Communication juniors Joey Elkins and Blake Silver met in Mr. Mandel’s third grade class back in Boca Raton, Fla. Since those innocent days, Elkins, a former DAILY cartoonist, and Silver have remained best friends — and collaborators. Last year they co-wrote and co-directed “Reservations,” a short film that received a Studio 22 minor grant. The film was one of eight student films from around the country to be selected for last weekend’s Fifth Annual Jewish Student Film Festival at the University of Southern California, and Elkins and Silver were flown out to Los Angeles for it.

PLAY: So what’s “Reservations” about?

Joey Elkins: It’s a romantic comedy about a young guy who’s unsure about whether or not he wants to propose to his girlfriend until he meets a mysterious old man …

Blake Silver: … Who changes everything.

PLAY: So what happened at this film festival? Did you meet Steven Spielberg?

JE: No! He wasn’t even there!

BS: Saturday was a free day to roam Los Angeles and Saturday night was a top-secret screening of the documentary “Spellbound,” which was nominated for an Oscar last year, and they had the director and editor on hand to answer questions afterwards. Sunday was brunch, screening of the films —

JE: And a Q-and-A with the directors and editors of “Spellbound.” They asked questions like, “What makes a film Jewish?”

BS: We didn’t set out to make a “Jewish film.” One of the topics they brought up was “Jewish humor,” like Seinfeld or Larry David — jokes not necessarily about Judaism but with an underlying Jewish … there’s a word they kept using, it starts with an e …

JE: I have no idea what you’re talking about, but this guy came up to us after our film and was like, “Your film. Is Jewish.” I guess we’d never thought about it that way. We’re kind of wary of labeling.

PLAY: What were the other films like?

JE: Some were explicitly “Jewish” films, as far as subject matter, and others weren’t.

BS: They were comedies for the most part.

JE: There was a circumcision comedy!

PLAY: Why didn’t you guys do a circumcision comedy?

JE: It’s overdone.

PLAY: Did anything else exciting happen?

JE: Well, the Screen Actors Guild Awards were a five-minute walk away, and we were going to try and sneak in. But it was raining.

BS: We watched the awards on TV at a restaurant next door to where they were being held and cried from the irony. That was the highlight of the weekend.

JE: We also got a gift bag with free Cup O’ Noodles.