As the lights dimmed in the Pierson-Davenport Theater, one might have expected a hush to fall over the audience. Instead, they erupted into cheers—a reflection of the supportive community of friends, creatives and collaborators who came to support Nicole Viloria ’25. 

At 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, the theater premiered “Paper Dreams” –– a Creative and Performing Arts Award-funded short film written and directed by Viloria. Originally from Venezuela, she relocated to Miami, where she attended Miami Dade College, before transferring to Yale. 

“This story marked a before and after in my life,” said Viloria of the personal experience at Miami Dade that inspired the film.  “It was based on realizing that I fell in love with my best friend at the time.

Viloria’s filmmaking debut draws inspiration from her poetry, where she first explored this experience. It follows Pamela, played by Julia Weston ’28, who is struggling to move on from an emotionally fraught relationship with her best friend, Olivia. Writing a poetry assignment for class, Pamela is left grappling with the flashbacks of the highs and lows of their relationship. Daphne Joyce Wu ’26, who played Olivia, said that she was drawn to her character’s dimensionality. She said that discussions with Viloria about Olivia’s feelings and intentions helped her bring the character to life.

“I learned a lot about myself while playing Olivia,” said Wu. “She is so casually cruel with Pamela’s feelings.”

For Viloria, making “Paper Dreams” was a way to find closure. The relationship largely consumed her creativity and emotional energy. 

“When I was on set, I realized I no longer felt the same emotions,” she said. “It felt like I’d finally moved past that chapter of my life.” Since completing the film, she has let go. Viloria said that she has been able to focus her artistic pursuits on other topics for the first time since the relationship ended.

Before the film’s screening, during a pause to address technical difficulties, she spoke to the audience about her inspiration and process. “The biggest challenge was everything,” she said with a laugh, recounting moments like attempting to film a scene at the Graduate at 10 a.m., only to realize the bar was closed.

Nicolas Upegui ’27, the composer of the film score, drew inspiration from Viloria’s poetry, as well as music from Danny Ocean and Sampha. 

Throughout the creative process, Upegui and Viloria communicated back and forth to find a sound that matched the emotional tone of the film. When Viloria sent Upegui a clip of a pivotal scene, he said he was hit by inspiration for a melody and lyrics.

“I watched the scene and everything just flowed naturally,” said Upegui, describing how seeing the visuals unlocked the creative direction he had been searching for.

Viloria said she originally planned to call her film “endless cycle,” describing the highs and lows of her past friendship. But after having a dream where she saw a yellow notebook with the words “paper dreams” on the cover, Viloria knew that she had found the perfect title. The next day, she purchased a yellow notebook — which Pamela uses in the film’s opening scene.

Viloria discovered her love for screenwriting through the class “Harnessing Your Voice to Write Diverse Stories for the Big Screen,” taught by Vineet Dewan ’02. 

She recounted advice that Brenda Hsueh ’98, who helped write the Pixar film “Elemental” and produce “How I Met Your Mother,” gave to students when she visited. According to Viloria, Hsueh advised students to write consistently.

Prior to taking the class, Viloria said filmmaking felt like a “distant” fantasy rather than a real possibility. But talking to Hsueh changed Viloria’s perspective. 

That summer, she interned at Narval Films and Baobab Studios in Los Angeles, California. There, she met Yijia Sun, who helped with “Paper Dreams” by advising Viloria on how to execute production tasks.

“She learns everything fast which is great in the film industry where you learn by doing,” said Sun.

This fall, Viloria attended a meeting of the Yale Undergraduate Screenwriting Syndicate for feedback on her script for the short film. There, she met Scarlet Perez ’27, who loved the concept of “Paper Dreams” and its emphasis on representation for Latine and queer communities.

Eager to help, Perez took on her first film experience as an assistant director, everything from feeding actors their lines to holding the boom mics to retrieving battery packs from the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media.

“Nicole’s patience, understanding and determination to finish the film were essential,” said Perez. “It was incredibly inspiring to see how she [Viloria] took something so personal and turned it into a powerful narrative.”

Viloria’s next project is her graduation thesis, in which she plans to tell another story close to her heart: leaving Venezuela for a new home. She said she hopes to explore what it’s like to fall in love with a country. 

“It’s so cool that Yale gives us opportunities to do things like this,” said Viloria. “ I’m really grateful for the resources and mentorship that helped make this film possible.”

The project was funded through Pierson College’s CPA award.