The Drive

“The Drive is a work that was created under extremely special circumstances. Since the pandemic, I have moved from Los Angeles to Korea, my home country. With none of my gear or my friends/crew to help me through a project (in addition to, you know, the pandemic itself), I have been on a creative halt for almost a year. I got the idea for The Drive while driving past an abandoned gas station. Ever since then, the idea kept speaking to me until I gave in and finally got through shooting it—with just me, two actors, and my sister (who knows nothing about filmmaking) on sound.

The Drive tells the story of a couple on two different drives. Both of them occur in the same space with the same people—but at a different places in the relationship. Although I wish I could have made The Drive under better circumstances, I am proud of how it turned out and find value in the story it is telling. I sincerely hope you find value in this two-minute story as well.”

Jiwon Lee is a student filmmaker born in Korea, raised in Malaysia and China, and currently based in Los Angeles, California. She has written and directed numerous short films, which made it to festivals worldwide such as the Oniros Film Awards, Cinema Italian Awards, Berlin Flash Film Festival, Best Global Shorts, and more. Jiwon is currently a junior at the University of Southern California, majoring in cinema and media studies with a minor in screenwriting.