'The Last Summer' Written and Directed by Columbia Film Alums Now Streaming on Tubi

The Last Summer, directed by Patrick Wei '25, written and produced by Leah Simone Scott '24, and co-producted by Ellis Finney '25 and Red Truss '24, is now available to stream on Tubi. The short film, categorized as a Drama, follows a 13 year old and her brother as they embark on a summer fishing trip that becomes consequential to their relationship. 

“I knew making The Last Summer had to have been a very collaborative experience,” said Wei. “For me, at the end of the day, the story of the film is about the mysterious nature of loss and how when you are a teenager, loss and change just comes unexpectedly and out of your control.”

The Last Summer received the 2nd place Grand Prize at the HBCU First Look Festival and the Audience Award at the Columbia University Film Festival. Between 2024 and 2025, the film was featured in the Canadian Screen Award Qualifying New York Shorts International Film Festival, Academy Award Qualifying New Orleans Film Festival, The New Next Film Fest in Baltimore, and The National Black Film Festival, St. Auggie Shorts, Liberty Theatre Film Festival, and Diversity & Inclusion Film Festival.  

On the creation of Last Summer, Scott said, “The first draft of this story was written for an assignment in my advisor [Film Chair and Associate Professor of Professional Practice] Jack Lechner’s Writing and Script Analysis for Producing course. The script is based on my childhood growing up in Jacksonville, Florida with my siblings where I was raised by my grandparents. Its nostalgic theme stems from my own summer memories of fishing with my grandpa, and the never-ending hi-jinks that my siblings and I would get up to in our free time. 

“The Tubi partnership later came as a part of a Black History Month initiative between Tubi and Sheila Eldridge, founder of the HBCU First Look Film Festival. I’m a 2021 graduate of Howard University, so we were eligible to apply to the festival where we won the 2024 Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film and our project was also selected as one of twenty which are now streaming on the platform,” said Scott. “It’s really awesome that Tubi is giving up-and-coming filmmakers, like us, this level of exposure," continued Scott. "It’s pretty rare for short films to get distribution, especially student films.”

“The film being on Tubi is very exciting," agreed Wei. "I love using Tubi myself and found it to be very accessible. Of course as a filmmaker I hope my little movie gets seen by as many people as possible so Tubi seems right at home.” 

Patrick Wei is a director and screenwriter from outside of Shanghai, China. He completed his undergraduate studies at Elon University where he studied television arts and creative writing. Wei is a graduate of the Film Directing program. 

Leah Simone Scott is a writer, director, producer and editor from Vedra Beach, Florida. She is a 2020 Alumna from Howard University. Leah received the 2026 Pandora Short Film award for her upcoming film, which is set to go into production in mid-2026. While at Columbia, Scott studied screenwriting and was a Lenfest Fellow.  

Ellis Finney is a screenwriter and director from Brooklyn, New York raised in Gloucester, Virginia. His short film Sport Star received support from the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation and the Cook Foundation. He was named a 2022 Cy Twombly Graduate Fellow by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Finney studied screenwriting at Columbia. 

Red Tuss is a filmmaker and writer, and graduate of the Creative Producing program at Columbia.

The Last Summer is available to watch here.