Alice and Grace
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Teen
Before leaving for college, Alice and Grace take one last spontaneous trip for a euphoric adventure in NYC where the temptation of substances, nightlight, and lovers separates the girls, and the underbelly of NYC tests their future.
Alice and Grace
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Teen
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
27 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$3,881
Goal: $12,000 for production
Before leaving for college, Alice and Grace take one last spontaneous trip for a euphoric adventure in NYC where the temptation of substances, nightlight, and lovers separates the girls, and the underbelly of NYC tests their future.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Alice & Grace is a coming-of-age short film that follows two childhood best friends on an impulsive trip to New York City. What begins as a spontaneous adventure takes a sharp turn when Grace falls for a captivating stranger on a wild night out. As Grace explores newfound desires and freedom, Alice struggles with feelings of jealousy and insecurity in regard to her future and their relationship. The film explores themes of friendship, identity, temptation, curiosity as well as the complexities of growing up.
We feel compelled to tell a story rooted in our experiences as young women finding our footing in New York City.
- Alice & Grace explores the uncomfortable and volatile corners of girlhood that emerge when you leave home and begin defining yourself on your own terms. New York City holds a unique power to transform you, and no one ever arrives fully prepared for that journey.
As young women who navigated the city ourselves, we bring a firsthand perspective on Gen Z independence, friendship, risk, and self-discovery.
- We are living this experience now! Our goal is to tell this story with honesty, nuance, and artistry to create a film that resonates with young women searching for who they are and where they belong.
Importantly, this project is an act of creative agency.
- As actors we are accustomed to bringing other people's stories to life. By stepping into the roles of writers and producers, we are taking ownership of our creative voices and demonstrating the kind of initiative, collaboration, and artistic leadership that independent filmmaking makes possible.
1) Contribute
Every contribution, no matter how small, will directly impact our ability to create this film. Your donations will go towards:
- Talent & Crew: Securing talented actors and a dedicated film crew
- Locations: Filming in authentic New York City settings.
- Equipment: Renting professional-grade cameras, lighting, and sound gear
- Post-Production: Editing, sound design, color grading, and music licensing
- Festival Submissions: Sharing Alice & Grace with audiences worldwide by submitting to film festivals
Check out our list of super awesome Incentives to the right. You can donate any amount, not just the suggested ones. Every dollar counts!
Alternatively, if you have access to a beautiful location, production gear, delicious catering, or any in-kind contribution, you can generously offer those goods or services via the Wishlist tab above!
2) Follow
Follow our campaign on Seed&Spark so we can hit our goal of 250 followers!
Follow our progress on the Alice and Grace Instagram and Facebook for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and sneak peeks of the film
3) Copy and share this note with your followers on social media
Help @_Alexa_smith and @kukula fund their coming-of-age short film about a euphoric adventure in NYC, Alice and Grace on Seed&Spark!
We plan to shoot around 8 days over the the month September in local New York City locations with a small crew and cast on a budget of $12,000. Each shooting day will be about 7 to 12 hours that would consist of traveling to set, setting up shots, shooting, meal breaks, uploading footage, and deconstructing equipment. The film will be edited by the end of 2026 and sent to film festivals by Spring 2027. The film will be released to our investors Summer of 2027 and out publicly after the festival circuit.
Alice & Grace aims to capture the messy, nuanced, and often painful transition from adolescence to young adulthood, particularly through the lens of female friendship. 
We seek to tell an authentic story about the intensity of first attractions, the challenge of accepting change, and the experience of feeling both deeply connected and utterly alone within a friendship or relationship. When you’ve known someone your whole life, there’s this sense of possession over who they are or who you remember them being. Change causes growing pains, creates distance, challenges familiarity. Sometimes it makes you question whether you know the person in front of you at all. Especially when that person feels like a part of your identity. But, life is change. It’s ever evolving, and adulthood forces independence.
This film is simultaneously our love letter and our reckoning with New York.
Among other used and abused substances in this film, NYC acts as a drug of its own. Representative of something mature, dangerous, free and full of possibility, it seduces Alice and Grace into believing it will fulfill their desires and numb their longing. I think people often see their own deepest desires reflected in physical places. We did. For two young artists and actors, New York promised opportunity at every turn so we moved here straight out of high school, naively expecting everything to fall into place.
We believe our film will resonate with anyone who has navigated the highs and lows of defining who they are and in turn, what that means for who they are in relation to those they love most.
