When Spring 2026 graduate Zachary Corona first entered the University of the Incarnate Word as a freshman, he initially didn’t have his sights set on directing.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Corona came to UIW on an academic scholarship with plans to pursue kinesiology and personal training. Yet, an enduring love for creative storytelling soon changed everything for him as he progressed into his college career.
“Before I even graduated high school, I remember I was thinking, ‘Man, I love writing so much. I love screenwriting. I think I want to do this more often,’” Corona said.
That realization prompted him to shift his focus entirely. Corona eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English alongside a double minor in theatre arts and creative writing.
That shift laid the foundation for Corona’s tenure as president of the UIW Film Club and culminated in his most ambitious undergraduate project to date — “Every Move You Make.”
His project is a crime-drama short film about a bank robber who takes on a police officer at a hospital, but must act quickly to save his brother.
The film achieved regional acclaim, earning official selections at both the San Antonio Film Festival and CineFestival San Antonio.
Corona described finding his creative voice as a process that included auditioning for student films within the Communication Arts department and participating in UIW theatre productions, but it was stepping into Film Club at UIW that unlocked his passion for directing.
“I liked the camera work behind it. I liked telling actors how to create that emotion that I wanted for the specific story,” Corona explained. “I felt like I was the painter and everybody was a part of the canvas, so to speak.”
His directorial voice evolved over a series of self-produced short films, starting with the Honors Program-funded project Unfulfilled Promises, followed by Till Death Do Us Part.
When approaching his latest project as he reached his final semester at UIW, however, Corona wanted to push outside of his comfort zone.
“I’ve done multiple genres, but I’ve never done an action story or something intense and visceral,” he said. “I wanted to pretty much challenge myself and see what I can come up with: a one-location film with high-octane action, but yet suspense and thrill at the same time.”
Corona drew inspiration from 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong action cinema-most notably director John Woo’s masterclasses in bullet-ballet choreography such as A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled.
“John Woo was a huge inspiration to the gunfight scenes, when he uses slow motion or big sound effects of the gun loading or firing as a way to heighten the suspense,” Corona said.
To anchor that kinetic action within a low-budget, single-location story, Corona joined the high-stakes hostage dynamic of Nick Cassavetes’ John Q with the desperate, frantic bonds seen in the Safdie brothers’ film Good Time
“I was thinking about John Q with Denzel Washington, how he holds the hospital hostage in order to have his son get the heart transplant… I was like, ‘Well, instead of a son, what if it’s a brother?’” Corona said. “If I could implement those two together, a dramatic element with also heightened action, I think I can make this work.”
Bringing the concept to life took extensive pre-production coordination. Staging an intense, firearm-centric hostage scenario required securing campus-wide greenlights, working closely with the UIW Nursing Department and UIW Police Department to utilize facilities safely.
“It was a lot of work,” Corona said, “but we got it done.”
When recalling being able to have his film shown on the big screen at the SAFILM festival, Corona said, “It was cool seeing my film screen at the Gunter Hotel in downtown San Antonio,” Corona said. “I was very honored and grateful.”
Beyond the screening itself, the festival allowed Corona to rub shoulders with seasoned industry veterans, including acclaimed Chicano director Gregory Nava, who helped make the movies Selena and El Norte, and actor-director Andrew McCarthy.
Corona noted that creative writing Professor David Armstrong’s guidance came in extremely handy when making the mechanics of writing a screenplay far less intimidating and more approachable.
“I got a chance to know how to actually format a screenplay-that there’s a structure behind it, that there’s a science to it,” Corona said.
He also pointed to communication arts Professor Thressa Coronado and UIW theatre professors for familiarizing him with technical cinematography and lighting, opening doors to acting opportunities, and introducing him to San Antonio’s film community.
“Had I not gone to UIW, had I not made those connections, I probably wouldn’t be here talking about my film,” Corona reflected.
Corona emphasizes that “Every Move You Make” was an effort powered entirely by student collaborators willing to take on multiple production roles.
He gave special credit to actors Christian Wilson and Maurilio “Lio” Cruz, makeup artist Aris Earls, Kendall Vernon, and sound crew members Kase Victoria and Alejandra Ortiz.
“Everybody had to wear a couple of hats in production,” Corona said. “It was fun to see that everybody was passionate enough to want to help me create my vision. Without them, I really wouldn’t be here.”
Watch his film Every Move You Make here.
