Dallas & Allegra
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Film Short
Romance, Crime
She's got a plane ticket to Oxford. He's got a safe full of cash and one last score. In a steel town built on dead dreams, they fall for each other anyway, and discover the fastest way out of hell is straight through it, together.
11 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$1,055
Goal: $20,950 for pre-production
She's got a plane ticket to Oxford. He's got a safe full of cash and one last score. In a steel town built on dead dreams, they fall for each other anyway, and discover the fastest way out of hell is straight through it, together.
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story

MISSION STATEMENT
I'm a 23-year industry veteran, UPM, 1st AD, editor, writer, and now director, living in a Rust Belt steel town where my wife left teaching for nursing after watching addiction and unnecessary tragedy take her students one at a time. Dallas & Allegra is my love letter to Shakespeare and my way of turning this place's pain into purpose. I believe we all have a story to tell, and our story matters because we matter, even the voiceless, forgotten ones... And I'm committed to discovering, listening, and helping to tell those stories.

Photo Credit: Out of the Furnace

In Bellvue Falls, everyone's addicted to something.
Two star-crossed young lovers, Dallas & Allegra, just picked the most dangerous one...
each other.

Photo Credit: Out of the Furnace
Dallas & Allegra follows a fallen quarterback turned drug dealer and the wealthy, restless girl who falls for him, in a Rust Belt Pennsylvania town where the steel mills closed decades ago and never got replaced by anything but grief. It's a modern Romeo and Juliet, and like Shakespeare's, it ends the only way stories like this actually end where I live.
What do you do when the town you love is dying,
and nobody outside it seems to notice?
We're making a short film that asks the question I ask myself every day I live here:
Can love actually survive a place built to destroy it?

Six years ago, I moved from Los Angeles to a small town in Western Pennsylvania because my wife was teaching music there. I thought I understood what "Rust Belt rot" meant before I lived inside it. I didn't. I watched her students and their family members disappear, one at a time — some to addiction, some to violence, some just to the slow erosion of believing anything better was coming. This town reeks of death. Drugs. Arson. People who had every reason to hope and nowhere left to put it.
I never planned to end up behind a camera. I built my life around stories. Why? Because I believe human connection is the entire point of telling them, that we all have a voice... that we all matter. And because we matter, our story matters.
Directing found me later than I expected, and it changed the way I write. Now I can't build a scene without picturing exactly where the camera has to stand to make an audience feel what I felt writing it. I'm drawn to the same handful of things every time: the human experience pushed to its edges, the past, and the darkest truths our society doesn't like to look at directly. Not because I want to wallow in them, but because I believe stories that sit honestly inside real pain are the ones that can actually move someone toward something greater than themselves.


Take a moment to look at the facts. Between 2010 and 2019, Pennsylvania's opioid death rate more than quadrupled. By 2021, the state was losing residents to overdose at more than twice the national average — almost 15 people a day. And the counties getting hit hardest aren't the cities. They're places like this one, two zip codes and a few miles from places where none of this touches anyone at all.
I didn't write this film to explain that statistic.
I wrote it because I live next to the people inside it.
Dallas & Allegra isn't a film about the opioid crisis. It's a film about what it costs two people to love each other honestly inside one. Dallas deals because it's the only math that pays off the mountain of medical bills left after his mom's untimely death. Allegra is supposed to be untouchable, Oxford-bound and born on the right side of the tracks, she and falls for him anyway, hard enough to burn down everything she was handed.
This isn't a redemption story. It's a tragedy, on purpose...
Because pretending love always wins in a place like this would be its own kind of lie, and I write truth. Inspire love. That's not a slogan for me, it's tattooed on my arm.

Photo Credit: Romeo & Juliet
It must be noted that there's a kindness in the people here that lives underneath all the grief this place carries, the anger and the trauma passed down before anyone had a say in it, and I don't think it gets talked about nearly enough. Neighbors who show up for each other when nobody else will. People who've buried more than their share and still bring a casserole to the next funeral. That kindness doesn't erase what this town has lost. But it's real, and it deserves to be in this film too, not just the wreckage. Dallas and Allegra both come from that same soil, one person's worth of tenderness surviving inside a place that keeps trying to kill it.
If you've spent any time in a town like this, this film will feel less like fiction and more like a mirror.
And if you haven't, I hope it makes you look a little closer at the towns you drive past on the way to somewhere else.