For more Alice & Grace
feel free to peruse though our
----> PITCHDECK <----
we dont mind :)
Our sincerest gratitude,
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Transportation
Costs $1,400
Covers van rental and gas to move equipment, cast, and crew to each location
Meals for cast and crew
Costs $1,500
Feeding the hard working artists. You're not you when you're hungry. Covers 2 meals per 12hr day for each collaborator over 8 shooting days
Location rental
Costs $1,500
Covers rental fee for the warehouse space for the disco scene
Film festivals and distribution
Costs $1,600
Covers the entry fees for film festivals, promotion of the film, and digital release
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Sonia Kukula
Co-Creator, Writer, Alice
Sonia Kukula is an actor, writer and all around creative being. Her mom is an actress from Poland who started her own children's theatre company as a creative outlet for the Polish community in Chicago, so Sonia grew up on stage. She moved to New York in 2021 and graduated from Fordham University with a BA in English and Political Science and a minor in Theatre. She also received a certificate in performance from the Stella Adler Studio for Acting. Her education is a reflection of my innate curiosity and desire to interpret the world around her. Alongside her acting experience, she has written and directed one act plays, created visual shorts for her poetry, and starred in multiple shorts, one of which she’s co-written.
The intersection of acting and writing is where Sonia feels most artistically fulfilled because it allows her to create and inhabit the ideas, worlds, and characters that live in her mind. That’s how this project started. That desire to bring to life these two girls who formed in her brain as a manifestation of her own experience and the story that began to take shape around them. This is a film about what it means to be a young person, specifically a young woman, with the isolating pressure of the future on your shoulders and a deep longing to be loved and understood. She hopes you’ll join and support her and Alexa on this journey as first time filmmakers.
Alexa Smith
Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Grace
Alexa Smith has been an actor her whole life. While her mother was in night school, Alexa spent her evenings with her father, an actor at the local equity theatre company. From the ripe age of 5, Alexa was,“helping” with the rehearsal process of contemporary plays. Over the years, Alexa took part in rehearsals, readings of new work, and several short films. These projects taught her that all you needed was a good script, dedicated artists, and some time. In high school, Alexa auditioned for conservatory boarding school at the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. The drama program was run like the 6th branch of the military; acting classes lasted for 6-8 hours a day alongside a regular high school curriculum, where she made her first short film 12:34am. Alexa was accepted to the Theatre Program at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, NY on a full acting scholarship. This opportunity gave her independence, personal work ethic, and a cohort of equally passionate theatre majors who ran 8 student-led productions every semester, where she met the director of her first horror short film Paying Ours Dues. POD was a thriller short film about three NYC roommates trying to pay rent, even through satanic methods. The process took about 3 months with a small team of hungry artists learning to make a film on every rehearsal and shooting day. Alexa learned that you don't need need a film degree to make movies and that there is success in the act of creation. Since then Alexa has directed 2 short films (you can check one out below), produced for off -Broadway plays, and acts in independent films. She is excited to step into a la producing position on a film set with an incredible team of artists!
12:34am
Directed, Produced, and Starring Alexa Smith
Julie Casamonti
Director
Julie Casamonti is a French and Italian filmmaker, playwright, and performer based in New York City. She moved from Switzerland in 2023 to study theatre at Fordham University in their performance track. Her first job on a film set was as a caterer, baking 100 cookies for the crew and she appeared as “girl best friend” on Paranoïattaque (2021). After that, she found herself a little in love with filmmaking and jumped into writing, directing, and starring in her first short film, A Fleur de Peau (2021), in Geneva. Since then, her projects have included Thin Skin (2023), Tommasa (2024), Some Like It (2024), Inji's music video Bellydancing (2025), Sogna (2025), produced in Florence Italy through Fordham University's Summer Research Grant, and Silence Helvétique (2026), a fashion film she directed and produced alongside her sister in the Swiss Alps. Her work has received recognition on the festival circuit, earning awards for directing, performance, score, and writing, often for its experimental approach. Alongside her work as a writer and director, Julie also produces independent films. She is currently in Michigan shooting The Lake (2026) and preparing for the release of Bentonia 2266 (2026) later this summer. Her recent New York theatre credits include Mother Play (2025), Rhinoceros (2024), and What Moves Me (2024). Her original play A Call to India was produced at Whitebox Studio in 2025, and her next work, Ice Cream and Hard Pills to Swallow, is set to premiere in February 2027. She is ecstatic to announce she is currently developing her next project directing Alice and Grace alongside the talented Alexa and Sonia.
