After pitching a script to his visual arts classmates at Newport Harbor High School, 18-year-old Tyler Carlin went to work on his short film, with some added competition as motivation.
"Mine's about a teenager and a zombie apocalypse world," the senior said. "He's kind of chilling at home with his girlfriend and he really gets a hunger for some Cheetos."
Since December, he's led his cast and crew across Newport Beach and Lakewood to complete his character's snack-driven post-apocalyptic journey.
"He's prepared to go outside to do whatever it costs to get his Cheetos, and then he runs into some trouble," Tyler said. "At the end there's a pretty epic battle."
Tyler's film is one of about a dozen that were entered in the first Newport Mesa Film Festival produced by students and featuring student work.
He and other visual arts students competing in short film, graphic design, photography and animation will get an Oscar-esque treatment during an awards show at Harbor on April 8.