Photo Credit: The Place Beyond the Pines
Tonally, think The Place Beyond the Pines meets Blue Valentine with the same aching, doomed intimacy, the same sense that a life gets decided before anyone's old enough to choose it, then add a touch of Sharp Objects' small-town rot underneath it all.

...and what happens when your support gets us there
We've been funding this ourselves so far. Offers are out to the talent we want for these roles, and our shoot dates are locked. A fellow filmmaker from FilmStack, someone I trust, pointed me toward Seed&Spark to help close the gap and get us to the finish line.
I'm not going to pretend that gap doesn't matter to me personally. I'm raising six kids, two already in college and a third about to start, running a household full-time on top of everything this film demands. The expenses add up fast. But we're doing this ourselves anyway, because this story matters too much to wait for someone else's permission to tell it. I've spent my career getting close, again and again. This is the first time the opportunity in front of me is real, and I'm not letting it pass by.
Some of what makes this possible isn't money at all. My DP, Dan Lennox, and our full equipment package are coming on board for free, not as a favor owed to me, but because I've spent years supporting other people's projects and dreams the same way. He's here now to help make mine possible. That's not something a budget line can capture, but it's real, and it matters just as much as every dollar this campaign raises.

Photo Credit: Birdman


Our production goal is $16,250. This covers everything it takes to actually get Dallas & Allegra on its feet: two leads, a crew, locations, and the craft that makes a shoot day run. My wife and I are taking a moonshot and getting this all going ourselves right now, but we'd be eternally grateful for your help bringing this across the finish line.
Dallas Dixon (40%)
The role at the center of the whole story. We're in the process of making an offer to major talent for this part, covering day rate, travel, and per diem.
Juliette Cunningham (21.5%)
Allegra's mother, and one of the most demanding roles in the script. We're preparing to offer this role to major talent as well.
Locations (15.4%)
The diner, the winery, the Cunningham home. This story only works shot in places that actually feel like this world, not a stand-in for it.
Hair and Make-up (7.7%)
Getting the cast camera-ready, individualized to each character.
Crew (9.2%)
Grips and PAs. We've already secured sound, lighting, and our DP at no cost, as a personal favor to the director.
Craft Services (6.2%)
Food for cast and crew across the shoot.
While this covers what it takes to shoot the film, we're hoping to do more. If we exceed our goal, here's what opens up:
$16,250 — GET IT MADE
Covers principal cast, crew, locations, and craft services listed above. This is the floor. Below this number, the film doesn't happen.
$20,000 — FINISH IT RIGHT
Our editor and DP are already donating their time to cut and color this film, so this tier goes straight into sound design and a proper mix, the last piece needed to finish it at the level this story deserves.
$25,000+ — GET IT SEEN
Funds festival submission fees, a DCP for screenings, and key art so Dallas & Allegra actually finds the audience it's for.
This $16,250 minimum will get two people's tragedy in front of a camera. Anything beyond that turns that footage into a finished film people can actually watch.

Your support funds a 31-page short that will let us:
Shoot on location in the actual Rust Belt towns this story comes from, not a studio backlot standing in for one
Pay our cast and crew fairly for the honesty this material demands from them
Get this film in front of festival audiences and, more importantly, into the communities it's actually about

