Dog, Bruh!

In 1995 Los Angeles, Filipino teen Shawn sets out to ask his best friend Nico’s sister to the prom that night. He does so by affixing onto himself a caricature of a Black person, and therefore must realize that doing so is wrong, on so many levels. Eventually, he gets help from his favorite rapper, and runs to apologize to Nico before Nico leaves for the prom himself.

Katja (that’s it!) is a writer/director studying to become a better writer/director and producer at USC’s MFA Film and TV Production program. “Dog, Bruh!” is her tenth directing credit since starting her career as a filmmaker.

Born in the Philippines, she has hopped around the opposite US coasts, conducting her undergrad at Pace University in New York City as a Pforzheimer Honors Scholar, where she studied Film Theory and found a love for stand-up comedy.

Most recently, she has worked as a 1st Assistant Director for a number of USC MFA thesis projects including “Agua de tu Madre,” “Cypress Park,” “Gold Dogma,” and “Dallas & Delilah,” as well as a flurry of MFA thesis projects as a 2nd Assistant Director. She is also currently in production for two MFA animated thesis films as a Producer– “Camp Kona” and “Kilig!”

All of these stories that she has had the privilege to work on have a common through line: they are stories about BIPOC, queer people, women, or some beautiful combination of these intersectionalities. As much as she can, she hopes to continue championing the stories of marginalized people in any capacity– either specifically focusing on the struggles of the reality of marginalization, or simply *being*, as they move through life following their own hearts.

Plays in

Shorts Program II: Outside the Box

A Q&A panel with the filmmakers will take place after the screening. Outside the Box centers on stories…