Change the Prophecy
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Romance, Sci-Fi
Sarah Rowe is a teenage girl living in a society where soulmates are matched at eighteen. When Sarah learns she doesn’t have a soulmate, she steals someone else’s, setting off a chain reaction of romantic and existential complications.
Change the Prophecy
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Romance, Sci-Fi
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $29,490 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
202 supporters | followers
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Sarah Rowe is a teenage girl living in a society where soulmates are matched at eighteen. When Sarah learns she doesn’t have a soulmate, she steals someone else’s, setting off a chain reaction of romantic and existential complications.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Hi there, I'm Lindsay, a first time writer/director! When I wrote the short story that became the basis for this film, I was coming out of a brutal breakup. As if we didn’t have enough to deal with in the early part of 2025, right? It upended my world, and I did all the things you’re not supposed to do. I stalked his Instagram stories and kept watching tarot card readers on the internet on a loop. Yes, Charlene, he was in fact avoidant. Thank you. (I don't recommend scrolling heartbroken at three in the morning)
And the lyrics to "The Prophecy" by Taylor Swift kept ringing in my ears, mostly cause I kept playing it over and over. A stunning ballad wherein Taylor is pleading with the universe's answering machine, "Please, I've been on my knees. Change the prophecy. Don't want money. Just someone who wants my company. Let it once be me. Who do I have to speak to about if they can re-do the prophecy?"
I completely related to that feeling -- we all play the comparison game. I was going on social media and seeing all my friends' engagements and weddings and baby announcements...and wondering, how did they get the golden ticket and why have I seemingly not gotten mine? Well, I don’t have to explain to you why that line of questioning would incite a feeling of desperation.
And that got me thinking…if feeling like you were unchosen in that way had deeper societal implications — if it meant that you would be a literal social outcast for the rest of your life -- what might a person do to avoid that fate?
.png)
"Change the Prophecy" is an inventive short that asks questions about how we find or choose love, the feelings we can't force, and taking accountability over our own actions. The story took several turns I didn't expect, but what I really didn't expect was how hard I could fall for Liam in only a few pages. Lindsay Grossman has a real talent! - Alicia Thompson, author of LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS and NEVER BEEN SHIPPED
“Change the Prophecy is one of the most unique, compelling concepts I’ve read in a long time. Smart, gorgeously written, vivid, I couldn’t put it down and cannot wait to see it on screen!” – Amy Lea, international bestselling author of THE BODYGUARD AFFAIR
“In the tradition of The Hunger Games, Change the Prophecy expertly sets the idealism and effervescence of youth against the menace of a society bent on control—and it makes for great speculative fiction.” - Jenny Holiday, USA Today bestselling author of THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM EARL
Click here to read the short story! (PDF, epub, and kindle)
.png)
"Change the Prophecy is one of the most interesting takes on the soulmate concept that I’ve come across in ages. Romantic and thought-provoking, this is a story I continued to think about long after the last page.” - Martha Waters, author of AND THEN THERE WAS THE ONE, CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND and the REGENCY VOWS series
“A short story rife with teenage interiority and earnest love triangles, CHANGE THE PROPHECY will catch the eye of anyone who favors the uncertainty of love, and the hope that holds its hand.” - Clare Gilmore, USA Today Bestselling Author of NEVER OVER
“With a fresh twist, compelling voice, and a messy heroine to root for, CHANGE THE PROPHECY brings a 2020s voice to the heart, angst, tropes, and tumult of a 2000s YA Romance. Taking charge of your fate is a risky business. Better be careful what you wish for!” - Emma R. Alban, USA Today Bestselling Author of Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend.
SARAH ROWE (18), our heroine, is a wallflower whose one stroke of boldness causes her more trouble than she's ever had to deal with in her life, but...it will eventually be the reason she stops hanging in the shadows and becomes a leader in the long term. She desperately wants to feel like she belongs. She’s never really felt that deep acceptance, in her own skin, or in the people around her — and she wants it, badly.
TONY EMERSON (18) is popular but not a douchebag. He’s a football star but can also do theater without getting bullied. Every girl in school secretly hopes to be matched with him. His life, thus far, has gone exactly as he’s planned. It doesn’t even occur to him that his matching wouldn’t go his way. His almost four year relationship with Janine has been the stuff of fairy tales. Best friends to lovers. They just click. So when Tony finds out his match isn’t Janine, but is instead Sarah, his whole belief system implodes. A lover boy through and through.
