THE ALYSSA PROJECT
For Alyssa Mulholland
ALYSSA MULHOLLAND
My Best Friend Through It All
Alyssa Mulholland. Wow, where to begin? You have truly been my best friend through it all. We first met at Haley’s party in grade eight, I didn’t know you by name of course. And then later, because of Haley, you hit me up with a single word. Nyoom. Man, if only I knew back then how much significance that word would have one day. We started saying nyoom to each other in the halls whenever we saw each other, and then, eventually, we started talking more. And more. And more. You were the best friend I could have asked for. Grade nine was a dark time for me, and I wasn’t handling it well. My grandfather, my closest family member, had past away in November. My girlfriend had broken up with me in February. It was rough. But you were there. We bonded a lot. Something just kind of clicked between us. Remember that Steven Universe shirt I bought for your birthday? Kind of ridiculous now that I think about it. When Baxter died, my phone got flooded with messages. “Is it true?” “Did Baxter really kill himself?” “What happened to Baxter?” “Are the rumours true?” “You killed him.” Messages left, right, and centre. But the only person I wanted to talk to in that moment was you. That was one of the hardest days of my life. Hell, I still blame myself for it. Not a lot gets me to cry in front of people, but that did the trick. You were there for me. I could never thank you enough. You were there for me and I guess, as time went on, I got too used to that. Too comfortable with it. It became less of a mutual support and more of me using you as a personal therapist. Then, when my falling out with Shauna happened, you called me out. And that was the right thing to do. I reflected on myself and changed my ways. And now look at us! We have an amazing friendship. Remember when I got you tickets to an early premiere of Far From Home? That was great. You’re seriously such an amazing person, Alyssa. You’re real, you’re genuine, you have a very no bullshit attitude and I have so much respect for you. You’re funny, you’re charismatic, you’re a pleasure to be around. I love hanging out with you. You’re one of my favourite people to be around. You’re always there for me and others, and you always know just what to say. You’re selfless, kind, caring, compassionate, empathetic. You’re beautiful, you’re smart, you’re brilliant. You’re essentially the most amazing person. You were my first high school friend. At a time where I had nobody, I had you. Oh, and you’re very talented. In art, in singing, everything. It’s really amazing how, well, amazing you are. How hard-working, and dedicated, and passionate you are. We’ve both come a long way since our roots in grade nine and Alyssa I am so proud of you. You’ve come so far and I know you’re only gonna continue to grow. Alyssa Mulholland, my best friend through it all, thank you. And happy birthday.
Your friend, and sincerest pal,
~ Michael Hegge
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The idea first came to me one night late September. I wanted to do something really big for your birthday. But, your birthday was in April. it was only September. I thought it was far too early to start planning. So I sat on the idea. For about a week and a half and then I just could not stop thinking about it. I texted Brooke, I said "okay, here's what I want to do," and we got to work. I texted everyone. And I mean everyone. Around 35 people were involved in the making of this. We started filming October 31st, and filmed pretty much every weekday up until Christmas break. And then, going even longer. We wrapped filming in February. It was hard, trying to not let you raise any suspicion, but here we are. I spent about six months on this. And it was more than worth it. There were a billion and one challenges along the way, people having to reschedule their filming days, the camera dying and having to buy a new charger, having to buy a mic, the mic not working, Brooke forgetting we need to film, getting supervision, my computer not being able to handle having Final Cut open for more than 10 minutes, and of course, the whole quarantine thing, and several other things. And of course, the countless times where we tried to evade you, but couldn't because we didn't want to give ourselves away. Not that I don't love hanging out with you, but when we're trying to film a secret birthday video it can get pretty tricky if you're always there. All in all, I think it turned out great.
THE ALYSSA PROJECT WOULD LIKE TO THANK
Assistant Director
BROOKE GRAHAM
Brooke was my #1 helper on this. My go-to for literally everything. She gave up countless breaks and so much of her time to help me. She helped me get names, arrange times and locations, and was a very crucial part in the success of this project
Director of Cinematography
Josh did a lot of work to help me in setting up cameras, tripods, lighting, etc. I used his keen eye to make everything look perfect. He helped with a lot of decision making and planning. Without him, the project would probably be complete and utter garbage.
JOSH DAY
Supervisor
LARA AQUINO-SORIANO
Mrs. Aquino-Soriano gave up countless of her own hours and lunch periods to supervise us and allow us to use her classroom as a quiet place to film. Had it not been for her, we probably would've had to use the music room. And that would have made things very difficult.
THANKS TO:
Thank you to the following people:
Connie Scott for providing us with a camera and a tripod to shoot with. And for buying a new charger off Amazon when we lost the original one. Laura Sgambelluri for letting us film when Mrs. Aquino wasn't there. Mikayla Erison for taking the time out of her days to film a video and send it to me. And thank you to Sam McGuirk, Claire Ross, Maya Herriot, and Katelyn Askew for sending in videos for the intro. This project would not be possible without you.
The following people participated in the video:
Michael Hegge, Brooke Graham, Claire Ross, Maya Herriot, Huda al Hamami, Bree Theriault, Haley Truffen, Hayden Thomas, Sam McGuirk, Jing Yang, Dylan Ngo, Curtis Collings, Hannah Elmallakh, Lily Rickels, Mikayla Erison, Shauna Kernaghan, Scarlett Johnson, Mark Mosleh, Josh Day, Christina Lidgey, Alizay Hassan, Katelyn Askew, Mahmoud Batsh, Sabit Uddin, Ciára Morris, Pranav Khodot, Anika Thompson, Emma Anderson, Noah Berc, Margaret Li, Katlin Eckert, Arlette Mamo, and Megan Laing.