Alum Jillian Green serves up short film ‘Strawberry Milkshake’

Since her freshman year at Loyola, Jillian Green diligently dedicated herself to filmmaking.  

Green, who graduated in 2025 with dual majors in film and media production and psychology, mixed a sweet cast with a savvy production team to create “Strawberry Milkshake,” a 12-minute comedy-drama. A year later, the short film traversed across Chicago on a festival run, racking up awards and nominations along the way.

“I would describe ‘Strawberry Milkshake’ as a story about friendship as the overarching theme,” Green said. “But I would say underneath it all, I think it’s a story about self-discovery and learning to slow down and balance your ambition.” 

Despite production wrapping late 2024, the film rolled onto festivals screens in 2026, such as the Women Make Movies Festival, Mezcla Spring Showcase and Sisters in Cinema Reel Innovator Shorts Showcase. 

“Strawberry Milkshake” follows the dating pitfalls of Carmen, a protagonist struggling to balance multiple jobs and a social life. As she goes on drab and disastrous dates with men who happen to — realistically — display the Seven Deadly Sins across four dates, Carmen learns workaholism and the shining badge of a relationship aren’t required to make the most of life. 

Strawberry Milkshake, which featured a Stan Lee-esque Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, cameo, was part of a collaborative film project between students, which allows them to submit scripts to a pool, from which three are chosen to be produced. 

“It was a mix of deer in the headlights at first, like all of us, right?” Miguel Silvera, a film professor who taught Green, said about her reaction to being greenlit. “We get an award, we’re like, ‘What, me?’ Then as she walks towards the podium to receive it, I have it in slow motion in my head.That smile begins to expand. Her face begins to shine in slow motion. She’s like, ‘I just got it.’”

However, there’s more than a film debut to Green’s story. Focused as she is, Green collaborated amicably with students and faculty throughout her years at Loyola.

Starting in her first year, Green joined the film projects of seniors as a production assistant, an opportunity she gained through her relationship with Ayesha Abouelazm, a faculty member that served as a mentor for Green. 

“I remember she came to my office hours or stuck around after class, and she was telling me, ‘I want to be on more sets,’” Abouelazm said. “She was so bright and kind and inquisitive and just, you know, I think a model student. Any teacher would want that, right? So always asking questions, very into the film material, and just a go-getter.” 

In addition to her advisory relationship to Green, Abouelazm — director of Loyola’s film and digital media program — is a full-time professor and was a mentor of Green’s from her time at Loyola into the present.

“She went on sets early. She got the full experience,” Abouelazm said. “So I think after freshman year, she knew early on what she could be capable of and what much more she could do.” 

Green made her first short film in Abouelazm’s Intro to Video Production class. The project, a murder mystery, received an honorable mention award at a Loyola film festival, according to Green. 

“Up until that point, it felt like a dream, like something intangible,” Green said. “But once I took that class with Ayesha, and since then, she has been an amazing mentor and amazing professor to me. After that, I really felt like, ‘Okay, I can do this.’” 

After taking a class on the business side of film with Assistant Professor Vincent Singleton, Green created a business entity for her films.

“She’s always been ambitious, but I think her level of skill and understanding the industry has now found a way to match that,” Singleton, director of media and technology, said.

Green had to understand the back end of filmmaking in order to secure funding for “Strawberry Milkshake” through the School of Communication Creative Arts Fund — in addition to crowdfunding.

“I’m grateful for all the achievements it’s made, but I can’t just let it end here,” Green said. “I have to continue to make films and continue to learn more about my craft.” 

“Strawberry Milkshake”’s upcoming online and theatrical releases are to be announced via its Instagram, @strawberrymilkshakefilm.