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Dalton Okolo tried his hand at cinema in college, but his first short has the attributes of a feature film.

“Missing You” is indeed brief – 6 minutes 2 seconds, including a minute and a half of credits – but it is full of angst, tangy dialogue and high production values.

The film begins with protagonist Brian (Max Johnson) in a bathrobe smoking a cigarette and sipping a drink outside his suburban home in Northern Virginia at night. He speaks to a former lover in a voiceover as an instrumental version of “You Are My Sunshine” plays in the background.

The protagonist turns on the radio, where a presenter (Annie Gill) reports on the protests in Washington, DC A voiceover protester (Wain Jenkins) then discusses society’s anger and the need to ask tough questions, although the answers might be ugly.

Brian sips whiskey then mistakenly calls his ex-girlfriend Ellen (Karisa Quinn), getting a profane response and scolding. The writers had to go through terrible ruptures, because the dialogue here is painfully sharp and realistic.

Okolo, who lives in the Falls Church area near Arlington, directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Buck Bloomingdale.

Okolo graduated in 2011 from Westfield High School in Chantilly and holds a BA in Media Studies from Radford University. He is now a Project Manager for Media Services at Freddie Mac at Tysons.

Okolo runs his own private production company, 1108, named after his address on Clement Street in Radford, where he made his first film foray for a college competition.

He had always loved cinema and was constantly in the studios, but until “Missing You” he had never had the chance to do his own narrative project.

Okolo came up with the idea for “Missing You” in the spring of 2020 and finalized the script in July of last year. The film was originally about a man who constantly calls out for a girl, but has nothing to say, but this story “didn’t have any kind of seriousness,” he said.

The team videotaped the film in the house in Chantilly of Okolo’s parents, who received credits as executive producers.

Okolo said he wanted to tell fictional crime stories with non-chronological sequences, as evidenced by “Pulp Fiction”. He enjoys the work of directors Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Brian De Palma and Steve McQueen and the acting skills of Cate Blanchett, Denzel Washington and Robert De Niro.

Okolo’s next project will be an action short film about an assassin who befriends the dog of a couple she killed. Production is slated to move to main shoot next spring.

Okolo hopes to show “Missing You” at festivals and use it for future projects. Main lessons from the film: Get as much help as you can during pre-production, as these countless tasks are difficult for one person to handle, and keep the ideas in mind, but stay open to the creative process.

Okolo found the artists through a service called Backstage. As the only onscreen actor in the film, Johnson said he needs to learn to feel comfortable not interacting with another actor. His character, Brian, makes life choices based on apathy, he said.

“His relationships, his worldview and his life choices are guided by what he thinks is easiest rather than what he thinks is right,” Johnson said.

“I hope this film can help reveal to audiences that not making a choice can be just as damaging as making the wrong choice.”

Jenkins, who played the protester, called Okolo’s management “flawless.”

“He’s not only graceful, but he knows what he needs from his actors and knows how to make it stand out,” Jenkins said. “He sees aspects of the abilities of actors that we may not see in ourselves.”

Gill, the film’s presenter, recorded her lines, with Okolo’s coaching, in her home studio in Baltimore. She did not base her performance on any reporter, but studied the tone and speech of several “The Today Show” and CNN correspondents.

“I hope that when we all watch this movie and look back at that time in history, we see how very broken our country has become, and the hurt and pain that we all feel seeing the change that is taking place. has to happen, ”said Gill. .

Quinn said his ex-girlfriend is stuck in her own ways and is loath to give others a second chance.

“I wanted to portray Ellen as someone very stubborn, aggressive and without excuse,” she said. “She barely lets Brian speak and her questions are almost rhetorical. She doesn’t care about her answers because in her mind she has all the answers.

Daniela Rodriguez Martinez, the “Missing You” colorist, said she worked with the director to secure the film’s final appearance.

“Dalton had a clear idea of ​​what kind of look he wanted for the short film, but he was also open-minded once I showed the look I had developed for each scene,” he said. she declared.

Composer Mark Saltman said he and Okolo developed the tone, mood, contrast, and subtlety of the film, including where music was and wasn’t needed.

“I really hope people watch the movie and come away feeling that they can really understand where the main character is coming from, and maybe even find a little humor in it,” he said. .