Silence Helevétique Trailer
Directed and Produced by Julie Casamonti
Leo Gianfagna
Director of Photography
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14333499/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Leo Gianfagna is a Cinematographer in New York City. Working in commercial and narrative work, Leo has years of experience as a Director of Photography. His philosophy puts the script above all else, allowing his photographic style to be fluid for whatever the story demands of it. Leo is a mentee of Ed Lachman, ASC and works as a Camera Operator for Frank Prinzi, ASC. A student of his craft, Leo is constantly pushing the boundaries of his photographic work, as well as the final film.
Anna Sherdian - Pardi Girl Productions
Producer, Founder of Pardi Girl
https://www.annasheridan.com/pardigirlproductions
Anna Sheridan is a producer / actor, based in New York City. Through her production company Pardi Girl Productions, Anna is committed to telling stories rooted in the messy, transformative, and deeply human experiences of young women navigating identity, ambition, and belonging. Anna loves Alice & Grace. It reflects everything Pardi Girl stands for: raw emotional honesty, the particular chaos of early adulthood, and the friendships that shape who we become.
As an actor, Anna has worked on sets including White Noise (Noah Baumbach), Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino), and The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols), and has performed on stage in New York in productions including Othello and He’s Not Like That (A.R.T. New York). She holds a degree in acting from Otterbein University.
A proud Midwesterner at heart, Anna brings the same warmth and work ethic she grew up with to every project she’s on. Follow her work at @pardigirlproductions.
FoundryHouse - Production Company
https://www.foundryhousefilms.com/
Chris Bufalo
Ryder Goldschlag
Draeyk Cayabyab
Foundry House is a New York–based production collective built on the belief that raw stories, when forged with craft and vision, can shine brighter than their budgets. We’re a creative home for emerging filmmakers, actors, musicians, storytellers and those in the pursuit of business who want to make and be a part of bold, atmospheric, and emotionally charged work.
Members of Foundry House are not only in the projects they create, but also help bring them to life. You may hold an interest in acting as well as social media marketing/promotion, or you might be a cinematographer who is passionate about costume design. However you'd like to contribute, Foundry has a place for you.
With this approach, we have the versatility of a club with the professional oversight of a film studio. Our structure allows us the capability to become our own suits and build real credits, not just practice projects. Members are able to walk away with tangible portfolio pieces that both elevate them and provide a pathway to the opportunities they desire.
Why? Because we leave our work up to no one but ourselves.
Photographer
Lia Elms
Poster Designer
Isabella Ramey
Pitch Video Editor
Sophie Sinton
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Alice & Grace is a coming-of-age short film that follows two childhood best friends on an impulsive trip to New York City. What begins as a spontaneous adventure takes a sharp turn when Grace falls for a captivating stranger on a wild night out. As Grace explores newfound desires and freedom, Alice struggles with feelings of jealousy and insecurity in regard to her future and their relationship. The film explores themes of friendship, identity, temptation, curiosity as well as the complexities of growing up.
We feel compelled to tell a story rooted in our experiences as young women finding our footing in New York City.
- Alice & Grace explores the uncomfortable and volatile corners of girlhood that emerge when you leave home and begin defining yourself on your own terms. New York City holds a unique power to transform you, and no one ever arrives fully prepared for that journey.
As young women who navigated the city ourselves, we bring a firsthand perspective on Gen Z independence, friendship, risk, and self-discovery.
- We are living this experience now! Our goal is to tell this story with honesty, nuance, and artistry to create a film that resonates with young women searching for who they are and where they belong.
Importantly, this project is an act of creative agency.
- As actors we are accustomed to bringing other people's stories to life. By stepping into the roles of writers and producers, we are taking ownership of our creative voices and demonstrating the kind of initiative, collaboration, and artistic leadership that independent filmmaking makes possible.
1) Contribute
Every contribution, no matter how small, will directly impact our ability to create this film. Your donations will go towards:
- Talent & Crew: Securing talented actors and a dedicated film crew
- Locations: Filming in authentic New York City settings.
- Equipment: Renting professional-grade cameras, lighting, and sound gear
- Post-Production: Editing, sound design, color grading, and music licensing
- Festival Submissions: Sharing Alice & Grace with audiences worldwide by submitting to film festivals
Check out our list of super awesome Incentives to the right. You can donate any amount, not just the suggested ones. Every dollar counts!
Alternatively, if you have access to a beautiful location, production gear, delicious catering, or any in-kind contribution, you can generously offer those goods or services via the Wishlist tab above!
