SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: George Sefer and Emily Ramirez reimagining “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Written by Cole Mihalich. Photos by Edith Manfred.

“The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a classic tragedy by Oscar Wilde, has been the subject of many adaptations throughout its history, from films to recent plays and more. So, why did Seniors George Sefer and Emily Ramirez seek to retell the tale of Dorian Gray, a story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. The bigger question is, why now?

“The book was written over a hundred years ago. It’s about sins and boundaries. What you can and cannot do.” says George Sefer, director and co-writer of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” thesis project.

“Dorian Gray is a story about eternal youth; it’s about the youth.” says showrunner Emily Ramirez, “Most shows today can’t encompass our generation. We believe we know it best and decided to explore the picture of Dorian Gray with the added component of the internet.”

The internet is used in the new adaptation of Dorian Gray as a tool to explore the themes of Dorian Gray through a contemporary lens. Instead of Dorian Gray’s aging, reflected in a cursed painting, Dorian is shown to age through social media, photos, and videos online. Sefer and Ramirez both agree that now, more than ever, our generation is “obsessed with aestheticism and looks. I’ve even seen kids using anti-wrinkle cream.” Ramirez and Sefer chuckle.  

Sefer, and Ramirez, decided to take a unique route when creating their required senior thesis project. Instead of a short film, they created a television pilot. Sefer explains “I mean, it’s your thesis project, you’ve come here, put in four years of work and you’re self-funding it. You should be allowed to do what you feel is right at that point.”

Sefer references SCAD’s Thesis film guidelines, one of which includes a twelve-minute time limit for all senior thesis projects, despite the majority of productions having complete financial independence from the school. Dorian Gray is projected to be twenty-six minutes long. The length is more in line with a pilot than a short. With that, came challenges and resistance.

“I don’t think they bought it. There were a million people who told us not to do Dorian,” remarked Ramirez. The two, along with their writing team, Andrea Zuniga and John Pearson, had what seemed to be an impossible battle to fight. To adapt a series based on a beloved story, to self-fund it, film and produce it, even against the advice of professors and peers. “At some point, you want to prove people wrong,” declared Ramirez.

Emily Ramirez, 22, from New York, was originally interested in animation. Having searched for schools in her hometown, she soon branched out and found SCAD. Citing SCAD’s abundance of majors, Ramirez was able to explore several avenues before settling on production for film: “I always had wanted to be a showrunner for a TV show. Now, with Dorian, I feel that I’m finally achieving a childhood dream with something that can act as a stepping stone. I’m glad that I had choices my freshman year. I haven’t looked back since.”

George Sefer, 22, heralding from Germany and Greece, sought one thing Americans can’t fathom. “I was just trying to escape Greece,” Sefer laughed. He continued, “In Greece, there is no version of a film program. A SCAD representative came to my school one day, and the rest is history. Coming into the States, I felt that SCAD gave me a more holistic film school experience than anything I could find in Europe.”

In January, production on Dorian Gray ended, and since then, the crew has entered a thorough post-production period. “I’m very happy with it.”, says Sefer. Once “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is done, Ramirez aims to shop the pilot to festivals, with the intent to submit it to SCAD’s own TVFest. “Hopefully distributors are interested. If not, the indie route may be our best choice. We want to finish the series.”

 A series would not only reintroduce a classic to a new audience, but could act as a cultural centerpiece to the enduring conversation on self-perception, image, and boundaries with our generation. 

“There is an audience for Dorian. It’s us.”

For updates on the series, follow @doriantheseries on Instagram.