Local Filmmaker Shea Formanes Chats New Short Diwata, Production Process
Diwata promo image
Courtesy of Shea Formanes
Last year I was privileged to speak with local filmmaker Shea Formanes about her first feature, I Watched Her Grow. Recently, Shea and I spoke again, this time about shooting a short film she is currently working on. We spoke about her process and how this particular film, titled Diwata (a Filipino word meaning “muse”) went from an idea into her current project. We also went into great detail about how a film like this gets made and the partnerships she found along the way.
Zach Youngs (ZY): When you sit down to write, do you have length in mind, short or feature, or do you see where the story takes you?
Shea Formanes (SF): Typically I see where the story takes me. However, for this project, I wanted to keep it at 15 minutes, [which is about] 15 pages because I was entering it into screenplay competitions where the limit was 15 pages. Also, I wanted to challenge myself with, can I tell an effective and coherent story in 15 pages or less. Can I achieve the same effect in a shorter amount of pages and an economy of words [and] am I able to convey everything with less dialogue, more visuals.
ZY: When you entered these screenwriting contests, was there the promise of funding if you won or was it more about prestige?
SF: For some of them there was a grant. This project, Diwata, was a finalist for the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, which was through CAPE and Janet Yang Productions. I was a finalist, I didn't win unfortunately, but I was invited to their summit in L.A. back in August [2025]. I was able to attend and meet the investors and network, basically pitch my project to other people.
ZY: Where did the idea for Diwata come from?
SF: Diwata originated from a bunch of stories from my grandparents and my parents. They inspired what this film is about. I grew up in a multi-generational Filipino American family in Queens, New York. As I was growing up I learned stories from my parents and grandparents about how they grew up and also the impact that intergenerational trauma [had] on their families and how they interact with their kids and their grandkids.
There was a particular event where my grandfather turned 80. My grandfather's a very introverted person and he would rather spend time in his tomato garden than be around other people. We had a very private celebration on his birthday, but they also had this huge, extravagant birthday party with all of their friends and people in the community. I remember my grandfather did not want to be there. Being at that party and seeing the various ways people in my community kind of felt like they had to perform in order to satisfy the expectations or needs of other people. I found that interesting and I wanted to write a story about that and the idea of personal happiness versus collective happiness. The story is really about elders and younger generations and why the relationships between them can be fraught and what are the ways in which those bonds can be mended and improved upon.
ZY: At what point in your rewrite process do you start to look at the story from a practical filming standpoint?
SF: Super early on. When I was writing the story I was initially [thinking], "Let's have characters underwater." We're going to see them swimming. It's going to be great. Then on draft two I was like, maybe let's not do that. Especially because we're filming in November, it's going to be cold, we're going to be on the beach, which is an unreliable force of nature. I also specifically wrote this story as pretty intimate, in that there's only three speaking roles. One because I knew that was all we could afford and also I wanted to give the space to focus on these characters as much as possible versus spreading out the runtime and screentime and dividing it between multiple different people.
ZY: What is the Small Budget Production Initiative and how did you get involved with it?
SF: I got involved with Washington Filmworks which runs the SBPI program back in late 2023. I was accepted into the Above the Line Education Forum through Washington Filmworks. We learned everything from trademarking to greeking to what is the best film festival strategy. Through that I learned about SBPI, which is a film incentive program that is also run by Washington Filmworks. I decided to apply with this project because one of the benefits of the program is you get 30-40% of your budget back in the event that you become fully funded. That includes preproduction, production, and postproduction. Having a film incentive program that's based in Washington is really helpful, especially for independent filmmakers who are looking for ways to get funding.
ZY: What has the preproduction process been like so far?
SF: It has been incredibly challenging and complex. Compared to what I did on my feature film, somehow even though this film is shorter and has less people on the crew it is a lot more complicated. We're also partnering a lot with local organizations for this film. They are so instrumental with not only helping out financially, but also just getting the word out.
Cast of Diwata: Amor Owens, Rachel Alejandro, Samantha Herrera
Courtesy of Shea Formanes