2) Follow
Follow our campaign on Seed&Spark so we can hit our goal of 250 followers!
Follow our progress on the Alice and Grace Instagram and Facebook for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and sneak peeks of the film
3) Copy and share this note with your followers on social media
Help @_Alexa_smith and @kukula fund their coming-of-age short film about a euphoric adventure in NYC, Alice and Grace on Seed&Spark!
We plan to shoot around 8 days over the the month September in local New York City locations with a small crew and cast on a budget of $12,000. Each shooting day will be about 7 to 12 hours that would consist of traveling to set, setting up shots, shooting, meal breaks, uploading footage, and deconstructing equipment. The film will be edited by the end of 2026 and sent to film festivals by Spring 2027. The film will be released to our investors Summer of 2027 and out publicly after the festival circuit.
Alice & Grace aims to capture the messy, nuanced, and often painful transition from adolescence to young adulthood, particularly through the lens of female friendship.
We seek to tell an authentic story about the intensity of first attractions, the challenge of accepting change, and the experience of feeling both deeply connected and utterly alone within a friendship or relationship. When you’ve known someone your whole life, there’s this sense of possession over who they are or who you remember them being. Change causes growing pains, creates distance, challenges familiarity. Sometimes it makes you question whether you know the person in front of you at all. Especially when that person feels like a part of your identity. But, life is change. It’s ever evolving, and adulthood forces independence.
This film is simultaneously our love letter and our reckoning with New York.
Among other used and abused substances in this film, NYC acts as a drug of its own. Representative of something mature, dangerous, free and full of possibility, it seduces Alice and Grace into believing it will fulfill their desires and numb their longing. I think people often see their own deepest desires reflected in physical places. We did. For two young artists and actors, New York promised opportunity at every turn so we moved here straight out of high school, naively expecting everything to fall into place.
We believe our film will resonate with anyone who has navigated the highs and lows of defining who they are and in turn, what that means for who they are in relation to those they love most.
For more Alice & Grace
feel free to peruse though our
----> PITCHDECK <----
we dont mind :)
Our sincerest gratitude,
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Transportation
Costs $1,400
Covers van rental and gas to move equipment, cast, and crew to each location
Meals for cast and crew
Costs $1,500
Feeding the hard working artists. You're not you when you're hungry. Covers 2 meals per 12hr day for each collaborator over 8 shooting days
Location rental
Costs $1,500
Covers rental fee for the warehouse space for the disco scene
Film festivals and distribution
Costs $1,600
Covers the entry fees for film festivals, promotion of the film, and digital release
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Sonia Kukula
Co-Creator, Writer, Alice
Sonia Kukula is an actor, writer and all around creative being. Her mom is an actress from Poland who started her own children's theatre company as a creative outlet for the Polish community in Chicago, so Sonia grew up on stage. She moved to New York in 2021 and graduated from Fordham University with a BA in English and Political Science and a minor in Theatre. She also received a certificate in performance from the Stella Adler Studio for Acting. Her education is a reflection of my innate curiosity and desire to interpret the world around her. Alongside her acting experience, she has written and directed one act plays, created visual shorts for her poetry, and starred in multiple shorts, one of which she’s co-written.
The intersection of acting and writing is where Sonia feels most artistically fulfilled because it allows her to create and inhabit the ideas, worlds, and characters that live in her mind. That’s how this project started. That desire to bring to life these two girls who formed in her brain as a manifestation of her own experience and the story that began to take shape around them. This is a film about what it means to be a young person, specifically a young woman, with the isolating pressure of the future on your shoulders and a deep longing to be loved and understood. She hopes you’ll join and support her and Alexa on this journey as first time filmmakers.
Alexa Smith
Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Grace
Alexa Smith has been an actor her whole life. While her mother was in night school, Alexa spent her evenings with her father, an actor at the local equity theatre company. From the ripe age of 5, Alexa was,“helping” with the rehearsal process of contemporary plays. Over the years, Alexa took part in rehearsals, readings of new work, and several short films. These projects taught her that all you needed was a good script, dedicated artists, and some time. In high school, Alexa auditioned for conservatory boarding school at the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. The drama program was run like the 6th branch of the military; acting classes lasted for 6-8 hours a day alongside a regular high school curriculum, where she made her first short film 12:34am. Alexa was accepted to the Theatre Program at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, NY on a full acting scholarship. This opportunity gave her independence, personal work ethic, and a cohort of equally passionate theatre majors who ran 8 student-led productions every semester, where she met the director of her first horror short film Paying Ours Dues. POD was a thriller short film about three NYC roommates trying to pay rent, even through satanic methods. The process took about 3 months with a small team of hungry artists learning to make a film on every rehearsal and shooting day. Alexa learned that you don't need need a film degree to make movies and that there is success in the act of creation. Since then Alexa has directed 2 short films (you can check one out below), produced for off -Broadway plays, and acts in independent films. She is excited to step into a la producing position on a film set with an incredible team of artists!
