Imagine Becoming * You’re Never Too Young To Be Thinking About Your Career
The film takes young audiences on an inspiring journey to discover their future career paths, offering a relevant and innovative way to engage and prepare youth for their future.
KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Eli C. comments, “I like Imagine Becoming because of the acting of Jeanelle St. Fleur and Kennedy Swartz – their portrayal of emotions is spot on. As I am around Chloe’s age, I understand how easy it is to get caught up with your phone, and I may have even made her mistake once or twice.” Ruhi K. adds, “Imagine Becoming is a reminder to pursue your passions. Having options and the means to experiment with them is a blessing that many don’t have, and learning truly can be an enjoyable experience once you discover something that makes you want to dive in and grow.” Julie S. wraps it up with, “The indie short film, Imagine Becoming, has a lot going for it in terms of generating conversations among kids and parents about their career aspirations and getting kids to think about what they might like to pursue in their adult lives.” See their full reviews below.
Imagine Becoming
By Eli C., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 10
I like Imagine Becoming because of the acting of Jeanelle St. Fleur and Kennedy Swartz – their portrayal of emotions is spot on. Plus, I like that the film looks like one big livestream.
This short film is about a young girl named Chloe (Jeanelle St. Fleur), who is obsessed with her phone and can’t get enough of it. One day, her best friend Maya (Kennedy Swartz), with the help of her mom (Eleanor Swartz) and Chloe’s mom (Joiel Woods), gets her off of her phone long enough for Chloe to realize that there are other things in life than social media.
The acting by Jeanelle St. Fleur and Kennedy Swartz’ stands out. I’ve seen live streams on Instagram before and the cinematography looks a lot like some that I’ve seen. What’s interesting is that this film is not really about being on social media too much. As I am around Chloe’s age, I understand how easy it is to get caught up with your phone, and I may have even made her mistake once or twice.
Kudos to Andre Butler Jr. and Ben Lee Foster as the music makers; the music is catchy and well done. Hats off to Nicole Butler for writing this lovely story, the character development makes the film even more understandable, and so do the backstories of the mannequins. It is easy to see that real work was put into the characters. I also congratulate Tanisha Butt for casting the actors and actresses. The cast really caught me off guard. When I started watching this film, I thought that there would just be a normal cast, but I was definitely wrong. This cast really stands out. My favorite part is when Chloe finds out what she wants to be because I am a sucker for happy endings, and the ending of this story is nothing but that, so it made me very happy.
The film’s message is: don’t get so distracted with your phone that you miss what is important – family, friendship, and education.
I give Imagine Becoming 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to 12. It is available to watch digitally now.
Imagine Becoming
By Ruhi K., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 16
Imagine Becoming is a charming film that illustrates the range of possibilities available to children. It aims to introduce young people to career exploration and help navigate the future they will soon step into. However, the film lacks clarity, which caused me to lose sight of its vision.
Imagine Becoming follows Chloe (Jeanelle St. Fleur), a young girl who has gotten into trouble by spending class time on her phone. Chloe’s mother (Joiel Woods) is concerned about her daughter’s disinterest in the world outside her phone, including her education. In an attempt to restore Chloe’s zest for real life, her mother and her best friend Maya (Kennedy Swartz) take her to visit a ‘career display’ at the local museum, meant to be a microcosm of the workforce, where she is encouraged to explore the opportunities available to her.
Imagine Becoming is crafted for what many perceive as today’s “typical tween”—social media-obsessed, dismissive of school, more interested in superficiality than substance. All this results in an overly shallow character and that lack of authenticity prevented me from fully resonating with Chloe. Additionally, the filmmaker is projecting two different messages and, while they are both valuable, trying to convey them in a short amount of time decreases the effectiveness of both. The first half of the film is spent discouraging cell phone usage. Chloe’s teacher (Grace Helmus) calls home concerned about her phone usage; the girls’ mother expresses her dissatisfaction, and even her BFF Maya implores her to look up from her screen, describing the harsh consequences of “addiction.” The second half is a pivot to an interactive tour of career possibilities for Chloe, which has no connection to her phone usage and leads to a contradiction in the story. Earlier in the film, Chloe’s aspirations of becoming an influencer are rejected by her friends and family, with Maya stating that “a hobby isn’t a career.” But the majority of the professions presented at the museum – actor, dancer, director, fashion designer – are all within the creative sphere, and it could be argued that they are less attainable than social media recognition. The film also takes a pretty critical stance on influencers and athletes for a piece meant to promote curiosity. The casting is pretty ethnically conscious, which I appreciate. Another positive aspect of Imagine Becoming is its success in inspiring youth. The depictions of the adults at the museum as children with big dreams prompt viewers to envision a future based on their current interests.
Imagine Becoming is a reminder to pursue your passions. Having options and the means to experiment with them is a blessing that many don’t have, and learning truly can be an enjoyable experience once you discover something that makes you want to dive in and grow. It’s a wide, complex world, and you never know what’s out there until you step outside and see for yourself, so dream in every color of the rainbow.
I give Imagine Becoming 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to 12. It is currently available to stream on YouTube.
Imagine Becoming
By Julie S., KIDS FIRST!
The indie short film, Imagine Becoming, has a lot going for it in terms of generating conversations among kids and parents about their career aspirations and getting kids to think about what they might like to pursue in their adult lives.
The storyline follows a young girl, Chloe (Jeanelle St. Fleur), who gets in trouble at school for spending too much time on her phone and putting her phone before doing her class assignment. Her teacher notifies Chloe’s mom (Joiel Woods) who resonates with the issue and calls her best friend for some advice and inspiration. They make a plan for Chloe to accompany daughter, Maya (Kennedy Swartz), to a career exhibit at the local museum where the two of them have an opportunity to look at careers in a clever interactive way.
The film addresses a serious issue with youth today – obsession with their phones and parents not knowing what to do about it. I love seeing the moms talk with each other and offering solutions to the problem. Taking the girls to the museum for the career exhibit is a brilliant solution as it gets the girls to think about something other than their phones. The actors are well cast. Both Janelle St. Fleur and Kennedy Swartz are adorable; they speak well, play their parts well and I love their outfits. The moms also are well cast and perform their roles very believably. I think many moms will resonate with them. At the museum, I like seeing the different adult professionals interact with the girls and discuss their careers and how they got there. They talk with an actor, a singer, a director, a dancer, a journalist, a chef, a fashion designer, the latter of which Chloe resonates with most. She announces afterwards that she’s going to become a fashion designer.
The production is pretty good; the video is clear, as is the audio and the editing is great. However, at times the camera work is very shaky, such as when Chloe and Maya are sitting on the bed together and then again at the museum. The lighting also falls short at times and the black and white videos have vertical black lines moving across the screen and some subtitles are misspelled. I love the exit music that plays under the credits and the outtakes afterwards are very cute.
The film’s message is to spend less time on your phone and think about your future career and what you might be doing now, even as a child, to prepare yourself for what is to come.
I give Imagine Becoming 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 12. It can be found now on YouTube.
