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Making movies with the Thompson twins

Abbie and Nikita Thompson were runners up in the video category of last year's Invent the Future competition.

The message of their short film, Drowning in Consumer Goods, was simple: Stop buying things you don't need.

"Everyone has so much stuff in their closet, there's only so much stuff we need," Abbie says.

She and her sister are on the phone at their North Vancouver home, and they're explaining to me the impetus behind their short film.

"We grew up that way," says Nikita, "it's how our parents raised us."

That said, the two of them still find themselves in the mall, trying on clothes they might not need. "We both do that so much," admits Nikita. "We wonder how many times we'll actually wear something. People need to ask themselves, 'Do I really need this?'"

"We see our friends and they have 10 different purses."

Abbie says that the bonus to cutting down on the shopping is that a person needs less money. And that means they don't need to work as much.

Nikita is the more technical of the two filmmakers, says Abbie. Nikita sets up the shots and edits it all. But the two have developed their short films together. They've made them not just for Invent the Future, but for friends and for themselves. "We like to make our own music and music videos," says Nikita.

The Sutherland Secondary students are in their final year of high school. Next year, Nikita plans on entering the film program at Capilano University. Abbie's also interested in the motion picture industry, but isn't sure what area of the business she might explore.

I asked them how a person might go about winning Invent the Future.

"Take the simplest, easiest point," says Nikita. "We need to save our world because right now it's not looking so good."

"People are all about out with the old and in with the new," adds Abbie. "We need to slow down the burn rate."

"We'd save a whole lot of energy if we pass around these ideas," says Nikita.

Abbie: "It's a domino effect. If we all spread the information it'll have a great effect."