This post was updated Oct. 9 at 9:17 p.m.

Ian Cardamone and Kathryn Steenburgh are more than “OK” creating films on their own terms.

The 2025 graduates of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television are finishing their second short film, “The Hartmanns,” under their own production company, Oll Korrect Media, Steenburgh said. Steenburgh and Cardamone said they began their collaboration in their second year of college with “The Herald,” a project Cardamone directed and wrote and Steenburgh produced and acted in. The two of them, both theater students, met on their first day of classes at UCLA, Cardamone said, and after gaining experience through other student-run film organizations, they took the initiative to create their own short.

“Making films and producing art in general, that doesn’t have to be tied to someone giving us permission to do it,” Steenburgh said.

“The Herald,” an almost 14-minute 1970s thriller shot entirely in a Hitch suite dorm room, features an entrepreneurial student journalist and two ex-commune members and engages with the era’s family values and classic self-help book, “I’m OK – You’re OK,” Cardamone said. The $2000-budget film marked the genesis of Oll Korrect Media, Steenburgh added, and heralded the pair’s first showcase experience at the Beverly Hills Film Festival in spring of 2024.

The same year, the two began filming their second film, “The Hartmanns,” Steenburgh said. The 23-minute drama explores the family dynamics created by ultra-wealth and grief, partially inspired by Cardamone’s observations attending high school in Silicon Valley, he said. This film, Steenburgh said, involved a larger cast, longer timeline, bigger budget and more locations – ranging from the Santa Monica Mountains to Steenburgh’s Westwood apartment and a UCLA parking lot.

Not only did the experience of their first film prepare them to take on a more extensive production, Cardamone and Steenburgh said they also had the help of several peer collaborators, such as Jake Wayne, a fourth-year English student minoring in film, television & digital media. The cinematographer said he met Steenburgh and Cardamone through the film fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha, adding that he bonded with Cardamone over their shared appreciation for director Paul Thomas Anderson. In addition to this, Wayne said the trio’s partnership is energized by its readiness to take artwork seriously.

“We all care so, so, so, so much about what we do being not just our best but satisfying this kind of existential drive to produce something really, really good,” Wayne said.

This dedication takes form in several aspects of production for an Oll Korrect film, from driving a U-Haul truck through the mountains to managing filming permits on campus, Cardamone and Steenburgh said. This even included searching through junkyards and collecting family heirlooms to create their sets’ immersive backdrops, Cardamone added. Steenburgh often workshops the films’ scripts, while Wayne takes on the film editing workload, said Cardamone, and this shared passion helps drive their productions forward.

“That vision of artistic belief in each other’s work – that’s really what’s important to making something and seeing it through,” Cardamone said.

The Oll Korrect team is also dedicated to quality storylines, often exploring character-driven plots aimed to invoke further thought from the audience, Cardamone said. He added that his experience as an actor and director contributes to this focus.

Cardamone said he grew up making short films – for example, one of an “invisible battle,” which he made entirely himself, portraying a character fighting an invisible enemy – but he ultimately went to college for musical theater. In his sophomore year, Cardamone found a desire to be in the driver’s seat of a short film after directing a movie for the Film and Photography Society that year, so he began to work on “The Herald,” he said.

Steenburgh said she had a similar journey, shifting the target from acting in front of the camera to being behind the camera. Steenburgh found that her motivation to make connections in the acting realm led her to places such as FPS, where she said she took on various behind-the-scenes roles, even writing and directing her own film. However, Steenburgh’s dedication to hands-on producing solidified after creating “The Herald,” she said.

“Producing the Herald … was a really empowering experience,” Steenburgh said. “It was the first time I’d ever done a project where there was something like a real product riding on my shoulders.”

As for “The Hartmanns,” Steenburgh said the film is in the final stages of editing, and she hopes to submit it to festivals within the next year. Cardamone added that it can be easy to feel discouraged, as even high-quality short films don’t always face the best market at festivals with longer run times. However, this challenge only further emphasizes the motivation behind their artistic endeavors and the importance of working with others who believe in the mission, Cardamone said.

“We are trying to make it for the purpose of making art, not for the purpose of recognition,” Cardamone said.

As a theater student, Cardamone said graduating can feel like an “existential time” as one is forced to confront their desired career path beyond college. However, Steenburgh said the team’s shared passion for film has kept them keen on finding new ways to make art without being gatekept by industry barriers. Cardamone’s advice to other student filmmakers is to make good use of resources at hand and take things into one’s own hands.

“You can make something for twenty dollars if you wanted to,” Cardamone said. “So don’t wait to start.”