Lifelong Support Leverages Alum’s Short Film

Storytelling has always come naturally to Katie Colwell, CAS ’20. Graduating from Oakland University was only a foreshadowing of the continued support she’d receive creating her latest story, “Lapse”. 

Originally from Connecticut, Colwell plunged into OU’s swim team and cinema studies program, balancing both of her passions. “A Division One program and the film industry require a certain level of commitment, but my professors and swim coach were so understanding and flexible that I could be successful in both areas,” she says. Through their help, her schedule was puzzled together with swim practices, Student Video Production meetings and hands-on experiences in the surrounding community.

After graduation, Colwell was struck with a dream that could combine everything from her educational journey. “It was in the middle of the night, and I remember the whole story came to me,” she says. She began writing immediately, creating a script for a full-feature film. 

Colwell took an original look at a horror film, moving past traditional possession troupes and considering ‘what happens after the possessed wake up and realize the destruction they’ve caused?’ She cast the main character as a swimmer, someone she could relate to and unravel their intense emotions completely. “The story scared me as I wrote that night, and the very next day I wanted to start making it.”

Next, she plucked a pinnacle moment from the script to begin her first horror short film, “Lapse”. While she intended to begin filming immediately in Connecticut, family-centered, local pools didn’t want to engage with her scary story idea. So, she reached out to OU swim coach Pete Hovland, and he supported her creativity entirely.

She returned to Michigan and reconnected with Hovland, who helped organize access to OU’s Recreation Center pool for filming. Colwell’s former OU film instructors, such as Andrea Eis and Adam Gould, offered their assistance. Lastly, her OU peers banded together to begin production. “I cherish those connections with my professors and peers because, honestly, the film couldn’t have happened without them,” Colwell says.

Now “Lapse” is in its final stages of production and will be released to film festivals in 2023. Future fans can stay up-to-date with its release and find sneak peeks at @lapseofficialfilm on Instagram and TikTok and Lapse Film on Facebook.  

With a strong start and support, Colwell plans to continue filming after the release of “Lapse” to execute her full vision from that fateful night of writing her first feature film.

“This isn’t something you’d have the opportunity to do on just any campus, but everybody was committed to making it happen,” Colwell says. “That’s what’s great about Oakland University: people really care about student success in all aspects of their life.”