This winter, OHS senior Jaina Mazdra competed in the documentary/short film competition category of the Thespys at the annual International Thespian Conference. In her documentary, “In the Wings,” she included details of the process of putting on a production, but also showcased the many things the actors and technicians might miss. 

“I made a documentary on our show for Oakville Theater company, ‘The Little Mermaid.’ It was basically about the process of our show and behind the scenes.” Mazdra said. 

After getting her project adjudicated by the Thespy judges, she was finally able to find out about her results.

“I got a superior rating on my Thespy, which is a shorthold competition,” Mazdra said. “I got judged by three different judges, and they all gave me a superior rating.”

A superior rating is the highest rating possible, which is what is required to move on to the next round at the International Thespian Festival. But this isn’t all she achieved. 

“One of the judges liked it so much that they submitted it to another competition, which is a theater in our school’s competition,” Mazdra said “It’s called the NAAE Senior Division Content Creation Contest, and it’s a contest where people make videos about high school theater.” 

Mazdra believes that this documentary helped her grow and hopes to achieve more in the future. 

“It really helped me grow as a filmmaker because that was my first individual film project. So I did that all by myself, and it just shows how far I’ve come,” Mazdra said. “It will definitely, definitely look good on my resume.” 

Theater is a big part of Mazdra’s life, so being able to make film meant a lot to her. 

“This project means so much to me, as I made it specifically for our theater company,” Mazdra said, “and the fact that it got so big is just so amazing. It shows just how great our company is.”