LSU film and television alumna Sarah Picard has been dipping a toe in the film industry since her graduation. With her acclaimed short film “When A Doveweed Blooms” and connections made at LSU, her future is looking bright.
Sarah Picard put on her cap and gown and walked across the stage of Louisiana State University just last spring, in May 2025. While a grand moment, an event worth just as much attention was her win at LSU’s Take XI Student Film Festival the same month.
Picard’s short film “When A Doveweed Blooms” had been a labor of love for several months. When it finally premiered at Take XI, it managed to take home Best Picture, Best Actress and the Audience Choice Award.
“It’s very gratifying when you work on something for such a long amount of time not knowing how it’ll be received,” Picard said, “To see the warm reception that people gave it is very humbling.”
This film festival was just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout the rest of 2025, Picard got to ship her film around to many different festivals. It reached audiences from the Wonderground here in Baton Rouge to the Chain Film Festival in New York.
“It was a part of a sci-fi shorts block, right? And it was received very well,” Picard said. “And I got to meet some of the other filmmakers there, and that’s been very nice. It got the award for new work over there.”
Still, the festival circuit eventually had to come to a close. That just means it is time for the next big thing. Picard is already workshopping some new ideas in her spare time that should prove to be exciting. She is even considering making a full length film rather than a short film.
“It’s very early on, but the thing is I’m wanting it to be kind of sort of a “Love Actually” style movie, where it’s kind of like different stories that kind of tie in together in one thing,” she said.
She acknowledged the toil in tackling such a project. It is proving to be more difficult than it was in the LSU program, with less resources and time. The connections she has made through her filming and festival time have been invaluable, though. These connections even got her a new gig when a former classmate recommended her for a film. Picard believes her time with her classmates at LSU showed her what cooperating with people in a more professional setting really looked like.
“You’re learning to collaborate with all these people and you’re learning to really be part of like a well-oiled machine. I think that that’s really stuck with me a lot of the time. Just sort of getting all these moving parts sort of together,” says Picard.
While working on her next film, Picard has been doing freelance projects here and there. A recent one she looks back on fondly is her work on a couple of Toyota truck commercials in Austin, Texas.
“I was a lighting technician, and it was a lot larger scale than I was used to, you know? And it was a really good experience. I liked everybody I was on set with,” Picard said. “The director was this really cool British guy. I felt like I was in ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’”
Picard cannot help but have a passion for film, and her time at LSU only made it grow stronger. It gave her opportunities and experiences that are indelible. As she goes further in her career and moves away, it can never truly fade from her.
“I was admittedly something of a homebody in Houston, which I regret in hindsight,” said Picard. “But being here — being really integrated within the community and feeling a lot more a part of it, it helps.”
You can check out Picard and her other work on her website.
