Emily created this short film while a senior at UIndy and majored in communications with a concentration in electronic media. She grew up in a small town known for the World’s Largest Tractor Engine Show, one where everyone knew everyone. “It Is What It Is” is a short film written and directed by Emily. It is based on true experiences that have happened to her and other couples in interracial relationships in her small town. With “Ava” representing Emily and “Aiden” representing her boyfriend at the time, this interracial couple faces the challenges of racism when visiting Ava’s small town. The anxiety of "meeting the parents" for the first time, as well as multiple encounters with police, makes this couple's trip home from college in the city a bit different compared to what a status quo, white couple would encounter. Throughout the film, Aiden says, “It is what it is” to these types of encounters, because he has experienced similar incidents before. However, Ava struggles with this phrase because she has a hard time understanding why things are the way they are. Emily hopes that her first short film, “It Is What It Is” reaches and touches the audience and raises awareness that racism still affects a vast amount of people today. She hopes that this film will contribute to social change, that things should not be "the way they are."

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