UBC students have expressed excitement over Mallmark’s announcement that it is creating a UBC-themed holiday movie, UBCing me at the Holidays.
This romantic, heart wrenching and totally-not-cheesy film is set to begin production at the end of December. UBCing me at the Holidays centers around two UBC students: Garry, the cheerful prospective creative writing major and light academia nerd; and Ally, the ambitious astronomy-loving dark academia geek. The two first years have lived just down the hall from each other in Place Vanier for months, but have somehow never met, and don’t even know each other’s names.
All that changes one fateful late-night studying session in IKB before midterms. Both sit, right next to each other, up on the top floor, deep in their notes. They steal a few glances at each other, but it seems like nothing more than that.
As the night turns into day, Ally decides it’s time to head back to get some sleep before the midterm. But, of course, Garry thinks the very same thing at the very same time. As Ally bends over to pack up her stuff, and Garry leans down beside her to put away his laptop, the two bump heads, and meet eyes for the first time.
They chat, at first awkward and blushing, older students walking past and chuckling over the wide-eyed first years, before starting to make their way outside.
Already dark out, Garry walks with Ally back to her dorm, only to wind up down the hall from his own room. They quickly exchange Reddit usernames before walking their respective ways, right down the hall, glancing back over their shoulders the entire way.
Over the next few weeks, Garry and Ally get closer and closer. They keep running into each other, in the Starbucks line trying to get caffeinated before an evening class and when taking aesthetic pictures of the first snow in the Rose Garden.
Soon, they discover they have so much in common, even sharing the save favourite cookie from Blue Chip (Marbelous), it’s almost like fate brought them together. They start going to the dining halls together, and Ally even helps Garry when he finds a spider in his dorm.
It’s like they’re soulmates.
But trouble hits for these two first years when they are kicked out of their dorms for the holidays. Ally’s flight home isn’t for another week, so Garry offers to let her stay with his family until her flight. Then, Garry and Ally discover that Garry’s family want him to transfer into Sauder, abandoning his passion for screenwriting (talk about meta!).
Will Garry and Ally get through this slithery dilemma? Or will Garry’s family drive them apart, thinking that Ally is a bad influence on Garry by telling him to follow his creative writing dreams?
Will “UBCing” this bound-to-be-classic film, being one of the first and only movies to be set at UBC despite all the filming on campus?* Keep a lookout for the film, scheduled to hit the screens this time next year.
*Note: Filming will take place at the University of Toronto.
The Dingbat is The Ubyssey's humour section. Send pitches and completed pieces to blog@ubyssey.ca.