FOLLOW DALLAS & ALLEGRA AND SHARE!
Making a film like Dallas & Allegra is a labor of love, requiring both TIME, MONEY & HEART. This budget isn't just about making a single short film; it's about proving that the forgotten corners of the Rust Belt deserve stories told with the same care as anywhere else.
By contributing to this campaign, you're not just helping us create Dallas & Allegra. You're investing in a story that gives a voice back to the ones this town too often lets disappear quietly. Every dollar you contribute is a step toward making this real and creating something you can be PROUD TO BE A PART OF.
With your support, we can make a film that looks VISUALLY STUNNING, feels HONEST, and PROVES LOVE CAN OUTLAST ANYTHING TRYING TO DESTROY IT!
SPREAD THE WORD
Help us get the word out! Copy and share:
"A Rust Belt Romeo and Juliet about a dealer and the girl who was never supposed to want him. Dallas & Allegra is a short film about what love costs in a town built to destroy it. Support it on @dallasandallegra."
OR
"A Rust Belt Romeo and Juliet about a dealer and the girl who was never supposed to want him. Dallas & Allegra is a short film about what love costs in a town built to destroy it. Support it here: https://bit.ly/3VEFE4N"
Thank you for helping us make Dallas & Allegra a reality!
Share our campaign page with your friends and family!
Follow us on INSTAGRAM: Click Here - @dallasandallegra
We're getting an official site up soon. You can also be a part of this journey by following along on Instagram and Facebook.
Sponsor the film! We're seeking partnerships with brands, companies, and individuals, both here in Western Pennsylvania and beyond, who care about this story and what it means to tell it.
Thank you for your support,
J. Penberth Rabold and the Dallas & Allegra team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Dallas Dixon
Costs $6,500
We are seeking an established lead male. He will need $1000/day and travel/perdiem. We currently have an offer out to Ty Simpkins.
Juliet Cunningham
Costs $3,600
We have offered the role of Juliette to Chyler Leigh and are awaiting her acceptance of the offer.
Locations
Costs $2,500
This will cover the cost of renting location space, such as for the diner scene, winery, and Cunningham home.
Crew
Costs $1,500
This line item will include grips and PAs. We have gotten the sound, lighting, and DP for no cost, as a personal favor to the director.
Hair and Make-up
Costs $1,250
This budget item will cover preparing the cast to be on camera with individualized hair and make-up.
Cast Costs
Costs $3,500
Cast costs outside of offers that includes travel, transportation, and lodging for any out of town actors.
About This Team


J. Penberth Rabold
Writer & Director
J. Penberth Rabold is a storyteller now based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before relocating back to his home state, he spent over 15 years working as a Director, First Assistant Director, and Unit Production Manager on music videos, short films, and features in the greater Los Angeles area. J. Penberth transitioned to focus on his first passion of writing and directing. He developed his first TV series, Ghosts Of War, with Stephen Emery and Solution Entertainment before writing and directing his award-winning short film, Connected. Ghosts Of War received second-rounder recognition in the Austin Film Festival. Now, J. Penberth is developing several feature films. Additionally, he's directed five music videos for Grammy-credited recording artist Jacob Luttrell. J. Penberth finds himself drawn to stories about the human experience where characters find themselves in situations that require them to discover their own self-empowerment...stories that create a platform for thought and a catalyst for conversation around the emotions and truths that drive us to survive and seek out the love in life.

Shannon Geary
Producer
Shannon Geary is a producer and set photographer based in the Pittsburgh, PA area. She fell in love with producing after spending 21 years as a music educator and theater director. Her time as a teacher in an inner-city school district gave her extensive experience with planning and problem solving in real time. These skills have proven invaluable in film production. Additionally, her personal ties to students and their stories were a inspiration for the short film, Dallas and Allegra and its companion feature film script, Cake(town).

Daniel J. Lennox
Director of Photography
A New Jersey-born filmmaker whose directorial debut, Jackson's Run, premiered to acclaim at the 2012 CMM Film Festival in New York City, winning Best Feature and earning nine additional nominations including Best Director. Since then, Lennox has built a portfolio of award-winning short films known for their emotional intensity and unflinching look at the harder edges of the human experience. He and J. Penberth first worked together in 2012, when Penberth served as UPM on Jackson's Run. More than a decade later, Lennox is bringing his camera and talent to this project as J. and Daniel continue their creative collaborations to this day.

