Chrysalis
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Sci-Fi
In science fiction, the stories we love are those from distant times and dimensions, yet the themes grip us because they run through our own lives. Science fiction clarifies what scares us, inspires us, and even what makes us human. We'd be honored if you'd help us add our own story.
Chrysalis
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Sci-Fi

1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $6,679 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
65 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
In science fiction, the stories we love are those from distant times and dimensions, yet the themes grip us because they run through our own lives. Science fiction clarifies what scares us, inspires us, and even what makes us human. We'd be honored if you'd help us add our own story.
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Update: Chrysalis has gotten the green light with three days left of our campaign! We're going to set a stretch goal of $7,000; let's see if we can reach it!
The Year is 2090.
The United Earth Space Corps has dispatched The Hamilton, a long range personnel transport, on a one-way mission into deep space. Halfway through the mission, when the Hamilton is most alone in the cosmos, Dr. Lesley Parrish realizes that one of her fellow crewmembers has lost his way, and the fate of the mission and the lives of her crew hang in the balance.
Chrysalis is an ambitious and exciting new sci-fi short film following Dr. Lesley Parrish, who is trapped in cryogenic sleep aboard a damaged spacecraft, at the mercy of a crewmate driven insane by the crushing abyss of space. To awaken from her coma, she draws on a memory of her childhood on a broken Earth, where she learnt from a young age that the only one she can rely on is herself. Only then can she stand a chance at retaking her ship.
The good news: we're making this movie. Production is weeks away; we have our cast locked and crew loaded, gorgeous locations are booked, and all systems are go.
The better news: We want you to be a part of this story. The Chrysalis team moved to LA to follow our dreams of making movies with our friends, and we couldn't be more thrilled to take on this challenge. That being said, any little bit of wiggle we can find in our budget helps. We're making this movie no matter what, but this campaign will help us realize our most ambitious goals, and we're honored that you're considering throwing your lot in with us!
Update: We just finished shooting our forest sequence with Tiffany Alvord and couldn't be happier with the material we captured! Now we're going to build our set and transport it to the soundstage to shoot with Emily Somers in July!
Make sure you check out the "Team" tab in the menu above to see bios and past work of our cast and crew!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Meals and Craft Services
Costs $400
A fed crew is a happy crew! Quality, hot meals are just what a crew needs during a long shoot day!
Actor's Rates
Costs $650
Actors work incredibly hard, but all too often they're asked to work for free.
Set Transport
Costs $350
We're building the interior of a space craft off-site, which means we also have to move it! Trucks!
SFX Makeup
Costs $700
We need a SFX makeup artist on set for blood and gore effects. Quote includes equipment/day rates.
VFX
Costs $1,300
Special Effects, the meat of science fiction. We can dramatically up our value with this line.
Composition
Costs $600
We have an incredible composer, and want to make sure that his time and effort are appreciated!
Location Fees
Costs $550
We're shooting on a gorgeous soundstage and on-location in a rich forest north of Los Angeles.
Extra Building Materials
Costs $600
We're building a spaceship! Needless to say, we'll take any extra building materials we can get.
Metal and Electronics
Costs $800
We're building a sci-fi interior, and those need fixin's!
Submission Fees
Costs $400
Without a plan for distribution, the project is not yet complete.
About This Team
Andrew Levy: Writer/Director
A native New Yorker, Andrew graduated from Bard College in 2012 with a degree in playwriting and several rugby injuries. In 2015, he moved to LA to develop an original pilot with producers Kevin Misher and Brad Silberling. Since then, he's been writing and directing short films while trying to find a decent slice of pizza in this town.
Tiffany Alvord: Young Lesley
Tiffany Alvord is an actress and singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Over the past decade, she's been developed a fan base of over 3 million youtube subscribers and over 600+ thousand Instagram followers. Tiffany Alvord has worked on original content for brands such as Target, Ralph Lauren, Tide, Disney, NBC, Fox, & Lionsgate, also debuted her first feature film, School Spirits last year, which received an amazing warm response! Tiffany also stars in a web series with AT&T Hello Lab called Guilty Party. She's beyond stoked to be part of Chrysalis and can’t wait to see it come to life!
Emily Somers: Dr. Parrish
Born in San Francisco, Emily trained at the American Conservatory Theater and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, receiving her theater degree from UC Davis before moving to Los Angeles. She is known for her film roles starring opposite Jean Smart in the Horror/Thriller Feature Awaken the Shadowman, as the lead in the cyber thriller Reboot, written and directed by Joe Kawasaki (writer, The Man in the High Castle), appearing opposite Gerard Butler in Playing for Keeps, and as the lead in Soulmate, for which she was nominated for Best Actress in a Short Film at the Madrid International Film Festival. She has appeared in multiple National commercials as both an actor and voiceover artist.
Emily Somers Reel 2017 from Emily Somers on Vimeo.
Madeleine Paul: Producer
Madeleine was born in New York and spent her formative years in the Midwest, balancing her time between athletics and the arts. She returned to New York to attend NYU, where she earned a dual degree in Psychology and Dramatic Literature. In the years following graduation, she gained experience in myriad areas of the film industry, including on-set production, literary development, and below-the-line representation. Now, a three-year resident of Los Angeles, she's chosen to focus her energies on producing and providing production services for both narrative and commercial projects through her company Might and Main Media, which she owns with her amazing partners, Melissas Zeigler and Kyle.
Check out her Instagram for the occasional production photo and way more pictures of hikes: @maddpaul32
10-1 from Melissa Kyle on Vimeo.
Melissa Kyle: 1st AD
Melissa Kyle graduated with honors in film production at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU in 2011, where she focused on producing and assistant directing. For several years she worked on indie and major motion pictures and television in New York in the AD pipeline. She moved to Los Angeles in 2015, and has held roles in creative development at Benaroya Pictures and Warner Bros. After spending time on the studio side of the industry, she fervently went back to production full time and has worked in various content as both a producer and AD, including web series, branded content for Disney, and short films. Along with her producing partners Maddie Paul and Melissa Zeigler, Melissa has a passion for getting exciting new projects off the ground and seeing them through from development to the big or small screen.
She and her cat can be found on Instagram @mskyle11
DAVID from Melissa Kyle on Vimeo.
Sage Griffin: Production Designer
Sage Griffin is an up and coming Production Designer residing in Los Angeles, CA with a strong background in the principles of design, focusing heavily on set building and conceptualizing. She is proficient in the use of numerous design programs including Google Sketch up, and has a strong background in interior design.
Sage has a diverse resume working in both narrative film and commercial. She works frequently with the online media site Funny or Die. Her skills as an Art Director has provided her with the accurate tools to manage a team while using creative problem solving.
Jonathan Scott: Sound Designer
With 15 years experience as an audio engineer, Jonathan has worked on countless music recording projects, worked in radio as a broadcast engineer certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Other projects that Jonathan has worked on include post-production sound design and production audio in full length features and indies, short films, pilots, commercials and PSA's. Not only does Jonathan offer experience in the field, but also the degrees in audio engineering with both his associates and bachelors degrees. With an extensive amount of films under my belt, Jonathan strives to capture audio and mix it to hollywood movie standards, no matter what films gets thrown down his path.
Alexander Taylor: Composer
Alexander Taylor is a music composer/producer for film and television. Over the past six years, Alex has scored dozens of films, web series, television ads, radio jingles, and more, all the while serving as a staff Composer at Wondergrove Studios; an educational cartoon initiative founded by Terry Thoren, co-creator of the Rugrats, the Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, and more. Alex recently finished an internship at Remote Control productions, a film and TV music studio owned by oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. Alex doesn't enjoy writing in the third person.
He can be found and subsequently followed on Instagram: @alexandertaylorcomposer
Heath Saunders: Director of Photography
Heath has been shooting beautiful films, documentaries, and music videos for years. He's awful at sending in bios on time, but amazing at pretty much everything else. He's a dear friend of mine, and I coudn't imagine tackling this project without him behind the camera. -Andrew
Heath Saunders Cinematography Reel from Heath Saunders on Vimeo.
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Update: Chrysalis has gotten the green light with three days left of our campaign! We're going to set a stretch goal of $7,000; let's see if we can reach it!
The Year is 2090.
The United Earth Space Corps has dispatched The Hamilton, a long range personnel transport, on a one-way mission into deep space. Halfway through the mission, when the Hamilton is most alone in the cosmos, Dr. Lesley Parrish realizes that one of her fellow crewmembers has lost his way, and the fate of the mission and the lives of her crew hang in the balance.
Chrysalis is an ambitious and exciting new sci-fi short film following Dr. Lesley Parrish, who is trapped in cryogenic sleep aboard a damaged spacecraft, at the mercy of a crewmate driven insane by the crushing abyss of space. To awaken from her coma, she draws on a memory of her childhood on a broken Earth, where she learnt from a young age that the only one she can rely on is herself. Only then can she stand a chance at retaking her ship.
The good news: we're making this movie. Production is weeks away; we have our cast locked and crew loaded, gorgeous locations are booked, and all systems are go.
The better news: We want you to be a part of this story. The Chrysalis team moved to LA to follow our dreams of making movies with our friends, and we couldn't be more thrilled to take on this challenge. That being said, any little bit of wiggle we can find in our budget helps. We're making this movie no matter what, but this campaign will help us realize our most ambitious goals, and we're honored that you're considering throwing your lot in with us!
Update: We just finished shooting our forest sequence with Tiffany Alvord and couldn't be happier with the material we captured! Now we're going to build our set and transport it to the soundstage to shoot with Emily Somers in July!
Make sure you check out the "Team" tab in the menu above to see bios and past work of our cast and crew!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Meals and Craft Services
Costs $400
A fed crew is a happy crew! Quality, hot meals are just what a crew needs during a long shoot day!
Actor's Rates
Costs $650
Actors work incredibly hard, but all too often they're asked to work for free.
Set Transport
Costs $350
We're building the interior of a space craft off-site, which means we also have to move it! Trucks!
SFX Makeup
Costs $700
We need a SFX makeup artist on set for blood and gore effects. Quote includes equipment/day rates.
VFX
Costs $1,300
Special Effects, the meat of science fiction. We can dramatically up our value with this line.
Composition
Costs $600
We have an incredible composer, and want to make sure that his time and effort are appreciated!
Location Fees
Costs $550
We're shooting on a gorgeous soundstage and on-location in a rich forest north of Los Angeles.
Extra Building Materials
Costs $600
We're building a spaceship! Needless to say, we'll take any extra building materials we can get.
Metal and Electronics
Costs $800
We're building a sci-fi interior, and those need fixin's!
Submission Fees
Costs $400
Without a plan for distribution, the project is not yet complete.
About This Team
Andrew Levy: Writer/Director
A native New Yorker, Andrew graduated from Bard College in 2012 with a degree in playwriting and several rugby injuries. In 2015, he moved to LA to develop an original pilot with producers Kevin Misher and Brad Silberling. Since then, he's been writing and directing short films while trying to find a decent slice of pizza in this town.
Tiffany Alvord: Young Lesley
Tiffany Alvord is an actress and singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles. Over the past decade, she's been developed a fan base of over 3 million youtube subscribers and over 600+ thousand Instagram followers. Tiffany Alvord has worked on original content for brands such as Target, Ralph Lauren, Tide, Disney, NBC, Fox, & Lionsgate, also debuted her first feature film, School Spirits last year, which received an amazing warm response! Tiffany also stars in a web series with AT&T Hello Lab called Guilty Party. She's beyond stoked to be part of Chrysalis and can’t wait to see it come to life!
Emily Somers: Dr. Parrish
Born in San Francisco, Emily trained at the American Conservatory Theater and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, receiving her theater degree from UC Davis before moving to Los Angeles. She is known for her film roles starring opposite Jean Smart in the Horror/Thriller Feature Awaken the Shadowman, as the lead in the cyber thriller Reboot, written and directed by Joe Kawasaki (writer, The Man in the High Castle), appearing opposite Gerard Butler in Playing for Keeps, and as the lead in Soulmate, for which she was nominated for Best Actress in a Short Film at the Madrid International Film Festival. She has appeared in multiple National commercials as both an actor and voiceover artist.
Emily Somers Reel 2017 from Emily Somers on Vimeo.
Madeleine Paul: Producer
Madeleine was born in New York and spent her formative years in the Midwest, balancing her time between athletics and the arts. She returned to New York to attend NYU, where she earned a dual degree in Psychology and Dramatic Literature. In the years following graduation, she gained experience in myriad areas of the film industry, including on-set production, literary development, and below-the-line representation. Now, a three-year resident of Los Angeles, she's chosen to focus her energies on producing and providing production services for both narrative and commercial projects through her company Might and Main Media, which she owns with her amazing partners, Melissas Zeigler and Kyle.
Check out her Instagram for the occasional production photo and way more pictures of hikes: @maddpaul32
10-1 from Melissa Kyle on Vimeo.
Melissa Kyle: 1st AD
Melissa Kyle graduated with honors in film production at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU in 2011, where she focused on producing and assistant directing. For several years she worked on indie and major motion pictures and television in New York in the AD pipeline. She moved to Los Angeles in 2015, and has held roles in creative development at Benaroya Pictures and Warner Bros. After spending time on the studio side of the industry, she fervently went back to production full time and has worked in various content as both a producer and AD, including web series, branded content for Disney, and short films. Along with her producing partners Maddie Paul and Melissa Zeigler, Melissa has a passion for getting exciting new projects off the ground and seeing them through from development to the big or small screen.
She and her cat can be found on Instagram @mskyle11
DAVID from Melissa Kyle on Vimeo.
Sage Griffin: Production Designer
Sage Griffin is an up and coming Production Designer residing in Los Angeles, CA with a strong background in the principles of design, focusing heavily on set building and conceptualizing. She is proficient in the use of numerous design programs including Google Sketch up, and has a strong background in interior design.
Sage has a diverse resume working in both narrative film and commercial. She works frequently with the online media site Funny or Die. Her skills as an Art Director has provided her with the accurate tools to manage a team while using creative problem solving.
Jonathan Scott: Sound Designer
With 15 years experience as an audio engineer, Jonathan has worked on countless music recording projects, worked in radio as a broadcast engineer certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers. Other projects that Jonathan has worked on include post-production sound design and production audio in full length features and indies, short films, pilots, commercials and PSA's. Not only does Jonathan offer experience in the field, but also the degrees in audio engineering with both his associates and bachelors degrees. With an extensive amount of films under my belt, Jonathan strives to capture audio and mix it to hollywood movie standards, no matter what films gets thrown down his path.
Alexander Taylor: Composer
Alexander Taylor is a music composer/producer for film and television. Over the past six years, Alex has scored dozens of films, web series, television ads, radio jingles, and more, all the while serving as a staff Composer at Wondergrove Studios; an educational cartoon initiative founded by Terry Thoren, co-creator of the Rugrats, the Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, and more. Alex recently finished an internship at Remote Control productions, a film and TV music studio owned by oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer. Alex doesn't enjoy writing in the third person.
He can be found and subsequently followed on Instagram: @alexandertaylorcomposer
Heath Saunders: Director of Photography
Heath has been shooting beautiful films, documentaries, and music videos for years. He's awful at sending in bios on time, but amazing at pretty much everything else. He's a dear friend of mine, and I coudn't imagine tackling this project without him behind the camera. -Andrew
Heath Saunders Cinematography Reel from Heath Saunders on Vimeo.