In 2014, Katie Adams and Jay Moon were entering their second quarter as freshmen at Stanford when they decided they wanted to make a web series called “At Bay,” set at the university. Four years later, they have completed filming, released four out of their six episodes to a YouTube channel (with over 8,000 views), and they were nominated for an Indie Series Award for Best Writing (Drama).
Independent filmmaking has become increasingly popular as technology becomes more available to aspiring filmmakers. However, the indie filmmaking process is a long and arduous one: lack of funding and crew often elongates the process, making it especially difficult for filmmakers to follow through on projects. But Adams and Moon have already successfully released four episodes.
“We were trying to create a satisfying story,” Adams said about the content of the series. “There’s the picture-perfect Stanford you hear about before getting here, then there’s getting here and discovering that there’s good and bad.”
Adams and Moon split the responsibilities often covered by a film crew between the two of them. In addition to co-writing episodes together, Moon directs and edits the episodes, and Adams is the sound operator.
“It’s a lot of work, and it’s senior year and we’re still working on it,” said Moon, of the long process of creating the show. “Wow, we really did this.”