Jacob Luttrell
"Swyft" / Music Supervisor & Original Music by
Grammy-credited, multi-platinum songwriter Jacob Luttrell performs as JACOBISDEAD and brings three hats to Dallas & Allegra: he plays Swyft, writes and records original music and a song for the film, and serves as music supervisor. A contributing writer and musician on two Grammy-winning albums, Ziggy Marley's Fly Rasta and Ziggy Marley, he co-wrote Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" featuring Sia, Charlie Puth's "Marvin Gaye" featuring Meghan Trainor, and Enrique Iglesias's "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)," and has written for Justin Bieber, Zedd, Kehlani, and David Guetta. Based in Los Angeles, he released his 2025 EP through Berly World. He and J. Penberth have collaborated for years, including music videos J. Penberth has directed for him.
Links:
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story

MISSION STATEMENT
I'm a 23-year industry veteran, UPM, 1st AD, editor, writer, and now director, living in a Rust Belt steel town where my wife left teaching for nursing after watching addiction and unnecessary tragedy take her students one at a time. Dallas & Allegra is my love letter to Shakespeare and my way of turning this place's pain into purpose. I believe we all have a story to tell, and our story matters because we matter, even the voiceless, forgotten ones... And I'm committed to discovering, listening, and helping to tell those stories.

Photo Credit: Out of the Furnace

In Bellvue Falls, everyone's addicted to something.
Two star-crossed young lovers, Dallas & Allegra, just picked the most dangerous one...
each other.

Photo Credit: Out of the Furnace
Dallas & Allegra follows a fallen quarterback turned drug dealer and the wealthy, restless girl who falls for him, in a Rust Belt Pennsylvania town where the steel mills closed decades ago and never got replaced by anything but grief. It's a modern Romeo and Juliet, and like Shakespeare's, it ends the only way stories like this actually end where I live.
What do you do when the town you love is dying,
and nobody outside it seems to notice?
We're making a short film that asks the question I ask myself every day I live here:
Can love actually survive a place built to destroy it?

Six years ago, I moved from Los Angeles to a small town in Western Pennsylvania because my wife was teaching music there. I thought I understood what "Rust Belt rot" meant before I lived inside it. I didn't. I watched her students and their family members disappear, one at a time — some to addiction, some to violence, some just to the slow erosion of believing anything better was coming. This town reeks of death. Drugs. Arson. People who had every reason to hope and nowhere left to put it.
I never planned to end up behind a camera. I built my life around stories. Why? Because I believe human connection is the entire point of telling them, that we all have a voice... that we all matter. And because we matter, our story matters.
Directing found me later than I expected, and it changed the way I write. Now I can't build a scene without picturing exactly where the camera has to stand to make an audience feel what I felt writing it. I'm drawn to the same handful of things every time: the human experience pushed to its edges, the past, and the darkest truths our society doesn't like to look at directly. Not because I want to wallow in them, but because I believe stories that sit honestly inside real pain are the ones that can actually move someone toward something greater than themselves.


Take a moment to look at the facts. Between 2010 and 2019, Pennsylvania's opioid death rate more than quadrupled. By 2021, the state was losing residents to overdose at more than twice the national average — almost 15 people a day. And the counties getting hit hardest aren't the cities. They're places like this one, two zip codes and a few miles from places where none of this touches anyone at all.
I didn't write this film to explain that statistic.
I wrote it because I live next to the people inside it.
Dallas & Allegra isn't a film about the opioid crisis. It's a film about what it costs two people to love each other honestly inside one. Dallas deals because it's the only math that pays off the mountain of medical bills left after his mom's untimely death. Allegra is supposed to be untouchable, Oxford-bound and born on the right side of the tracks, she and falls for him anyway, hard enough to burn down everything she was handed.
This isn't a redemption story. It's a tragedy, on purpose...
Because pretending love always wins in a place like this would be its own kind of lie, and I write truth. Inspire love. That's not a slogan for me, it's tattooed on my arm.

Photo Credit: Romeo & Juliet
It must be noted that there's a kindness in the people here that lives underneath all the grief this place carries, the anger and the trauma passed down before anyone had a say in it, and I don't think it gets talked about nearly enough. Neighbors who show up for each other when nobody else will. People who've buried more than their share and still bring a casserole to the next funeral. That kindness doesn't erase what this town has lost. But it's real, and it deserves to be in this film too, not just the wreckage. Dallas and Allegra both come from that same soil, one person's worth of tenderness surviving inside a place that keeps trying to kill it.
If you've spent any time in a town like this, this film will feel less like fiction and more like a mirror.
And if you haven't, I hope it makes you look a little closer at the towns you drive past on the way to somewhere else.

