Orem High student writes and directs national PSA on safe driving

OREM — A student at Orem High School is sharing a vital message about driving safety. She got to film a PSA to air on more than 100 channels this fall, focused on the theme, "Sharing the Road."

Julianna Snow submitted her concept to a national competition hosted by the National Road Safety Foundation in partnership with her school club, Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America. As the winner, Snow had the opportunity to work with professional director Alan Weiss and a film crew to bring her vision to life.

"I was really kind of inspired to do this video because I've seen so many instances in my community where there's been crashes and accidents and people getting hurt," Snow explained. "I have a little brother. He doesn't watch where he's going, and he'll just run into the street. Children aren't going to yield, children aren't going to give the right of way. They don't know. And that's why we need to share the road."

The PSA encourages drivers to be aware of others on the road alongside them, like pedestrians, emergency vehicles, construction crews, and other drivers. Snow and Weiss worked closely with the City of Orem to organize shoot locations including major intersections and an active construction site.

The video will feature Snow's pride and joy, her bright red Volkswagen Beetle named Fanny.

"I have always had, like, just a crazy love for slug bugs," Snow said. "And so I saved up, I tried to pay for it myself. My parents did help out a little bit, but it's kind of cool to be able to say I bought my first car."

That car is the visual through-line in the PSA, appearing in every shot to demonstrate the driver in the video.

"Something important to us was kind of having that constant visual tying it together and keeping people's eyes through it," Snow said. "You're following one car in their journey of sharing the road."

Snow's PSA will air in the fall, right in time for her senior year. She said she has enjoyed this foray into the film world, but isn't set on it as a career.

"It's definitely something that interests me, but right now I'm more interested in going into medicine in the future," Snow said.

Snow's PSA will air on the TV show Teen Kids News.

Related topics