"I Want to Hook Up With Dylan But My Social Score Is Negative Ten Trillion" Unleashes the Inner Rebel

Nellie Luna's I Want to Hook Up With Dylan But My Social Score Is Negative Ten Trillion is a high school horror comedy with the confidence of a film that knows exactly how much fun it's having. Goth outcast River trades her combat boots for a yellow mini dress to win over dreamy Dylan, only to find her unruly dark side going into overdrive to sabotage the whole operation. There's a cameo by Satan, a scene-stealing dog, and a finale drenched in practical blood.

Adapted from a script by her School of Cinematic Arts peer Tristan St. Germain, the film became Luna's capstone and, in her words, the highlight of her creative career. It's a maximalist swing at the teen genre, and it lands because Luna sees River's struggle with the mask of others' expectations as her own.

Key Takeaways

• A genre blender — high school horror, rom-com yearning, coming-of-age angst — programmed in HollyShorts' Midnight Madness block.
• Lead Romy Evans plays River and her "Evil River" alter ego, a first for Luna that meant reflections, body doubles, and VFX.
• At its core, a film about radical self-acceptance and the absurd lengths we go to fit in.

Luna spoke about pitching a script that felt like her, wrangling a huge student production, and why she's done apologizing for wanting to make people laugh.

Interview

What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?

I was going into my last semester of a three-year grad program and was selected as a directing finalist for a coveted capstone class at the School of Cinematic Arts. The finalists get two weeks to read 25 scripts and prepare a pitch. I was about seven scripts in when I read I Want to Hook Up With Dylan and was immediately sold. The tone, characters, and high school setting reminded me of some of my favorites like Mean Girls, Jawbreaker, and Scream Queens. It was written by one of my peers, Tristan St. Germain. His stories are bold, to say the least, so I wanted to do it justice. I went into the pitch with a strong vision and passion. I told the room that I resonated with the protagonist because I've always felt put into a family-friendly box that I never opted into, and this zany romantic horror comedy was an opportunity to show who I really am creatively. Like our main character River, I've had to shed the mask of who others expect me to be.

What surprised you most about the filmmaking process?

Working with an actor playing two different roles was a first for me. Our lead, Romy Evans, absolutely crushed it, and the process gave me a crash course in working with reflections, body doubles, and visual effects. It was a constant puzzle that forced us to rethink how we structured our shoot days — figuring out how to keep the camera rolling while Romy was in the makeup chair or switching costumes — but the end result was totally worth it.

What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?

Definitely rocking out during the Guitar Legend battle. This moment in the film let me do a lot with music, camera, props, and we got to let the actors play. The characters are playing a video game, but I wanted it to feel like they were rockstars in a stylized Scott Pilgrim-esque vignette. It's playful, flirty and pure rom-com cheese, which is very me.

What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?

How to capture the entire blood-soaked Satan scene (spoiler!) in a way that felt real while leaning into the camp of the story, and all within the perimeters of our grad program. How do you have Satan spewing blood in a house you're renting? How do you shoot blood at actors without getting it in their eyes? This all required testing, planning, approvals with our faculty and admins, trial and many errors, and making do with what we got. It was a huge creative challenge that was a ton of smaller decisions to navigate rather than one big decision. We had a Plan A, shot a Plan B, recreated a replica of the house on a stage, used practical blood and visual effects. It was certainly the hardest creative element.

What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

This is a film about radical self-acceptance. River's true self is a Satan-worshipping chaos goblin. She goes on a journey to get the-thing-she-wanted-most. She gets the guy, the acceptance of her peers, but it's not right. She steps into her power and stops playing small, and when she does I hope audiences feel a triumph. I hope it inspires you to unleash your inner rebel, even in small ways. And I hope audiences have a blast watching it.

What tool, technique, resource, or collaborator helped most during production?

This was a massive production for a student film. We had a lot of people on set, so big kudos to our producers Nat and Jose, and my AD team Tyler and Jaala, for managing all of the chaos and people behind the scenes. Then in post-production, I spent countless hours with my editors. I had my vision but it was helpful to see their take on certain scenes and moments. By the end of it, my editor Shashwat could read my mind and he really helped me shape the edit, and our editor Karim was able to jump in and improve the pacing in key scenes. Everyone on the team did a lot for this film at one point or another and I'm grateful.

What does it mean to have your film selected for HollyShorts, and where do you see it going next?

A lot of fake blood, sweat, and real tears went into making this film, so it means a lot to be recognized by HollyShorts and to be programmed in their Midnight Madness block. We made this in LA, so to premiere it locally with the opportunity for our cast and crew to enjoy the festival, alongside filmmakers from around the world, is incredibly exciting. Beyond that, hopefully to genre festivals big and small. I want to screen with people who love the kind of campy late-night films that I do. At the core of all my work is a desire to make people laugh. I used to be scared to say it out loud, but I'm less concerned with being seen as a serious artist and more concerned with entertaining others. Times are gritty, and I think we need comedy now more than ever.

Main Cast & Crew

Cast

• Romy Evans — River / Evil River
• Bianca Nialani — Maddie
• Ethan Orion — Dylan
• Asia Moon Zaffere — Sasha
• Chris Walker Stegall — Jeff / Dad
• Erich Edward — Satan
• Olaf Fu — Fido

Crew

• Nellie Luna — Director
• Tristan St. Germain — Writer
• Nathaniel Swyer — Producer
• Jose Tenorio — Producer
• Zihan "Christy" Chen — Cinematography
• Shashwat Mathur — Editor
• Karim Eldin El-Alfy — Editor
• Fangming Liu — Lead Production Designer
• Aje Soberekon — Production Designer
• Jamie Hwang — Production Designer
• Coco Zang — Production Designer
• Rishi Chitkara — Sound Design
• Adin Replogle — Sound Design
• Tyler Ocasio Holmes — 1st AD
• Jaala Alston — 2nd AD

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