Photo Credit: The Place Beyond the Pines
Tonally, think The Place Beyond the Pines meets Blue Valentine with the same aching, doomed intimacy, the same sense that a life gets decided before anyone's old enough to choose it, then add a touch of Sharp Objects' small-town rot underneath it all.

...and what happens when your support gets us there
We've been funding this ourselves so far. Offers are out to the talent we want for these roles, and our shoot dates are locked. A fellow filmmaker from FilmStack, someone I trust, pointed me toward Seed&Spark to help close the gap and get us to the finish line.
I'm not going to pretend that gap doesn't matter to me personally. I'm raising six kids, two already in college and a third about to start, running a household full-time on top of everything this film demands. The expenses add up fast. But we're doing this ourselves anyway, because this story matters too much to wait for someone else's permission to tell it. I've spent my career getting close, again and again. This is the first time the opportunity in front of me is real, and I'm not letting it pass by.
Some of what makes this possible isn't money at all. My DP, Dan Lennox, and our full equipment package are coming on board for free, not as a favor owed to me, but because I've spent years supporting other people's projects and dreams the same way. He's here now to help make mine possible. That's not something a budget line can capture, but it's real, and it matters just as much as every dollar this campaign raises.

Photo Credit: Birdman


Our production goal is $16,250. This covers everything it takes to actually get Dallas & Allegra on its feet: two leads, a crew, locations, and the craft that makes a shoot day run. My wife and I are taking a moonshot and getting this all going ourselves right now, but we'd be eternally grateful for your help bringing this across the finish line.
Dallas Dixon (40%)
The role at the center of the whole story. We're in the process of making an offer to major talent for this part, covering day rate, travel, and per diem.
Juliette Cunningham (21.5%)
Allegra's mother, and one of the most demanding roles in the script. We're preparing to offer this role to major talent as well.
Locations (15.4%)
The diner, the winery, the Cunningham home. This story only works shot in places that actually feel like this world, not a stand-in for it.
Hair and Make-up (7.7%)
Getting the cast camera-ready, individualized to each character.
Crew (9.2%)
Grips and PAs. We've already secured sound, lighting, and our DP at no cost, as a personal favor to the director.
Craft Services (6.2%)
Food for cast and crew across the shoot.
While this covers what it takes to shoot the film, we're hoping to do more. If we exceed our goal, here's what opens up:
$16,250 — GET IT MADE
Covers principal cast, crew, locations, and craft services listed above. This is the floor. Below this number, the film doesn't happen.
$20,000 — FINISH IT RIGHT
Our editor and DP are already donating their time to cut and color this film, so this tier goes straight into sound design and a proper mix, the last piece needed to finish it at the level this story deserves.
$25,000+ — GET IT SEEN
Funds festival submission fees, a DCP for screenings, and key art so Dallas & Allegra actually finds the audience it's for.
This $16,250 minimum will get two people's tragedy in front of a camera. Anything beyond that turns that footage into a finished film people can actually watch.

Your support funds a 31-page short that will let us:
Shoot on location in the actual Rust Belt towns this story comes from, not a studio backlot standing in for one
Pay our cast and crew fairly for the honesty this material demands from them
Get this film in front of festival audiences and, more importantly, into the communities it's actually about

