists that inspired you?
LK: A lot of music inspires me. I find that … my work really only comes together when I add music to it. Usually it’s classical music—that’s a common theme—mostly because it’s public domain and I don’t have to pay copyright. I would say when I think of artists that inspire me it’s usually musical artists because I really like music videos and how that works. I would say for filmmaking artists, I’ve had a lot of inspirations over the years (like Luca Guadagnino) but they’re very basic and I don’t want to say them because people make fun of me.
ZW: What does the process of making a short film look like from start to finish?
LK: First I come with an idea; I try not to push [my ideas] because when I push [them], usually I make a bad [film] and it’s not that good. A lot of my work is based on my intuition, especially my editing. I usually make cuts based on if [the idea] feels right. I do the same … for short films; I have a drive to finish a project and get a handle on it. That’s really where my successful ideas come from.
Most recently, [the plot of] my short film “Serpent Shyne Strikes Back” [was] a wild idea. Basically, Medusa’s son freezes these three characters but he can only freeze their arms because he has a weaker power. He spends all his time playing Call of Duty instead of training. Then they have to save a nude yoga convention from being frozen. I thought that was pretty genius; it’s a little silly but I thought, “this was a great idea.” I came up with that during storyboarding—ideas derive from other ideas and [thoughts like] “what if people just had their hands frozen?” It avalanches from there, as one would say.
After that, I’ll usually write and listen to some music that could inspire me or be in the film. I could write a script, but a lot of things come out of the filming process and I have a lot of actors who like to improv. I write an outline or some script so I have something going on. [After that] I contact my people and arrange to have a shoot with them—that usually doesn’t take a lot of time, around 2-3 hours. Then I go home and I edit. The thing about me when I’m editing is I don’t stop. I got home one time after filming the PPP music video (“SpongeBob Remix – PPP”) at seven and I edited until eleven. I finished it the next morning. Editing takes a while but I can’t stop once I start—it’s kind of like a flow.
ZW: Are you planning to pursue film in college or your professional life?
LK: Yes! I was debating this for a while—I go [through] phases pretty quickly but I don’t think this is a phase. It also depends on the college program … when looking at some colleges with film programs it’s a lot of the same people: the snooty people, the film bros, the mansplainers. I don’t want to surround myself with those people. I would rather have collaborative artistic peers.
I’m going to Oberlin College and planning on pursuing a double major in Cinema Studies and Creative Writing. When I toured Oberlin, there were a lot of cool people in the classes and the facilities were very nice—they were small but it reminded me of how I work. I would love to pursue [filmmaking] in my professional life, I’m not sure of what I want to do [exactly]. I have an interest in directing for the stage but I think it just depends on what happens at college. It would be really cool to be an independent filmmaker.
ZW: Imagine your dream filmmaking gig. What would it look like?
LK: I’m a big fan of having an idea, then directing, editing, and producing it. But I know obviously to work on a film you have to have a lot of collaborators, which I did on my last project. I got my good friend Millie to do artwork that was quite frankly amazing, and I got a couple people to look over my script. In my dream world, I would have an idea and have the money to produce it. [I’d like to be able to] work on the editing, directing, and producing sides, but that’s not always possible.
ZW: Do you have any upcoming projects that readers would be interested in?
LK: This is such a great question … because I do! I’m working on a documentary about farming. I’m exploring the ideas of what it means to be a farmer, interviewing “virtual farmers”—a lot of my friends play HayDay and I play HayDay too, I think it’s really silly … It’s kind of an addiction for some people. I just want to know the connections between farm life, owning and taking care of a farm, whether it be online or IRL.
To watch Luna King-O’Brien’s short films, scan the QR code to visit her YouTube channel. You can also see her on stage as Maureen/Lowbutt in Running to Places’ production of HONK! in July.