12:34am
Directed, Produced, and Starring Alexa Smith
Julie Casamonti
Director
Julie Casamonti is a French and Italian filmmaker, playwright, and performer based in New York City. She moved from Switzerland in 2023 to study theatre at Fordham University in their performance track. Her first job on a film set was as a caterer, baking 100 cookies for the crew and she appeared as “girl best friend” on Paranoïattaque (2021). After that, she found herself a little in love with filmmaking and jumped into writing, directing, and starring in her first short film, A Fleur de Peau (2021), in Geneva. Since then, her projects have included Thin Skin (2023), Tommasa (2024), Some Like It (2024), Inji's music video Bellydancing (2025), Sogna (2025), produced in Florence Italy through Fordham University's Summer Research Grant, and Silence Helvétique (2026), a fashion film she directed and produced alongside her sister in the Swiss Alps. Her work has received recognition on the festival circuit, earning awards for directing, performance, score, and writing, often for its experimental approach. Alongside her work as a writer and director, Julie also produces independent films. She is currently in Michigan shooting The Lake (2026) and preparing for the release of Bentonia 2266 (2026) later this summer. Her recent New York theatre credits include Mother Play (2025), Rhinoceros (2024), and What Moves Me (2024). Her original play A Call to India was produced at Whitebox Studio in 2025, and her next work, Ice Cream and Hard Pills to Swallow, is set to premiere in February 2027. She is ecstatic to announce she is currently developing her next project directing Alice and Grace alongside the talented Alexa and Sonia.
Silence Helevétique Trailer
Directed and Produced by Julie Casamonti
Leo Gianfagna
Director of Photography
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14333499/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Leo Gianfagna is a Cinematographer in New York City. Working in commercial and narrative work, Leo has years of experience as a Director of Photography. His philosophy puts the script above all else, allowing his photographic style to be fluid for whatever the story demands of it. Leo is a mentee of Ed Lachman, ASC and works as a Camera Operator for Frank Prinzi, ASC. A student of his craft, Leo is constantly pushing the boundaries of his photographic work, as well as the final film.
Anna Sherdian - Pardi Girl Productions
Producer, Founder of Pardi Girl
https://www.annasheridan.com/pardigirlproductions
Anna Sheridan is a producer / actor, based in New York City. Through her production company Pardi Girl Productions, Anna is committed to telling stories rooted in the messy, transformative, and deeply human experiences of young women navigating identity, ambition, and belonging. Anna loves Alice & Grace. It reflects everything Pardi Girl stands for: raw emotional honesty, the particular chaos of early adulthood, and the friendships that shape who we become.
As an actor, Anna has worked on sets including White Noise (Noah Baumbach), Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino), and The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols), and has performed on stage in New York in productions including Othello and He’s Not Like That (A.R.T. New York). She holds a degree in acting from Otterbein University.
A proud Midwesterner at heart, Anna brings the same warmth and work ethic she grew up with to every project she’s on. Follow her work at @pardigirlproductions.
FoundryHouse - Production Company
https://www.foundryhousefilms.com/
Chris Bufalo
Ryder Goldschlag
Draeyk Cayabyab
Foundry House is a New York–based production collective built on the belief that raw stories, when forged with craft and vision, can shine brighter than their budgets. We’re a creative home for emerging filmmakers, actors, musicians, storytellers and those in the pursuit of business who want to make and be a part of bold, atmospheric, and emotionally charged work.
Members of Foundry House are not only in the projects they create, but also help bring them to life. You may hold an interest in acting as well as social media marketing/promotion, or you might be a cinematographer who is passionate about costume design. However you'd like to contribute, Foundry has a place for you.
With this approach, we have the versatility of a club with the professional oversight of a film studio. Our structure allows us the capability to become our own suits and build real credits, not just practice projects. Members are able to walk away with tangible portfolio pieces that both elevate them and provide a pathway to the opportunities they desire.
Why? Because we leave our work up to no one but ourselves.
Photographer
Lia Elms
Poster Designer
Isabella Ramey