BU Today feature: CFA Student Wins Poster Contest for Zach Braff Movie
The article was originally published in BU Today on April 17, 2019. By Geoffrey Line.
One evening last fall, graphic design student Sam West was doodling some digital illustrations on her tablet and MacBook. On a whim, the College of Fine Arts senior decided to submit them to Adobe’s Movie Poster Movie Contest. The first-of-its-kind contest was launched by Adobe to help students unlock their creative potential in new, innovative ways. College students across the country were invited to submit an original design for a poster for a movie that didn’t yet exist. Adobe partnered with actor, director, and screenwriter Zach Braff, best known for his Emmy-nominated turn on the NBC series Scrubs, and asked him to select the winning design and turn it into a short film. Braff picked West’s.
More than 1,000 students entered the competition. West had read about it on Instagram and uploaded her poster, with the movie titled In the Time It Takes to Get There, to the social media platform with no thought of winning. But in January, she discovered that Braff had chosen her submission and she would fly to LA to participate in the two-day shoot for the film Braff had written and was directing, inspired by her design.
The film stars Alicia Silverstone and Florence Pugh. Set in the Victorian era, it’s an inventive, biting send-up of social media influencers and the power of celebrity in the digital era.
In the Time It Takes to Get There is now available on YouTube and will premiere at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Thursday, April 18, during an elaborate masquerade-themed event hosted by Adobe, starting at 7 pm. The premiere is designed to transport guests back in time to the film’s setting—the 1890s—so they feel they’re inside the movie. It will feature a red carpet entrance, free food, a live DJ and band, gift bags, and other surprises and is free and open to all college students on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is strongly encouraged.