LIAM ACKER (18) is dreamy, confident, and much more secure with himself than Sarah, or at least, he’d like us to think he is. When it’s revealed that Liam has taken his name out of the matching pot, something no one has done in forty years of matches, we think it’s about wanting to stir the pot, but his reason for bucking the system actually is romantically driven.
JANINE OLSON (18) is a cheerleader who uses her popularity for good. And crucially, she’s the kind of person who always tries to view life through a glass half-full lens. So when she loses Tony to Sarah, Janine surprises everyone by pivoting, trying to find a way to view her fate with acceptance and curiosity.
LOGLINE: Our story follows Sarah Rowe, a teenage girl living in a society where soulmates are matched at eighteen. When Sarah finds out she's one of the few unmatched, she takes matters into her own hands, hacking into the list, and stealing someone else's soulmate, in so doing, parting a couple who are very much in love.
Imagine the grounded teen drama of MY SO-CALLED LIFE in a tamer HANDMAID'S TALE-esque dystopian world, a story rooted in the big feelings of adolescence through the lens of a society which makes autonomy in one's own romantic life forbidden.
We’re forty years in the future, in the small town of Easton, Maryland.
The matching system is nearly half a century old, born out of a dating culture much like the one we have today, where the illusion of endless options have given way to a fear of commitment and making the wrong choices. In this world, citizens register their sexual orientations at the age of sixteen because the government says, they’re not trying to make its citizens live an inauthentic life, but rather, the system is supposed to take the guesswork out of life partnership. It’s supposed to give you a guarantee. This government is working on a fascist ideology, supporting the nation’s interests over the individual’s, but of course, they’re not marketing this program that way.
In the short story, it's more elusive, but in the film version, the matches are created by an AI-generated system called CLAIRVOYANT. It matches you within your town, and because SMARTPHONES have been outlawed, there is no social media. This all plays into the idea that comparison is the thief of joy, and is aiming to take the world of dating back to what it was in say, World War 2-era when proximity and values were the main criteria for choosing a partner.
Much like college acceptance letters, matching notices go out at random over a few weeks towards the end of seniors’ last year of high school. Everyone stays in their respective towns and goes to the same college, the idea being that uniformity creates a greater level of happiness and contentment.
And once you are matched, it’s forever. There are no breakups or divorces. And if you are one of the few unmatched, you are expressly forbidden from pursuing romantic relationships, most especially with those who are matched. Citizens have been given life imprisonment and/or banishment (deportation) for breaking these rules. But to be given that punishment, they need to be caught, and those who do break the rules, are usually more careful than that.
We used to have two whole TV networks dedicated just to young adult stories. Those shows gave me hope growing up. They made me laugh and cry and question the world around me. I've always been drawn to romance stories with big stakes at the center. I want this short film to function as a proof-of-concept for a television show in the vein of a WB-esque (late 90s/early 2000s) drama.
The more global 'why now' is that we're living in a time where we're asking if we will have the same choices that we have now forever. Very much inspired by classics like THE GIVER and NEVER LET ME GO, this is a story which contemplates the privilege of living in a world and a society where we have choices. When it comes to relationships, I think we all would love a guarantee and that can make the idea of this fictional matching system sort of appealing. But choice...it's the thing that makes relationships valuable. Someone is choosing us, and we're choosing them, and if that's not romance, I don't know what is.
Lindsay Grossman - Writer/Director
Madison Jones - Producer
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Geneva Willis - Producer
.png)
Kelsey Talton - Director of Photography
.png)
Jamie Ember - Casting Director
.png)
Can I tell you a secret? Making movies cost money! Imagine that. We're aiming for a production budget of 28k with anything over that going towards our post-production and the cost of festival submissions.
From locations to equipment, there are lots of places your money is directly going to. But a hearty part of the budget is going towards our cast and crew! We want everyone involved to feel like a vital part of Change the Prophecy and too often with short films, artists and craftsmen get taken advantage of for the sake of keeping the budget as small as possible.
.png)
When you donate to our campaign, you are directly making sure everyone is paid fairly for their work!
.png)
What's next? I'm so glad you asked! We have a locked script and are in the midst of finalizing our locations and cast, and are aiming for a three-day shoot in Los Angeles in June! Any amount helps get us there, but if you're not in a position to donate and you love what we're doing here, please follow and share our campaign with anyone and everyone!
On a personal note, this story means so much to me, and if you took the time to read this page or read my short story, you already have my undying love! This film will ultimately be by romance fans, for romance fans. So if that's you, please help us make CHANGE THE PROPHECY a reality so we can bring important cinema back to our screens - yearning and angst are a must!
xo Lindsay
INTRODUCTION VIDEO CREDITS
DAWSON'S CREEK - Sony Pictures Television
MY SO-CALLED LIFE - The Walt Disney Company
FELICITY - The Walt Disney Company & Lionsgate
LA LA LAND - Lionsgate
NEVER LET ME GO -The Walt Disney Company
THE GIVER - The Weinstein Company & Walden Media
NORMAL PEOPLE - Element Pictures, BBC & Hulu
THE HUNGER GAMES - Lionsgate
WAR GAMES - MGM
TRUMBO - Bleecker Street
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - Paramount Pictures
BARBIE - Warner Bros.
THE FABELMANS - Universal Pictures
A QUIET PLACE - Paramount Pictures
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew Labor
Costs $7,500
What would Dawson's Creek be without James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson??
Locations
Costs $5,000
What would My So-Called Life be without its high school with authentic fluorescent lights?
Lighting Package
Costs $3,000
Romance is lighting. Thank you and goodnight.
Cameral Rental Package
Costs $7,000
How would Sean have filmed his Docuventary in Felicity without the a proper camera?
Camera Hard Drives
Costs $1,000
Emily Gilmore would want to be able to backup her photos. Obviously, we're gonna need that too.
Meals for Cast & Crew
Costs $1,000
If only Dean & Deluca could help a girl out!
Crafty & Caffeine for cast & crew
Costs $750
Truly where would Lorelai be without her caffeine fix?
Set Direction and Prop Rentals
Costs $1,500
Tell me set direction isn't important when you watch the "Felicity studying in the stacks" episodes
Costumes & Wardrobe
Costs $1,000
How would we know Jess is from the wrong side of the tracks without his shitty hoodie?
Walkies
Costs $250
Maybe Ephram and Andy wouldn't have fought as much if they'd been able to communicate with walkies??
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
LINDSAY GROSSMAN: WRITER/DIRECTOR
MADISON JONES: PRODUCER
.png)
GENEVA WILLIS: PRODUCER
.png)
KELSEY TALTON: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
.png)
JAMIE EMBER: CASTING DIRECTOR
.png)
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Hi there, I'm Lindsay, a first time writer/director! When I wrote the short story that became the basis for this film, I was coming out of a brutal breakup. As if we didn’t have enough to deal with in the early part of 2025, right? It upended my world, and I did all the things you’re not supposed to do. I stalked his Instagram stories and kept watching tarot card readers on the internet on a loop. Yes, Charlene, he was in fact avoidant. Thank you. (I don't recommend scrolling heartbroken at three in the morning)
And the lyrics to "The Prophecy" by Taylor Swift kept ringing in my ears, mostly cause I kept playing it over and over. A stunning ballad wherein Taylor is pleading with the universe's answering machine, "Please, I've been on my knees. Change the prophecy. Don't want money. Just someone who wants my company. Let it once be me. Who do I have to speak to about if they can re-do the prophecy?"
I completely related to that feeling -- we all play the comparison game. I was going on social media and seeing all my friends' engagements and weddings and baby announcements...and wondering, how did they get the golden ticket and why have I seemingly not gotten mine? Well, I don’t have to explain to you why that line of questioning would incite a feeling of desperation.
And that got me thinking…if feeling like you were unchosen in that way had deeper societal implications — if it meant that you would be a literal social outcast for the rest of your life -- what might a person do to avoid that fate?
"Change the Prophecy" is an inventive short that asks questions about how we find or choose love, the feelings we can't force, and taking accountability over our own actions. The story took several turns I didn't expect, but what I really didn't expect was how hard I could fall for Liam in only a few pages. Lindsay Grossman has a real talent! - Alicia Thompson, author of LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS and NEVER BEEN SHIPPED
“Change the Prophecy is one of the most unique, compelling concepts I’ve read in a long time. Smart, gorgeously written, vivid, I couldn’t put it down and cannot wait to see it on screen!” – Amy Lea, international bestselling author of THE BODYGUARD AFFAIR
“In the tradition of The Hunger Games, Change the Prophecy expertly sets the idealism and effervescence of youth against the menace of a society bent on control—and it makes for great speculative fiction.” - Jenny Holiday, USA Today bestselling author of THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM EARL
Click here to read the short story! (PDF, epub, and kindle)
"Change the Prophecy is one of the most interesting takes on the soulmate concept that I’ve come across in ages. Romantic and thought-provoking, this is a story I continued to think about long after the last page.” - Martha Waters, author of AND THEN THERE WAS THE ONE, CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND and the REGENCY VOWS series
“A short story rife with teenage interiority and earnest love triangles, CHANGE THE PROPHECY will catch the eye of anyone who favors the uncertainty of love, and the hope that holds its hand.” - Clare Gilmore, USA Today Bestselling Author of NEVER OVER
“With a fresh twist, compelling voice, and a messy heroine to root for, CHANGE THE PROPHECY brings a 2020s voice to the heart, angst, tropes, and tumult of a 2000s YA Romance. Taking charge of your fate is a risky business. Better be careful what you wish for!” - Emma R. Alban, USA Today Bestselling Author of Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend.
SARAH ROWE (18), our heroine, is a wallflower whose one stroke of boldness causes her more trouble than she's ever had to deal with in her life, but...it will eventually be the reason she stops hanging in the shadows and becomes a leader in the long term. She desperately wants to feel like she belongs. She’s never really felt that deep acceptance, in her own skin, or in the people around her — and she wants it, badly.
TONY EMERSON (18) is popular but not a douchebag. He’s a football star but can also do theater without getting bullied. Every girl in school secretly hopes to be matched with him. His life, thus far, has gone exactly as he’s planned. It doesn’t even occur to him that his matching wouldn’t go his way. His almost four year relationship with Janine has been the stuff of fairy tales. Best friends to lovers. They just click. So when Tony finds out his match isn’t Janine, but is instead Sarah, his whole belief system implodes. A lover boy through and through.
LIAM ACKER (18) is dreamy, confident, and much more secure with himself than Sarah, or at least, he’d like us to think he is. When it’s revealed that Liam has taken his name out of the matching pot, something no one has done in forty years of matches, we think it’s about wanting to stir the pot, but his reason for bucking the system actually is romantically driven.
JANINE OLSON (18) is a cheerleader who uses her popularity for good. And crucially, she’s the kind of person who always tries to view life through a glass half-full lens. So when she loses Tony to Sarah, Janine surprises everyone by pivoting, trying to find a way to view her fate with acceptance and curiosity.
LOGLINE: Our story follows Sarah Rowe, a teenage girl living in a society where soulmates are matched at eighteen. When Sarah finds out she's one of the few unmatched, she takes matters into her own hands, hacking into the list, and stealing someone else's soulmate, in so doing, parting a couple who are very much in love.
Imagine the grounded teen drama of MY SO-CALLED LIFE in a tamer HANDMAID'S TALE-esque dystopian world, a story rooted in the big feelings of adolescence through the lens of a society which makes autonomy in one's own romantic life forbidden.
We’re forty years in the future, in the small town of Easton, Maryland.
The matching system is nearly half a century old, born out of a dating culture much like the one we have today, where the illusion of endless options have given way to a fear of commitment and making the wrong choices. In this world, citizens register their sexual orientations at the age of sixteen because the government says, they’re not trying to make its citizens live an inauthentic life, but rather, the system is supposed to take the guesswork out of life partnership. It’s supposed to give you a guarantee. This government is working on a fascist ideology, supporting the nation’s interests over the individual’s, but of course, they’re not marketing this program that way.
In the short story, it's more elusive, but in the film version, the matches are created by an AI-generated system called CLAIRVOYANT. It matches you within your town, and because SMARTPHONES have been outlawed, there is no social media. This all plays into the idea that comparison is the thief of joy, and is aiming to take the world of dating back to what it was in say, World War 2-era when proximity and values were the main criteria for choosing a partner.
Much like college acceptance letters, matching notices go out at random over a few weeks towards the end of seniors’ last year of high school. Everyone stays in their respective towns and goes to the same college, the idea being that uniformity creates a greater level of happiness and contentment.
