On Thursday night, Brown Original Series premiered its two latest productions, “Shopfront” and “Pas de Deux,” to a packed audience at the Avon Cinema on Thayer Street. The screenings showcased months of writing, filming and editing, after which cast, crew and friends gathered to see the club’s work come to life on the big screen.
“Shopfront” head writer and director Diqiu Liu ’27 described the series, which blends humor with investigative storytelling, as a project born from casual discussions about small businesses in Providence.
The story follows CJ Sullivan, a determined yet awkward student journalist, played by Claire Diepenbrock ’25, a former Herald photo chief and current staff photographer. Alongside her laid-back cameraman Sam Smith, played by Gideon Buddenhagen ’26, CJ stumbles upon a mystery that might be bigger than she ever anticipated. Their evolving friendship serves as the show’s emotional backbone.
“Shopfront” is a “fun mystery that blurs the line between mockumentary and drama,” Buddenhagen said. “It’s a sweet story with elements of comedy, suspense and mystery.”
For Diepenbrock, “Shopfront” marked her acting debut. She auditioned to overcome her stage fright. But once on set, Diepenbrock’s nerves faded away. “It felt really natural right off the bat,” she said.
Buddenhagen noted how the on-screen friendship between Sam and CJ mirrored his real-life bond with Diepenbrock. Developing that friendship both on and off screen was the best part of the process, he said.
The series’ ending, in which CJ seemingly compromises her journalistic integrity, was intentionally ambiguous. Liu told The Herald she wanted to leave room for interpretation.
“I don’t have one specific message I want people to take away,” Liu said. Instead, she hoped audiences would walk away with a variety of interpretations.
On the other hand, “Pas de Deux” delivers an intense psychological drama. Written and directed by Dri deFaria ’26, the show explores the fraught relationship between two ballet dancers, Rowan and Edith, who are locked in a cycle of jealousy, ambition and unspoken desire.
“The antagonist of this story is ballet itself,” deFaria explained. “It’s the thing that drives them to go to these extreme and manipulative measures and ruin their friendship.”
Alice Jokela ’25, who plays Rowan, highlighted the show’s underlying themes of race and privilege. “There are themes of non-Black people getting ahead for not doing as much work,” Jokela said. One of the biggest challenges for Jokela was playing a character who is “oblivious to her obvious privilege.”
“I’ve always wanted to make work about ballet because it’s such an interesting art form with both problems and beauty,” deFaria said.
But bringing these shows to life was not without its challenges. Filming “Shopfront” required extensive coordination with local businesses.
“There’s a lot of effort that goes into asking a shop to close for three to five hours of their busy day so we can shoot,” Buddenhagen noted.
Filming “Pas de Deux” also proved time consuming. Originally scheduled to wrap in December, production delays meant the team needed a few extra months to finish.
In addition to directing and writing, deFaria took on the entire editing process herself, spending over 90 hours in the editing room.
Jokela underscored the BOS’s role in expanding opportunities for student filmmakers. “When I got to Brown … (filmmaking) was sort of restricted to Brown Motion Pictures. I really like that people are branching out and figuring out other ways to explore film.”
For deFaria, student filmmaking is about both community and professional growth. “Student film is a great opportunity to meet people with similar interests and figure out if filmmaking is something you want to pursue,” she said.
“There’s pre-law, and there’s pre-med. BOS is like pre-film,” Liu explained. “Many of us want to do this professionally. This is a playground of ideas where we can test our potential and push ourselves forward.”
