CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - Marshalltown native Aaron Gervich, left, has found success as an independent filmmaker and director in Los Angeles. His latest film “Claire Means Well” has won several honors at film festivals. He is pictured with the film’s star Missy McIntosh and journalist Douglas Sidney.

LOS ANGELES — Moving out West to make it in the movie business — the dream of many, the actualization of few.

Marshalltown native Aaron Gervich, 29, has spent the last few years living and working in Los Angeles learning the ins and outs of filmmaking. His short film “Claire Means Well” won Best Short Film at the Twin Cities Film Festival in Minneapolis in October 2018, followed by the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival in December 2018, which garnered him the Best Short Film — Screenplay award.

“I was born and raised in Marshalltown — my family has lived there for over 100 years,” Gervich said. “I was always interested in creative things and in love with going to the movies. Trying to get my friends to make movies with me was a big part of my childhood.”

Upon graduating from Martshalltown High School in 2008, he made the decision to pursue an education in filmmaking rather than attend college to further his success as a swimmer.

“My parents were really supportive and I found a school in California that was relatively small and remote so they felt better about that for me to move so far away,” he said.

In 2012, he graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a degree in film and television production. Because of the high costs associated with getting a screenplay on celluloid, Gervich applied to the university’s Incubator Lab, which is co-curated with Film Independent.

“You get three years to apply (to the program) after graduating. It’s nice because they supply you with materials you need to make a film,” he said.

Gervich began work on “Claire Means Well” in 2016, completing it in early 2018. The 20-minute film, which he wrote and directed, follows the plight of two friends who reunite after the death of their best friend.

“I have two older sisters, so I think I’ve always been fascinated by female friendships and the complexities that exist there,” he said.

The movie stars Missy McIntosh as Claire and Lauren Robertson as Erin. Gervich said he regards the film as his first major success.

“It’s a big, professional step forward,” he said.

Gervich said he takes inspiration from the films of his childhood — flicks from the 1990s and early 2000s.

“There was a triumphant, positive quality to films made then,” he said. “They just felt a little more uplifting than some movies I see today. They were the types of movies people wanted to watch over and over again. What I aim to do is try to make movies that enlighten people and take them to a place that can make them happy.”

He is currently working on some scripts to send to agents. His ultimate goal is to make a film that would debut on Netflix or on the big screen. “Claire Means Well” will next be screened at the LA Indie Film Fest later this month.

His parents are Margaret and Doug Gervich of Marshalltown.