BLUSH
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Teen
A short coming-of-age film following expat teenagers growing up in 2010s Singapore. Blush explores the uncertainty, angst and restlessness of multicultural identity and teenage sexuality.
BLUSH
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Teen
8 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $10,960 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
121 supporters | followers
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A short coming-of-age film following expat teenagers growing up in 2010s Singapore. Blush explores the uncertainty, angst and restlessness of multicultural identity and teenage sexuality.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Home is everywhere and nowhere for the teen girls of Blush.
Set on a Friday after school in 2014 Singapore, Nadia, Alex, and Leah meet up in the center of the city. Nadia invites Alex and Leah to a party at her house later that night, hoping to get closer to Leah. As the alcohol flows, the girls become entangled in a triangle of desire and jealousy. By sunrise, each character will experience “blush” in their own way, a hot, rageful, icky, explosive, humiliating, and lonely feeling that only a teenage girl knows.
Leah, 15, loves to daydream. Introverted, and a fly on the wall, Leah tends to overthink. She wants to have sex for the first time. She finds herself drawn to Nadia, an older, cooler classmate…
Alex, 15, loves adventure. She is the yin to Alex’s yang. She has a witty sense of humor and bold outgoingness. Despite her humor, she’s embarrassed about her family’s lack of wealth. She wants to fit in with her richer classmates, especially Nadia. She steals, lies, and cheats. Her obsession with being Nadia’s friend is taking a toll on her self-esteem. With a bit of makeup, Alex is an expert at faking confidence.
Nadia, 16, loves attention. You either hate her, love her, or want to be her. Regardless of her popularity, and wealth, Nadia is lonely. She longs for connection, especially with Leah. Throughout the night, she grows jealous and rageful of Leah’s mixed feelings for her and will have to decide whether or not to share her romantic feelings for Leah.
The characters and world of Blush have been floating in my brain for the last year. I was inspired to write the short after returning to Singapore, my hometown, in March of 2023. It had been several years since I last lived there, so I had high expectations of a celebratory and grounding homecoming.
However, I was overwhelmed by nostalgia for a city that had changed and grief for a childhood that was over. Sitting in my bedroom with decaying photos and memorabilia, I realized how disconnected I was from a city I once called home. I fell into full identity-crisis mode trying to piece together a fading adolescence. The trip was confusing and sweaty and reminded me of all the nuances I felt growing up as an American in Southeast Asia, floating in both worlds and not feeling rooted in either. I also found myself reflecting on my girlhood in Singapore - which was a complicated and dark experience in the context of the city's capitalism, while also a beautiful, diverse upbringing thriving in between many worlds -- rooted in intentional friendships.
Blush is both a love letter to the city I grew up in and an acceptance of my teenage self's many desires, jealousies, and obsessions.
Through a teenage gaze, the story explores isolation in a metropolis and embraces identity as a complicated discovery - that evolves and shifts with each world one explores and person one meets. Most importantly, Blush is a tribute to the friendships I had as a teen that grounded my experience of existing in between worlds.
I hope that audiences will see their teenage selves in Blush.
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I was 15 a decade ago!
Even today, I have moments where I feel exactly like that 15-year-old. I think these versions of us never leave and become buried the more experiences we have. As a 25-year-old, I can reflect on my adolescence a lot more clearly.
Stranger Things investigated the 1980s, PEN15 unpacked the early 2000s- it's time to revisit the 2010s. The 2010s was a unique time for social media. A generation of kids who had grown up with the internet and cell phones were now becoming teenagers. We were the first to use certain technologies, and attach various meanings to them- influencing larger conversations about mental health. Our adolescence was informed by an era pre-Me-Too, having a great impact on how we did (and didn't) talk about sexuality & consent.
Singapore is a city that prides itself on cleanliness. Blush, however, celebrates the city-island’s grittiness.
Through an intimate, handheld style, Blush will follow Leah, Nadia, and Alex through their Singapore.
Chatting on a crowded MRT after school or smoking on secret rooftops perched above busy streets. Stealing makeup from sterile and fluorescent department stores and scarfing down food in cramped hawker stalls. We will also be with the girls in more quiet, meditative moments - as they daydream in their bedrooms, or reflect in the backseats of taxi cabs.
Combining the intensity of films like I HAVE ELECTRIC DREAMS and NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, with the dreamy tone of PALO ALTO and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, Blush tells a story of lust, isolation, and longing.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Locations/Permits
Costs $5,000
We will need to rent out multiple filming locations in Singapore, and also purchase permits for them.
Production Design/Set Dressing/Wardrobe
Costs $1,500
To create a mid 2000's world, we need to decorate our sets & pick out period accurate wardrobe.
Equipment
Costs $4,500
This is our budget to rent sound, camera and lighting equipment for our production.
Insurance
Costs $1,000
Equipment insurance for the production is important to protect us from paying thousands in case of damages, losses, etc.