FOLLOW DALLAS & ALLEGRA AND SHARE!
Making a film like Dallas & Allegra is a labor of love, requiring both TIME, MONEY & HEART. This budget isn't just about making a single short film; it's about proving that the forgotten corners of the Rust Belt deserve stories told with the same care as anywhere else.
By contributing to this campaign, you're not just helping us create Dallas & Allegra. You're investing in a story that gives a voice back to the ones this town too often lets disappear quietly. Every dollar you contribute is a step toward making this real and creating something you can be PROUD TO BE A PART OF.
With your support, we can make a film that looks VISUALLY STUNNING, feels HONEST, and PROVES LOVE CAN OUTLAST ANYTHING TRYING TO DESTROY IT!
SPREAD THE WORD
Help us get the word out! Copy and share:
"A Rust Belt Romeo and Juliet about a dealer and the girl who was never supposed to want him. Dallas & Allegra is a short film about what love costs in a town built to destroy it. Support it on @dallasandallegra."
OR
"A Rust Belt Romeo and Juliet about a dealer and the girl who was never supposed to want him. Dallas & Allegra is a short film about what love costs in a town built to destroy it. Support it here: https://bit.ly/3VEFE4N"
Thank you for helping us make Dallas & Allegra a reality!
Share our campaign page with your friends and family!
Follow us on INSTAGRAM: Click Here - @dallasandallegra
We're getting an official site up soon. You can also be a part of this journey by following along on Instagram and Facebook.
Sponsor the film! We're seeking partnerships with brands, companies, and individuals, both here in Western Pennsylvania and beyond, who care about this story and what it means to tell it.
Thank you for your support,
J. Penberth Rabold and the Dallas & Allegra team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Dallas Dixon
Costs $6,500
We are seeking an established lead male. He will need $1000/day and travel/perdiem. We currently have an offer out to Ty Simpkins.
Juliet Cunningham
Costs $3,600
We have offered the role of Juliette to Chyler Leigh and are awaiting her acceptance of the offer.
Locations
Costs $2,500
This will cover the cost of renting location space, such as for the diner scene, winery, and Cunningham home.
Crew
Costs $1,500
This line item will include grips and PAs. We have gotten the sound, lighting, and DP for no cost, as a personal favor to the director.
Hair and Make-up
Costs $1,250
This budget item will cover preparing the cast to be on camera with individualized hair and make-up.
Cast Costs
Costs $3,500
Cast costs outside of offers that includes travel, transportation, and lodging for any out of town actors.
About This Team


J. Penberth Rabold
Writer & Director
J. Penberth Rabold is a storyteller now based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before relocating back to his home state, he spent over 15 years working as a Director, First Assistant Director, and Unit Production Manager on music videos, short films, and features in the greater Los Angeles area. J. Penberth transitioned to focus on his first passion of writing and directing. He developed his first TV series, Ghosts Of War, with Stephen Emery and Solution Entertainment before writing and directing his award-winning short film, Connected. Ghosts Of War received second-rounder recognition in the Austin Film Festival. Now, J. Penberth is developing several feature films. Additionally, he's directed five music videos for Grammy-credited recording artist Jacob Luttrell. J. Penberth finds himself drawn to stories about the human experience where characters find themselves in situations that require them to discover their own self-empowerment...stories that create a platform for thought and a catalyst for conversation around the emotions and truths that drive us to survive and seek out the love in life.

Shannon Geary
Producer
Shannon Geary is a producer and set photographer based in the Pittsburgh, PA area. She fell in love with producing after spending 21 years as a music educator and theater director. Her time as a teacher in an inner-city school district gave her extensive experience with planning and problem solving in real time. These skills have proven invaluable in film production. Additionally, her personal ties to students and their stories were a inspiration for the short film, Dallas and Allegra and its companion feature film script, Cake(town).

Daniel J. Lennox
Director of Photography
A New Jersey-born filmmaker whose directorial debut, Jackson's Run, premiered to acclaim at the 2012 CMM Film Festival in New York City, winning Best Feature and earning nine additional nominations including Best Director. Since then, Lennox has built a portfolio of award-winning short films known for their emotional intensity and unflinching look at the harder edges of the human experience. He and J. Penberth first worked together in 2012, when Penberth served as UPM on Jackson's Run. More than a decade later, Lennox is bringing his camera and talent to this project as J. and Daniel continue their creative collaborations to this day.

Jacob Luttrell
"Swyft" / Music Supervisor & Original Music by
Grammy-credited, multi-platinum songwriter Jacob Luttrell performs as JACOBISDEAD and brings three hats to Dallas & Allegra: he plays Swyft, writes and records original music and a song for the film, and serves as music supervisor. A contributing writer and musician on two Grammy-winning albums, Ziggy Marley's Fly Rasta and Ziggy Marley, he co-wrote Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" featuring Sia, Charlie Puth's "Marvin Gaye" featuring Meghan Trainor, and Enrique Iglesias's "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)," and has written for Justin Bieber, Zedd, Kehlani, and David Guetta. Based in Los Angeles, he released his 2025 EP through Berly World. He and J. Penberth have collaborated for years, including music videos J. Penberth has directed for him.
Links: