‘Ticket to Everywhere’: A ticket to dreams coming true

Photo Collage by Emily Paris, Photo Editor

At midnight on Jan. 28, I showed up at the AMC Orange 30 — whose staff is used to seeing me at the odd hour holding out my A-List pass — and snuck in through a back entrance. I know what you’re thinking: no, I wasn't trying to sneak into a midnight screening of “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.” I was finally getting my shining moment in front of the camera. I was going to be an extra in a Coca-Cola commercial. 

Every year, the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program partners with colleges and their filmmaking students to have them write, direct and produce an advertisement for Coca-Cola, and the chance for it to be screened in AMCs and Cinemarks across the country.

Director Aiko Lozar, a senior film production major, and Lexi Berganio, a senior creative producing major, have been applying for the program since their sophomore year. They have been semi-finalists every time. 

“You can submit as many scripts as you like,” Lozar told The Panther. “So every time we did it, we became more fascinated about what would happen if we became finalists. Because even though now we made a spot, they haven’t selected whether or not we’re going to have our movie screened in AMCs and Cinemarks.”

There is a Cinemark Fan Favorite Award, which is voted on by the public, and a Grand Prize Winner award, decided upon by industry professionals based on which film they want to see in the theater.

Lozar’s and Berganio’s script that got selected and produced this year as an actual Coca-Cola spot is called “Ticket to Everywhere.” It follows a college student coming back from break and recounting her amazing time at the movie with her friends, where she was transported to places beyond her wildest dreams.

“When Aiko and I were brainstorming, I just thought of ‘High School Musical 2’ right before everyone is let out and they chant, ‘Summer… Summer… Summer’ and then burst into song,” Berganio said. “I was like, ‘What are they doing after this?’ Obviously the movie theater. We did that story — but it switched to a different title and they’re not high school students anymore.”

While this is the first time Lozar and Berganio have worked with Coca-Cola, it is not the first time they have worked together. 

I asked them both about how their creative partnership came about, to which they replied thinking that it's funny that they get this question a lot.

“Lexi and I actually have a shared calendar, which I think is hilarious,” Lozar said. “I see what she does, she sees what I do — specifically for Coca-Cola and thesis.” 

They have made independent films together, are now working together on their thesis film and want to do a feature film with each other after graduation. 

“We are both very organized people and have a lot of to-do lists,” Lozar told The Panther. “We talk a lot. We overly communicate. We ask each other, ‘What can I do for you? How can I make your life easier?’”

Berganio is extremely thankful for the partnership that has formed between her and Lozar, as it has led to a great friendship and many great collaborative projects.

“My favorite part about working with Aiko is she also lets me be a creative mind,” Berganio said. “For Coca-Cola, I wrote that with her. With our thesis, ‘East Did Meet West,’ I wrote that with her. For the feature we want to do, we are writing it together. Knowing my creative taste and my own personal feelings and wants are embedded within the projects I’m producing makes me care a lot more about what I’m actually doing.”

Both partners are grateful for their experience working with Coca-Cola. Lozar knows that film students wait until much later in their careers to see their work on a big theater screen. 

“It is awesome that they are giving these young filmmakers this opportunity and chance to have their stuff on the big screen,” she said.

Lozar can personally attest that the Refreshing Films program is also a great inspiration for young filmmakers and a pivotal reason as to why she went to Chapman. She actually wrote her college application essay about the program. She had watched a spot made by Chapman students during her freshman year in high school called “Crunch Time.”

“I remember watching it thinking, ‘This was so cool, I can’t believe students did this,’” said Lozar. “When we got it, it felt very full-circle. I was inspired by this almost a decade ago — and here we are making a spot. Dreams come true, as cheesy as it sounds.”

Lozar knows that some people say making movies is a dying art, but the Coca-Cola program gives young filmmakers a chance, a bridge, that makes their dream feel more attainable than the giant jump from high school and college to making a feature film.

“It took a great team of people to put it together,” said Berganio. “A lot of hard work went into it, even though it is only a 50-second spot. The story is something that everyone can relate to. We filmed this over interterm, and every conversation I had with someone would start with, ‘How was your break?’ which is how our commercial starts. It’s so universal. We couldn’t help but fall into that trope. Now I can’t hear someone say ‘How was your break?’ without thinking of this experience.”

To stay up to date with everything “Ticket to Everywhere,” you can follow both the film and the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program on Instagram.