Catering/Craft Services
Costs $1,000
To fuel our cast and crew over the course of the shoot, we will need a budget for 1 meal per person per day, as well as snacks and drinks.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Ana Chavez - Writer & Director
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Singapore, Ana Chavez is a writer, director, & editor.
While studying for her BA in Film at UC Santa Barbara, Ana edited several documentary shorts and music videos. Her screenplay, Her and I, won the Best Screenplay and Best Filmmaking awards at the Santa Barbara Film Festival's 10-10-10 Program and screened at multiple festivals across the US. The short also picked up Best Comedy and Best Actress nominations at the Official Latino Film Festival.
Ana relocated to LA in 2021, editing shorts, music videos, and branded content. She's worked as an editor and assistant editor in both scripted and unscripted worlds, for clients like Universal, Meta, and Disney. Ana's most excited to merge worlds for her upcoming short Blush- bringing together a team of close collaborators from LA and Singapore.
Mitchka Saberi - Producer
Mitchka Saberi is a filmmaker and producer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in Film & Media Studies in 2020. While in school, she produced several short films, including Mother of Chernobyl, which won multiple awards and was accepted into major festivals like Newport Beach and Santa Barbara International. After graduating, she co-directed and produced the short narrative film The Golden Cage and a short documentary The Accessible Outdoors, both of which went on to have success on the film festival circuit.
She began her career as a 1st AD on indie features before shifting to commercial production at the creative agency Native Foreign, coordinating national campaigns for brands like Brooks Running, Chevy, and OpenAI.
Now a Producer & Production Manager at Echobend Pictures, Mitchka has managed commercials for Dr. Squatch, 100Thieves, and Prenuvo, as well as music videos for artists such as The Black Keys, Dasha, and Ava Max.
Selin Genc - Associate Producer
Selin is an actor, writer, and producer originally from Montreal, Canada and currently based in Los Angeles. Originally with a background in theatre, she began acting in short films after graduating from McGill University, which led to writing her own films with a focus on female and queer stories. She is excited to be making the leap into producing as a part of the Blush team.
Shiao-ya Huang - Co-Producer & Director of Photography
Shiao-ya (Maggie) Huang is a filmmaker born in Taiwan, raised in Latin America, and currently based in Singapore and Taiwan. Her passion lies in storytelling through filmmaking, screenwriting, stop-motion, and creative technologies.
She aims to use these mediums as vehicles to share authentic stories that bring warmth and resonance to the world. To bridge differences and connect the world with storytelling. Her works have been part of various national and international film festivals, such as the inaugural Sony Future Filmmakers Awards and Singapore Mental Health Film Festival, National Youth Film Awards 2021 and 2022, Festival Animanie, and Chaniartoon 2021 International Animation Festival.
She believes everyone carries a story worth telling, and she invites you to share yours and form a meaningful dialogue.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Home is everywhere and nowhere for the teen girls of Blush.
Set on a Friday after school in 2014 Singapore, Nadia, Alex, and Leah meet up in the center of the city. Nadia invites Alex and Leah to a party at her house later that night, hoping to get closer to Leah. As the alcohol flows, the girls become entangled in a triangle of desire and jealousy. By sunrise, each character will experience “blush” in their own way, a hot, rageful, icky, explosive, humiliating, and lonely feeling that only a teenage girl knows.
Leah, 15, loves to daydream. Introverted, and a fly on the wall, Leah tends to overthink. She wants to have sex for the first time. She finds herself drawn to Nadia, an older, cooler classmate…
Alex, 15, loves adventure. She is the yin to Alex’s yang. She has a witty sense of humor and bold outgoingness. Despite her humor, she’s embarrassed about her family’s lack of wealth. She wants to fit in with her richer classmates, especially Nadia. She steals, lies, and cheats. Her obsession with being Nadia’s friend is taking a toll on her self-esteem. With a bit of makeup, Alex is an expert at faking confidence.
Nadia, 16, loves attention. You either hate her, love her, or want to be her. Regardless of her popularity, and wealth, Nadia is lonely. She longs for connection, especially with Leah. Throughout the night, she grows jealous and rageful of Leah’s mixed feelings for her and will have to decide whether or not to share her romantic feelings for Leah.
The characters and world of Blush have been floating in my brain for the last year. I was inspired to write the short after returning to Singapore, my hometown, in March of 2023. It had been several years since I last lived there, so I had high expectations of a celebratory and grounding homecoming.
However, I was overwhelmed by nostalgia for a city that had changed and grief for a childhood that was over. Sitting in my bedroom with decaying photos and memorabilia, I realized how disconnected I was from a city I once called home. I fell into full identity-crisis mode trying to piece together a fading adolescence. The trip was confusing and sweaty and reminded me of all the nuances I felt growing up as an American in Southeast Asia, floating in both worlds and not feeling rooted in either. I also found myself reflecting on my girlhood in Singapore - which was a complicated and dark experience in the context of the city's capitalism, while also a beautiful, diverse upbringing thriving in between many worlds -- rooted in intentional friendships.
Blush is both a love letter to the city I grew up in and an acceptance of my teenage self's many desires, jealousies, and obsessions.
