PLEASE STEP DOWN
Short Film
Project Type: Short Film
Project Status: Pre-Production
Writer, Director, Producer: Sophia Terranova
Cinematographer and Editor: Jack Windeler
Producer: Bo Dubois
LOGLINE
During 16-year-old Sadie’s final race as a competitive swimmer, she says goodbye to the sport that has defined her childhood, reflecting on its impact on her ambition, relationships, and body image.
SYNOPSIS
Please Step Down follows sixteen-year-old Sadie during her final race as a competitive swimmer — nearly ten years after she first fell in love with the water.
Told through the intensity of one race and the memories that surface with every lap, the film uses underwater cinematography to place the audience inside Sadie’s body, breath, and mind. As she swims, flashes of her past reveal what the sport has given her: ambition, discipline, friendship, family, and a dream big enough to shape her childhood. But they also reveal what it has taken from her — the pressure to keep going, the pain of comparison, and the quiet ways competitive athletics can reshape a young girl’s relationship with her body and self-worth.
At its heart, Please Step Down is not a story about failure. It is a story about redefining success. For every child who once dreamed of the Olympics, every parent who watched from the stands, and every former athlete who had to learn who they were outside of the sport they loved, this film honors the courage it takes to step down — not in defeat, but in growth.
MORE ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Please Step Down explores the complicated relationship many young athletes develop with the activities that shape them. At its core, the film is about ambition, identity, body image, and the grief of outgrowing a dream. It examines how something that begins as joy and belonging can slowly become tied to performance, comparison, and self-worth—especially for young girls navigating adolescence in competitive environments.
The story is rooted in swimming, but its themes reach far beyond sports. Many young people, particularly girls, are taught to measure themselves through achievement, discipline, and appearance. This film asks what happens when the thing you love also becomes the thing that hurts you, and how difficult it can be to walk away from something that once defined who you were.
I am uniquely suited to tell this story because it is deeply personal. I spent years as a competitive swimmer and experienced the pressures that come with chasing success while growing up in a demanding environment. I also understand the love that keeps athletes there—the friendships, pride, structure, and feeling of wanting to win. Swimming helped shape the person I became, and this film comes from both gratitude and hindsight.
This story feels timely because conversations around mental health, body image, and athlete well-being are more urgent than ever. I want to create something I wish I had seen when I was younger: a film that tells girls they are allowed to change, let go, and define themselves beyond comparison.
Meet The Filmmakers
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Bo DuBois
Producer
Bo DuBois is a former NCAA water polo player and now is an aspiring producer and actor based in Los Angeles, California. With a strong foundation in short-form storytelling, he has produced several short films that have allowed him to develop a keen understanding of both the creative and logistical aspects of production. Bo's passion for filmmaking has grown immensely, exploring the process of bringing scripted content to life.
As he builds on his early work, Bo is shifting his focus toward larger-scale projects, including television and feature films. He is particularly interested in the collaborative nature of long-form storytelling and is eager to take on new challenges that push creative boundaries. With a growing network in the LA film community and a commitment to learning every facet of the craft, Bo aims to contribute meaningfully to projects both in front of and behind the camera. Driven, organized, and detail oriented, Bo DuBois is dedicated to authentic storytelling and innovative production.
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Sophia Terranova
Writer / Director / Producer
Sophia Terranova is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer whose work centers emotionally charged stories with a strong sense of genre, image, and personal truth. Her debut short film, Shadows, earned festival recognition including awards for Best Short Thriller and Best Script, and has been praised as “a fully formed piece of cinema” for its ambition, technical control, and emotional force.
With experience across independent film, feature and television production, digital series, and on-set coordination, Sophia brings both a creative and logistical foundation to Please Step Down. Her background includes work as a producer, production coordinator, director, and production assistant, giving her firsthand understanding of how to move a film from concept through production with care, discipline, and resourcefulness.
The story of Please Step Down is deeply personal. Sophia grew up as a competitive swimmer, spending nine years in the sport before leaving it behind and later becoming a swim coach and instructor. Having trained on some of the most competitive swim teams in the country, including North Baltimore Aquatic Club, she brings an insider’s understanding of the pressure, love, identity, and grief that shape young athletes. With Please Step Down, Sophia turns that lived experience into a coming-of-age film about ambition, girlhood, body image, and the quiet bravery of letting go.
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Jack Windeler
Director of Photography / Editor
Jack Windeler is a cinematographer, editor, and camera professional with experience across narrative film, national commercials, corporate video, adventure content, fashion events, and major film and television sets. His work combines technical precision with an instinct for movement, atmosphere, and visual storytelling — qualities essential to bringing Please Step Down’s swim world to life.
As Director of Photography, Jack will help shape the film’s visual progression from the warmth and nostalgia of childhood summer swim meets to the colder, more demanding environment of competitive indoor swimming. His background in assistant camera, grip, electric, and client-based production gives him a practical, full-picture understanding of how to execute ambitious images efficiently and safely.
Jack has served as Creative Director of Beige, a national video company, and has worked under Greg Karamob at G&J Grip Co., gaining hands-on experience in the grip, electric, and camera departments. On Please Step Down, his cinematography and editing will be central to the film’s emotional rhythm, especially its underwater race sequences and memory-driven structure.
Your Help
PLEASE STEP DOWN is a fiscally sponsored project of Cinematography for Actors, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donation will be tax-deductible!