Down the Rabbit Hole With Velvet
Written by Daphne Bryant
All photos courtesy of Sophia Chiaramida
My FYP is magical: it’s where I find edits, where I find new Internet crushes, and recently, it’s where I found the short film Velvet and its co-directors: Lola Ellis and Frances Lee. Frances with her marketing and communications background and Lola, being a film major, have combined all of their multimedia loves to create a captivating narrative that’s already generating buzz locally, and online. I sat down to talk with Lola and Frances about all things Velvet, from the creative process to the fashion to all of their hopes and dreams for the film. Read DWG’s exclusive interview with them below!
Despite only having met in August of 2025, friends and creative partners Lola and Frances have a clear chemistry and vision. As Boston College seniors, the pair bonded over being from more creative areas, or rather, areas with better creative infrastructure; Lola is from New York and Frances is from LA. “BC isn’t really the kind of school that [uplifts] creatives. They’re very business and finance focused. We wanted to do a project and express our creativity, but [we] also [wanted to] make a project that reflects our creative process itself,” says Lola. The project in question became Velvet: a narrative short film containing musical elements, with a striking script and captivating name.“ We were trying to think of a name that juxtaposes two ideas, and the main theme of the film is playing between an identity that people put on you versus your authentic, creative self. And Velvet as a physical fabric has two sides, you know? When you brush it one way, it shows [you] something that you didn’t see before,” says Frances. Experimenting with surreal textures and the unexpected is something that Lola and Frances definitely do a lot with Velvet.
The film follows a Plain Girl who, in a drab and monotonous world, loses touch with her creative identity. When a strange magazine catches her eye, she flips through it and transports into a series of aberrant spreads, each with a critique on today’s culture. With every page, she reclaims the bold parts of herself, previously dulled, and emerges back into the real world, this time transformed and reinvented. “[Velvet] is an ode to the people who maybe need new strength or inspiration to stand up and do their own thing,” says Frances.“ The film means so much to us, because it’s really a direct reflection of the process we’ve been going through at college.” As students Lola and Frances are taking creative risks and finding themselves and so, naturally, is their main character.
In the opening scene, Velvet’s protagonist is working a job that she doesn’t feel connected to or pushed in creatively, and that’s something Lola resonates with.“ [I have] this fear of going into a creative industry; it’s kind of an uncertain, windy path, whereas if I were to go into a more corporate job, it’s more steady, but I would have a fear of not being able to fully express myself creatively,” she says. Frances, on the other hand, feels really seen in the fashion and costuming of Velvet.“ Fashion is something I’ve always been really passionate about. Especially being from an environment [like LA]. LA really helped nurture that [passion]. I was around friends that would go thrifting every weekend and I think that’s a joy that I’ve lost. No hate to Boston but [having] this as an outlet to kind of regain that joy in my life has been super fun.” Lola laughingly chimes in:“ [Velvet’s] fashion has been an accumulation of all the things that we’ve ever wanted to wear ourselves.”
When it comes to Velvet, visual manifestation is very real, and its co-directors have truly thought outside of the box and crafted a world straight out of my Dreamworldgirl fantasies.“ Our protagonist transporting into a magazine works so well. We had so many crazy ideas at the beginning, and it was hard to sort them out into one overarching kind of story, and so the magazine allowed us to kind of split them up into these different subsections.” With each spread comes a unique sub-world, everything from a punk Regency era to pinup doll heaven.“ The pinup doll scene is going to [give] very much baby doll dresses, hair rollers, tights, ballet flats. Our costume team is from Emerson and they have such good style!” says Frances. She mentions how fun it is to collaborate with people who are able to bring one’s vision to life by using their special skills and providing valuable creative input. Running a zine myself, I cannot vouch more for the power of teamwork, and being an Editor-in-Chief, I had to ask why Lola and Frances chose physical media as a catalyst for the protagonist’s rebirth.
“I think for me, there’s something really compelling about art forms that have diminished because of social media. [A print magazine] has a certain physical, tangible meaning that maybe TV or movies don’t have,” Lola says.
Their choice is part of an expansive and global return to analog, a re-imagined obsession with scrapbooking, print, and all things nostalgia. It’s genius: at a time where so many creatives are fed up with AI and digital hogwash, a fun, crazy print magazine serves as a time-capsule, an escape. Viewers will undoubtedly love the inclusion.
World-building is huge for Lola and Frances, and one thing they did to further immerse viewers into their world is create Velvet merch (which recently came out and is STUNNING, FYI).“ At first we were like: how are we gonna fundraise money for this entire film? How will it come to life if we can’t afford it? But also, Lola and I were like…okay, what are we gonna wear on our shoot days?” Frances laughs.“ We’re all about dressing for the job, and so we always knew that we wanted to do merch.” Merch can certainly be an effective fundraising tactic, but for the film’s co-directors, it’s also a way to bring a piece of Velvet to their audience so that fans can rep the film and show their support. All of the merch, from cheeky pink baby tees to classic navy blue T-shirts, can be bought on their website!
From a marketing standpoint (hell, from every standpoint), Velvet is an insanely clever project. Lola and Frances post frequently on Instagram and TikTok, using aesthetic fonts, mood-boards, vlogs and candid honesty to draw people in from all over. In doing so, they are actively creating a loyal fanbase outside of BC and the city. Velvet reached me all the way in California, and is bound to reach so many others, especially any Olivia Rodrigo fans out there!
Rodrigo’s 2023 single“ ballad of a homeschooled girl” is an angsty and high-energy track that inspired the original song that was created for Velvet.“ It’s been very cool to work with the composer and songwriters [on the original song], because I’ve never touched that area of music. I got to be in the recording studio for the first time, which was really cool, and it’s exciting,” Lola gushes. Other musical references for the film include Charli XCX, Tate McRae, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter, all female musicians with larger-than-life personas and music you can’t help but sing along to.
Initially, Lola and Frances were embarrassed to talk about Velvet with friends and peers.“ For a long time, we really played down how passionate we were about [Velvet] and how much we were working on the film,” says Frances, which she regrets. When you’re working on a creative project, it is absolutely vital that you are confident about sharing your art, because that’s how you build up other people’s confidence in your project.“ Be proud even when you’re scared of what people might think. Trust your gut,” she advises.
While BC might not be the most artsy university, in retrospect, Lola actually sees their circumstance as an advantage.“ The [lack of opportunities] kind of motivated me to start my own project, rather than wait around for something to come to me. It’s important for young or upcoming filmmakers to just jump in and do it yourself, and I think that’s really the best way to get the amount of experience you need in order to go into the industry.” Right now, over thirty students are working on Velvet, and so it is really a community effort, a crew and cast of people who genuinely care about the art that they’re making.
“We don’t know if it’s going to be successful yet, but [we] really want to have fun and gain clarity in the process,” says Frances.
If you’re someone who wants to support the arts community, Velvet is definitely a film to invest in. It’s important to support filmmakers and creatives, especially at the beginning of their careers. Plus, giving to smaller artists means making a bigger impact on them and their lives. “Every time [we get a] donation or merch order, we leap for joy!”
“We’re so appreciative!” Lola adds. “I don’t think there’s a day where we don’t think about how we had zero followers at the beginning, when we were still coming up with the idea. It feels very well-rounded now, but I think we’re still very grateful for that.”
Velvet, a film led by two innovative women of color, is pushing boundaries, shaking things up, and arriving in the spring of 2026! Will we see you there?
P.S.: CHECK OUT OUR BTS VIDEO AND FOLLOW LOLA AND FRANCES ALONG FOR A DAY <3
