From making films during their middle school days at Vacaville Christian School to the big screen, a group of filmmakers now operating as Story Company is gearing up to debut their second short film at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

Their latest short film, “The Greatest Lie”, will follow an ex-book thief who risks everything to steal the book most precious to him. As a result, it uncovers the greatest lie his society has ever told.

The evening will also feature a “Bring Your Own Book” initiative, with books collected for donation to the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. Premiere tickets are priced at $17.84.

“We’re so proud to be from the Bay Area. I love San Francisco, and I love technology,” said director Jason Carman. But maybe the tech industry has taken over way too much of the culture of the Bay Area. As much as I love technology, what San Francisco, and ultimately the Bay Area, needs is an art industry again.”

Carman added, “We’ve had it before. But it’s not just about making art, it’s about art making enough money for those employed in it. There are events to go to, like premieres, screenings, or theaters. And the production of the art actually happens there, from writing, to filming to post-production. That’s what Story is building.”

18 months ago, Story Company operated as one person. As of now, it has expanded to almost 40 employees.

“About a fourth of the team we’ve known since middle school,” Carman said.

He says his friendship with Founding Editor GeunWoo “Kevin” Kal is the closest thing he has to a brother.

Although this will be Story Company’s second time debuting a short film at the Palace of Fine Arts, Carman said the process hasn’t always been easy.

Their debut short film, “Planet”, premiered in September. The film follows an 800-year journey of a man building an artificial planet.

Compared to the process from script to screen for “Planet”, the process for “The Greatest Lie” — in terms of pre and post-production, editing, and filming — was smoother and faster.

“We had to do reshoots,” Carman said. “The script was a mess. Whereas with the ‘Greatest Lie’, from the script to the upcoming premiere, the process only took four months.”

Carman adds that “Planet” wasn’t finished up until the night of the premiere, as audiences were taking their seats.

He said those improvements are evident in the film’s story and cinematic quality, noting that it was shot three times faster than “Planet” on just a third of the budget.

“Since we’ve learned so much from the production of ‘Planet’, we’ve adapted from those lessons in making (“The Greatest Lie”),” said Kal.  “There were times when we had to change the storyline or the dialogue. Right now, I have about 102 versions with small tweaks to develop where it is right now, compared to a month ago.”

For the team, that evolution is part of a broader vision to grow as storytellers and reach wider audiences.

Carmen said, “We love this movie, it’s really important. For us as a company, Story is on a mission to build the next Disney. To be the company that creates stories for people of all ages with universal themes that inspire them.”

Carmen says the next project will be “unlike anything that’s ever been done before.”

“It is not a feature film or a television series. It is something new.”

Their next project will maintain a science fiction theme. They plan to begin filming in two months.

To purchase tickets to “The Greatest Lie” premiere on Thursday, visit: story.inc/lie/