Two years ago, Nick Bafia and Julia Stamey were struck with inspiration after hearing a guest speaker in one of their classes talk about how they attempted to submit an original film they created to the Academy Awards.
Bafia, a UNC graduate and former Daily Tar Heel photographer, and Stamey, who is now a senior, came together and formed the Bafia-Stamey Productions team to workshop their film, "Fix."
Bafia said they planned to submit the film to the Best Original Musical category for the Oscars because it is a niche category that is likely to have fewer submissions.
The film centers around the reunion of three high school friends who are each facing their own struggles as they navigate adulthood, said UNC alumnus Harper Cleland, one of the three leads who plays Emma.
Cleland said they could have submitted "Fix" to the 2020 Oscars but chose to hold off until 2021 to see if the team could recruit any more filmmakers to join their efforts. She said the team never lost sight of its main priority when making this film, which was not to receive accolades, but rather to have the opportunity to show other aspiring filmmakers that it is possible to start when you may feel limited.
“As eager as we are to share the film, we have to keep reminding ourselves what the purpose of creating it was in the first place,” Cleland said. “And that's not to win an Oscar, but rather to use such an esteemed and well-known platform to encourage other new filmmakers to start their journey no matter their skill level, monetary situation, etc. Everyone has to start somewhere.”
Operating under a low budget and having most of the production team still in college were two of the biggest obstacles they faced before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cleland said production was put on hold after the pandemic began.
One of the qualifications to submit the film to the Oscars was that the film had to be shown in a physical theater, and their options were severely limited by restrictions placed on gathering areas — including most movie theaters across the country.
