Even as a child, Jay Pendarvis Jr. was concerned with documenting the world around him.
On family vacations, he would have a camera in his hand, recording his relatives at play, or someone kitesurfing in St. Martin – small moments that captured what each trip was like.
Now, the University of Virginia alumnus has produced a short film featuring an Emmy-nominated actor. The short film won “Best U.S. Short” at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others. Carlos Lopez Estrada, the film’s lead producer, is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director.
Pendarvis’ short film, “See You Soon,” starring Asante Blackk from “When They See Us” and Isaiah John from “Snowfall,” focuses on the lengths a young man will go to in mourning his older brother. Pendarvis is currently earning a master’s degree at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
He started making films just before he came to UVA in 2020, where he competed in track, running the 200- and 400-meter dashes, and studied studio art.
“It was the summer of 2020, and there were all these Black Lives Matter protests. I’m from Annandale, so I would just drive 15 minutes into D.C. every time there was a protest,” Pendarvis said.
It was his first time observing a protest, let alone one that would become part of one of the largest protest movements in recent American history. As he filmed, protesters gave him water and shared tips on how to stay safe. He first recorded the crowds on his phone before investing in a camera. Pendarvis said the scene was peaceful; otherwise, his parents wouldn’t have allowed him to return.
“I just knew it was going to be a historic thing, all these folks in masks coming out and risking their health because of this cause,” Pendarvis said.
He loved making videos so much he didn’t want to stop, he said.
He hasn’t stopped making them since. Two of his projects were screened at the Virginia Film Festival, including “1-15-41,” a documentary about the Nov. 13, 2022, shootings on UVA’s Grounds, in which a gunman opened fire on a charter bus and killed student-athletes Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr., as well as injuring Marlee Morgan and Mike Hollins. The short documentary won the festival’s Programmers Award in 2023.
The story was deeply personal for Pendarvis. When he arrived on Grounds in 2020, he found a mostly empty UVA, save for his fellow student-athletes, including Chandler, Perry and Davis. They all lived in Gibbons Hall before the University reopened for in-person classes. His grandfather died the same week as his friends.
Pendarvis watches a monitor on set for his short film, “See You Soon.” The short was screened at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others. (Contributed photo)
“I was just dealing with so many different types of grief,” Pendarvis said.
A year later, he channeled that grief into his first feature film, “Brother’s Keeper,” which he wrote during an independent study with former cinema lecturer Anna Hogg. The screenplay served as the foundation for his short film, “See You Soon.”
“I had to think of the best way to tell that story, and I wanted to write about what happens when someone you love gets ripped out of your life,” Pendarvis said. “I was interested in what happens when there’s nowhere for the love you had for that person to go.”
He submitted the script for a fellowship with Antigravity Academy, which helps develop emerging filmmakers. They accepted him, and a week after Final Exercises, he flew to Los Angeles. A week after landing on the West Coast, he signed with M88. the talent management company that represents “Sinners” director Ryan Coogler and actors like Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson.
Then, he started pitching his short film. When Blackk and John signed on for both the short and the feature film, he knew it was a go.
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