With a story that explores power dynamics between family members, youth and adults, men and women, all through a horror lens, our Kansas City-based team is full of talent and passion to bring BLOOD SISTERS to life.

In BLOOD SISTERS, we descend straight into a mother’s worst nightmare. As a family rushes to find help, a mother can only watch as her teen daughter succumbs to a mysterious illness that leaves her pale and barely able to take a breath — interspersed with bouts of vitality and violence — against a backdrop of something sinister... faded bruises, and undercurrent of fear that has nothing to do with their present emergency.

As we watch these terrifying events unfold, certain questions arise: What defines true evil? How do we take back our power without losing ourselves? And what sacrifices are we willing to make to protect the most vulnerable among those we love?

An old Camry zips down an empty highway in the middle of nowhere. Inside Maddy (9) keeps her panicked eyes on her unnaturally pale sister, Charlotte (15), and her rickety breathing. Their mother, Nora, tries to keep them calm while their stepfather, Mark, drives. Faded bruises hint not everything is right with this family.

Charlotte oscillates between hovering near death & vibrant guile. In one of her lucid moments, she lunges at Maddy, forcing Nora to climb into the backseat between them. Charlotte snaps out of it, suddenly scared, & Nora comforts her.

Moments later, the Camry swerves into a church parking lot. Mark jumps out & drags Maddy, screaming, from the car. He hurries to the passenger side door, but it’s too late — Nora tumbles out, drained of life. Charlotte emerges, beautiful & monstrous, fangs bared.

Charlotte leaves Mark to face his grief & guilt, but urges Maddy to come away with her. Terrified, but with her only choice being to stay with her stepfather, Maddy chooses her sister, & they disappear together into the dark woods.

MADDY: Nine-year-old Maddy knows in her heart that life isn’t supposed to feel this way. Her friends don’t have to hide from the people who are supposed to protect them. They don’t have to watch their loved ones get hurt and live in fear that they’re next. And now, her one confidant and protector is dying — or worse.

CHARLOTTE: Prior to where we meet her on screen, 15-year-old Charlotte had reached the end of her rope. In a helpless situation, unable to protect herself and in constant terror of failing her sister, she sought extreme measures to take back her power — and now faces the consequences of her actions.

NORA: Nora, 40, never meant for any of this to happen. She thought she was building a good life for herself and her daughters, but by the time she realized what was really happening, it felt too late to change it. All she ever cared about was protecting them, and now she’s failed to do that too.

BLOOD SISTERS brings to mind its brethren in the genre of families dealing with the worst imaginable. The terror of not being able to protect those you love, what it might force you to do out of either strength or weakness. Is it possible to defeat a monster without becoming something terrifying yourself?

Why We're Making This Film

Right now, we're living in a time where so many of us feel let down by people in various roles of power. When the people who are supposed to protect us fail to do so, it forces us to grasp whatever power we can, however we can. How does that power change us? We've long been interested in complex characters who walk the line between hero and villain as well as how we can learn from and grow through trauma — and even use it to change ourselves and the world. (Point in case: ask Elizabeth about the big Loki poster in her library.) With a focus on teenage female agency, through a genre lens, we hope to provide a cathartic and thought-provoking experience for our audience.

Where We Stand and Where We're Going

Currently we're deep into preproduction, with our core crew on board to bring this film to life. We're securing locations and equipment, and gearing up to shoot mid-summer. Once we've completed filming, it's onto post-production and hopefully a festival run. And while this short film stands solidly on its own, we also believe it could serve as a proof of concept for an expanded feature as well. Your donations will go directly toward paying our cast and crew, craft services, wardrobe, special effects makeup & prosthetics, renting space and equipment, as well as legal and insurance fees. We will absolutely keep you posted with updates, as we believe in sharing our journey and lessons learned to help other filmmakers along the way. And even if you can't donate right now, we would love for you to follow the project so you can stay up to date (it's free and unlocks various incentives from Seed&Spark, so it really helps us!) and to share the project with your friends and family who might be interested in project like this, as well as on social media.