Sonic and Teen Filmmaker Shine

Sonic and teen filmmaker shine at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards

 

MTV and Chevrolet invited aspiring filmmakers from all over the country to submit their concepts for an innovative short film featuring Chevy Sonic. The film was then co-produced by MTV and aired during the 2013 MTV Movie Awards pre-show. The winning submission, “Never Let You Go,” comes from 18-year-old Joaquin Palma, an aspiring film director from Bronx, New York.
Click here to watch Joaquin’s dramatic tale about a daring soul determined to save his love from death in the most innovative way imaginable. He proves firsthand that ingenuity can do the impossible. And look for bonus behind-the-scenes footage as well!

Behind the scenes with Joaquin

Q: Joaquin, you’re about to have a film you wrote debut at the MTV Movie Awards, and you’re only 18 years old. That’s pretty impressive. When did you first realize you had a knack for movie making?
JOAQUIN: I’ve always been a visual person. When I was young I was put into a middle school that was dedicated to the arts. At first I was very into the visual arts portion of it, but I’ve also always been a big fan of movies and the behind-scenes portion of the DVDs, you know, to see how it was all made. Then in high school, a lot of my classes involved using Movie Maker and iMovie. The fact that you can create stories with images was just fascinating to me. I would say somewhere around my junior year of high school I was pretty sure that this was what I wanted to do.
Q: When and how did you get the initial idea for “Never Let You Go”?
JOAQUIN: I’ve always had different ideas for projects that I personally wanted to develop. So when I first heard about the details of the contest, I thought it might be a good opportunity to combine some of the ideas that I already had. One of them was a story about two lovers and a test against time, but I didn’t know how I would move that story forward. Another one I had involved a female character waking up in a hospital bed after an accident. I was also thinking of ways to sort of retell the story of Adam and Eve. So when I dreamt of the contest concept, I combined all my ideas into a love story that was kind of a post-apocalyptic retelling of sleeping beauty — where Prince Charming helps save his love. It all came together nicely.
Q: In what ways did Chevrolet’s “Find New Roads” inspire you to make this film?
JOAQUIN: When I read over the contest page, it asked for a character with a can-do spirit who never settles for less. My character is pretty much like that. He’s a scientist that uses innovative and genius ways to save the woman he loves. So he’s essentially finding a new road to saving her, and I thought that just tied in beautifully. I had the ideas beforehand, but I didn’t really know what way to tie them together, so the concept of Find New Roads really helped.
Q: Things must be pretty crazy for you right now. How cool was it when you got word from MTV that your concept had been chosen?
JOAQUIN: At first I was in disbelief. I mean, of course I was excited to know that I had won, but I didn’t really understand the scope of how huge it was. But once I really started thinking about it, it sorta started to sink in and I was pretty excited. Then when I went into the office and met the incredible people that would be helping me produce my movie, I was just ecstatic — through the roof, really. And then moving onto set, it was incredible.