An exclusive interview with writer-producer Bryan Harlow and director Catriona Rubenis-Stevens By Carlos KRL Mera , Editor in Chief of CHARACTERS Magazine In the first official interview for Characters Awards , host KRL sat down with the creative team behind the short film Burning Virtue — writer, producer, and actor Bryan Harlow and director Catriona Rubenis-Stevens . What began as a tightly constrained 48-hour screenplay contest entry has grown into a taut, emotionally charged short that confronts the human cost of restrictive laws and the quiet courage of ordinary people who choose to act. THE SPARK BENEATH THE SURFACE Bryan wrote the original five-page version of Burning Virtue for the NYC Midnight contest . The prompt was specific: a drama set at a car rental agency that must include a generator. At the time, news coverage of Texas’s bounty system — which allows private citizens to report those who assist people seeking abortions — was heavy in the headlines. The p...