Through a teenage gaze, the story explores isolation in a metropolis and embraces identity as a complicated discovery - that evolves and shifts with each world one explores and person one meets. Most importantly, Blush is a tribute to the friendships I had as a teen that grounded my experience of existing in between worlds.
I hope that audiences will see their teenage selves in Blush.
I was 15 a decade ago!
Even today, I have moments where I feel exactly like that 15-year-old. I think these versions of us never leave and become buried the more experiences we have. As a 25-year-old, I can reflect on my adolescence a lot more clearly.
Stranger Things investigated the 1980s, PEN15 unpacked the early 2000s- it's time to revisit the 2010s. The 2010s was a unique time for social media. A generation of kids who had grown up with the internet and cell phones were now becoming teenagers. We were the first to use certain technologies, and attach various meanings to them- influencing larger conversations about mental health. Our adolescence was informed by an era pre-Me-Too, having a great impact on how we did (and didn't) talk about sexuality & consent.
Singapore is a city that prides itself on cleanliness. Blush, however, celebrates the city-island’s grittiness.
Through an intimate, handheld style, Blush will follow Leah, Nadia, and Alex through their Singapore.
Chatting on a crowded MRT after school or smoking on secret rooftops perched above busy streets. Stealing makeup from sterile and fluorescent department stores and scarfing down food in cramped hawker stalls. We will also be with the girls in more quiet, meditative moments - as they daydream in their bedrooms, or reflect in the backseats of taxi cabs.
Combining the intensity of films like I HAVE ELECTRIC DREAMS and NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, with the dreamy tone of PALO ALTO and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, Blush tells a story of lust, isolation, and longing.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Locations/Permits
Costs $5,000
We will need to rent out multiple filming locations in Singapore, and also purchase permits for them.
Production Design/Set Dressing/Wardrobe
Costs $1,500
To create a mid 2000's world, we need to decorate our sets & pick out period accurate wardrobe.
Equipment
Costs $4,500
This is our budget to rent sound, camera and lighting equipment for our production.
Insurance
Costs $1,000
Equipment insurance for the production is important to protect us from paying thousands in case of damages, losses, etc.
Catering/Craft Services
Costs $1,000
To fuel our cast and crew over the course of the shoot, we will need a budget for 1 meal per person per day, as well as snacks and drinks.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Ana Chavez - Writer & Director
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Singapore, Ana Chavez is a writer, director, & editor.
While studying for her BA in Film at UC Santa Barbara, Ana edited several documentary shorts and music videos. Her screenplay, Her and I, won the Best Screenplay and Best Filmmaking awards at the Santa Barbara Film Festival's 10-10-10 Program and screened at multiple festivals across the US. The short also picked up Best Comedy and Best Actress nominations at the Official Latino Film Festival.
Ana relocated to LA in 2021, editing shorts, music videos, and branded content. She's worked as an editor and assistant editor in both scripted and unscripted worlds, for clients like Universal, Meta, and Disney. Ana's most excited to merge worlds for her upcoming short Blush- bringing together a team of close collaborators from LA and Singapore.
Mitchka Saberi - Producer
Mitchka Saberi is a filmmaker and producer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in Film & Media Studies in 2020. While in school, she produced several short films, including Mother of Chernobyl, which won multiple awards and was accepted into major festivals like Newport Beach and Santa Barbara International. After graduating, she co-directed and produced the short narrative film The Golden Cage and a short documentary The Accessible Outdoors, both of which went on to have success on the film festival circuit.
She began her career as a 1st AD on indie features before shifting to commercial production at the creative agency Native Foreign, coordinating national campaigns for brands like Brooks Running, Chevy, and OpenAI.
Now a Producer & Production Manager at Echobend Pictures, Mitchka has managed commercials for Dr. Squatch, 100Thieves, and Prenuvo, as well as music videos for artists such as The Black Keys, Dasha, and Ava Max.
Selin Genc - Associate Producer
Selin is an actor, writer, and producer originally from Montreal, Canada and currently based in Los Angeles. Originally with a background in theatre, she began acting in short films after graduating from McGill University, which led to writing her own films with a focus on female and queer stories. She is excited to be making the leap into producing as a part of the Blush team.
Shiao-ya Huang - Co-Producer & Director of Photography
Shiao-ya (Maggie) Huang is a filmmaker born in Taiwan, raised in Latin America, and currently based in Singapore and Taiwan. Her passion lies in storytelling through filmmaking, screenwriting, stop-motion, and creative technologies.
She aims to use these mediums as vehicles to share authentic stories that bring warmth and resonance to the world. To bridge differences and connect the world with storytelling. Her works have been part of various national and international film festivals, such as the inaugural Sony Future Filmmakers Awards and Singapore Mental Health Film Festival, National Youth Film Awards 2021 and 2022, Festival Animanie, and Chaniartoon 2021 International Animation Festival.
She believes everyone carries a story worth telling, and she invites you to share yours and form a meaningful dialogue.