And once you are matched, it’s forever. There are no breakups or divorces. And if you are one of the few unmatched, you are expressly forbidden from pursuing romantic relationships, most especially with those who are matched. Citizens have been given life imprisonment and/or banishment (deportation) for breaking these rules. But to be given that punishment, they need to be caught, and those who do break the rules, are usually more careful than that.
We used to have two whole TV networks dedicated just to young adult stories. Those shows gave me hope growing up. They made me laugh and cry and question the world around me. I've always been drawn to romance stories with big stakes at the center. I want this short film to function as a proof-of-concept for a television show in the vein of a WB-esque (late 90s/early 2000s) drama.
The more global 'why now' is that we're living in a time where we're asking if we will have the same choices that we have now forever. Very much inspired by classics like THE GIVER and NEVER LET ME GO, this is a story which contemplates the privilege of living in a world and a society where we have choices. When it comes to relationships, I think we all would love a guarantee and that can make the idea of this fictional matching system sort of appealing. But choice...it's the thing that makes relationships valuable. Someone is choosing us, and we're choosing them, and if that's not romance, I don't know what is.
Lindsay Grossman - Writer/Director
Madison Jones - Producer
Geneva Willis - Producer
Kelsey Talton - Director of Photography
Jamie Ember - Casting Director
Can I tell you a secret? Making movies cost money! Imagine that. We're aiming for a production budget of 28k with anything over that going towards our post-production and the cost of festival submissions.
From locations to equipment, there are lots of places your money is directly going to. But a hearty part of the budget is going towards our cast and crew! We want everyone involved to feel like a vital part of Change the Prophecy and too often with short films, artists and craftsmen get taken advantage of for the sake of keeping the budget as small as possible.
When you donate to our campaign, you are directly making sure everyone is paid fairly for their work!
What's next? I'm so glad you asked! We have a locked script and are in the midst of finalizing our locations and cast, and are aiming for a three-day shoot in Los Angeles in June! Any amount helps get us there, but if you're not in a position to donate and you love what we're doing here, please follow and share our campaign with anyone and everyone!
On a personal note, this story means so much to me, and if you took the time to read this page or read my short story, you already have my undying love! This film will ultimately be by romance fans, for romance fans. So if that's you, please help us make CHANGE THE PROPHECY a reality so we can bring important cinema back to our screens - yearning and angst are a must!
xo Lindsay
INTRODUCTION VIDEO CREDITS
DAWSON'S CREEK - Sony Pictures Television
MY SO-CALLED LIFE - The Walt Disney Company
FELICITY - The Walt Disney Company & Lionsgate
LA LA LAND - Lionsgate
NEVER LET ME GO -The Walt Disney Company
THE GIVER - The Weinstein Company & Walden Media
NORMAL PEOPLE - Element Pictures, BBC & Hulu
THE HUNGER GAMES - Lionsgate
WAR GAMES - MGM
TRUMBO - Bleecker Street
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - Paramount Pictures
BARBIE - Warner Bros.
THE FABELMANS - Universal Pictures
A QUIET PLACE - Paramount Pictures
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL - Fox Searchlight Pictures
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew Labor
Costs $7,500
What would Dawson's Creek be without James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson??
Locations
Costs $5,000
What would My So-Called Life be without its high school with authentic fluorescent lights?
Lighting Package
Costs $3,000
Romance is lighting. Thank you and goodnight.
Cameral Rental Package
Costs $7,000
How would Sean have filmed his Docuventary in Felicity without the a proper camera?
Camera Hard Drives
Costs $1,000
Emily Gilmore would want to be able to backup her photos. Obviously, we're gonna need that too.
Meals for Cast & Crew
Costs $1,000
If only Dean & Deluca could help a girl out!
Crafty & Caffeine for cast & crew
Costs $750
Truly where would Lorelai be without her caffeine fix?
Set Direction and Prop Rentals
Costs $1,500
Tell me set direction isn't important when you watch the "Felicity studying in the stacks" episodes
Costumes & Wardrobe
Costs $1,000
How would we know Jess is from the wrong side of the tracks without his shitty hoodie?
Walkies
Costs $250
Maybe Ephram and Andy wouldn't have fought as much if they'd been able to communicate with walkies??
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
LINDSAY GROSSMAN: WRITER/DIRECTOR
MADISON JONES: PRODUCER
GENEVA WILLIS: PRODUCER
KELSEY TALTON: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
JAMIE EMBER: CASTING DIRECTOR