What would the future be like without art? That question has been on the mind of filmmaker Daniel Springen for some time.

Springen wrote, produced and directed an award-winning short film, "The Reel," while he was a student in the film program at Valencia Community College. "The Reel" is a futuristic film-noir about a society that represses artistic expression. Director John Landis compared the short to a Rod Serling-era "Twilight Zone" episode, and Springen will travel to Washington, D.C., to accept an award for it from a nonprofit film organization called CINE later this month.

In tribute to the film's crew, Springen has produced a theatrical art happening to accompany a showing of "The Reel" at V.C.C. An Artless Tomorrow brings together different facets of live performance and entertainment -- ballet, comedy, theater and swing dancing -- that draw the unwanted attention of the villain from his film, Crenshaw Lavine. Levine sends out stormtroopers to put a stop to the gathering of artists and help suppress expression in Orlando. Levine is then apprehended by an underground resistance organization, and the future of art is saved -- symbolically, at least.