Set in the perennially sunny San Fernando Valley, California, Just a Girl is a short film about a teenage girl who is raped by one of her friends and must deal with the consequences.

Just a Girl offers a searing look into the insidious and underexposed topic of acquaintance rape. The film begins with a nineteen year-old girl writing a paper, forcing herself to reflect on the event that changed her forever. Flash back to her last day of high school: the girl, Persephone, bright and idealistic, plans on going to college in NYC to pursue her dream of writing for the premiere music magazine in the country. Her controlling father forbids her leaving home. These high school problems melt into the background when Andreas, a life-long friend a year older than Persephone, returns after his first year of college and the two go out to celebrate. Intoxicated, she refuses his advances. He proceeds with his "seduction," regardless. For Persephone, the night ends with shock and confusion. Was it misunderstanding or blatant disregard? And what can Persephone do to regain her self-worth?

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I have heard date rape stories too many times—from people I care about. Because of the horrible feelings after the fact (guilt, humiliation, depression) and the fear of not being believed, very few women report the crime or even talk about it. Some don’t realize a crime was committed at all, that it was just sex, or worse—that it was their fault. My mother volunteered at a women’s shelter a few years ago, and when I was having trouble with the last script I was working on, a highly-stylized film-noir comedy, she said, "Why don’t you do your thesis on date rape?" A few months later, I started writing this script.

I was drawn to this title, because in the No Doubt song, Just a Girl, Gwen Stefani sings about the inequality girls are raised with—because of the fear that "something bad" could happen (like rape). "The moment that I stepped outside, so many reasons for me to run and hide, I can’t do those little things I hold so dear...I'm just a girl living in captivity...they won't let me drive late at night..."

One out of four women are raped in this country—usually by someone they know. The highest risk ages are 16 to 24. Martha Burt, PhD, says, "Acquaintance rape involves the humiliation of realizing that the assailant does not care what the victim wants." What differentiates sex from rape is consent. I have chosen to set my story in the Hellenic-American community of the San Fernando Valley because it is where I come from and what I know, but the story reflects what’s going on all over the country.

I worked on the script over the course of nine months. I researched extensively, read books and watched every film I could find that had to do with rape. I thought the modern retelling of the myth of Persephone worked perfectly for this story. What I like most about the myth is the idea that you can experience something as horrible as rape, but not be forever defined by it.

My main objective in this film was to make these characters real—Persephone could be your daughter, your sister, your friend. My Director of Photography, Yasu Tanida, asked me to explain in one word, what this film is about. My answer was compassion, which by origin means “to suffer with.” The camera in this film is not voyeuristic or exploitative, but rather, it allows the audience to experience everything with Persephone, accompanying her as the spirit of compassion.

One of the most extraordinary parts of this whole experience has been that women who I’ve met throughout the development of the project, once I tell them what the film is about, proceed to tell me their own rape story. I have learned that the most compassionate thing you can do for someone who has experienced rape, is simply to listen.