From Lego Animation to Live Action: HSU Junior Completes Student-Led Short Film

Nick Sarandis’ first live-action short is in postproduction, with plans for a 2027 film festival release

By Desmond Christian

Roses crew preparing to begin a day of production.

Hardin-Simmons University junior Nick Sarandis of Houston wrapped filming and began

postproduction on his first live-action short film, Roses, over the summer.

Sarandis, alongside a cast and crew of around 20 people, began production on the short film in June. After five days of filming, the group wrapped filming and began post-production.

The cast and crew included multiple Hardin-Simmons students, as well as people Sarandis recruited from Kansas City and Los Angeles. Hardin-Simmons theatre students Tyler Boone, Kennan Dowling and Chloe Sokora made up the three-person cast.

I could not have … projected that I would land such great, talented people. … It’s just not something you usually find in a town like Abilene. — Sarandis

Boone, one of the lead actors, plays the character Jack. An aspiring film actor and current theatre student, Boone and his co-stars got their roles through an open casting call held months before filming began. Other HSU College of Arts and Media students on the crew worked as production assistants and in makeup.

“Nick couldn’t have picked a better cast. My co-stars, Chloe Sokora and Kennan Dowling, are just the most amazing talents. They are so talented and I am really grateful and thankful that they were there with me … it was like we were just hanging out when we were on set,” Boone said.

Sarandis on the set of Roses, holding a prop.

The film is a sci-fi thriller about brotherhood. “After his brother disappears while searching for a cure to his mental illness, a guilt-ridden young man follows a trail of VHS tapes into an abandoned asylum, where he encounters a force far more sinister than he imagined…” Sarandis said.

The film was originally planned for a 60-minute runtime in its first draft but was shortened to 20 minutes after Sarandis decided he wanted a true short film to qualify for a film festival release.

The cast and crew had to plan around the fact that they only had five days to shoot. As

Sarandis explained, they had to meticulously plan and even cut scenes to work within the time available. At one point in production, they filmed for 16 hours in a single day.

Prior to Roses, Sarandis produced multiple short films on YouTube under the moniker Nick Bricks, using Lego stop-motion animation. These included the original piece that inspired Roses.

Watch the short film that inspired the live action Roses here.

https://youtu.be/KJnNc3IufdI?is=Tm2Gw6PI_hymefYb

“It really is just the scale,” Sarandis said when comparing his work on Roses to his Lego films created for YouTube. When creating those Lego stop-motion films, Sarandis had to build the sets, write the scripts and create the animation, along with many other tasks.

“I think I’m able to do what I’m doing right now because of my experience in my YouTube days,” Sarandis said.

Sarandis posing for a photo on set, holding a clapboard

Sarandis plans for a festival rollout sometime in 2027, followed by a later release on YouTube. He credits the Hardin-Simmons football program for supporting him throughout his endeavor to make Roses happen.

“Every week following production, I would get a text from my coaches. I would get a text from my teammates just saying, ‘How’s production?’ ‘Is there any way I could help?’” Sarandis said. “I mean, you don’t get that everywhere. And that just makes me so thankful to be part of this football program.”