Fortune Favors the Bold - short film
New York City, New York | Film Short
History, Drama
Before the Suffragette, there was the “New Woman”: intelligent, educated, independent, bold. “Fortune Favors the Bold” is a drama about two women with seemingly different worldviews but the same goal: surviving in a man’s world.
Fortune Favors the Bold - short film
New York City, New York | Film Short
History, Drama
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
13 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$2,500
Goal: $5,000 for production
Before the Suffragette, there was the “New Woman”: intelligent, educated, independent, bold. “Fortune Favors the Bold” is a drama about two women with seemingly different worldviews but the same goal: surviving in a man’s world.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Amidst the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1893, the middle-class Joseph family finds themselves newly destitute and forced to open their brownstone to borders. With Mr. Joseph bed-ridden his wife, Luella, finds her comfortable lifestyle upended and her new roles of caretaker, business woman, and housekeeper miserable, hard work. When the mysterious Adelia Foster, an independent “New Woman,” arrives unaccompanied and looking for a room to let, Luella believes her financial prayers are answered. But Adelia insists on taking the only room in the house that Luella refuses to let. As they negotiate and spar for ownership of the room, both women discover the other’s dangerous secret and Luella sees an opportunity to regain some control over her fate. Will she be bold enough to take it?
Since the 2024 election, this story’s relevance continues to grow a little more everyday. Is the US in the midst of another Gilded Age, with stratospheric levels of wealth and historic levels of income inequality, consolidated power, increasing disenfranchisement, and newly introduced legislation that would restrict women’s behavior? Do drastic times call for drastic measures?
Women’s Legal Rights in the 1890s:
- No legal existence separate from their husband’s
- Could not obtain an education without their husband’s permission
- Restricted to the lowest paying jobs
- Forced to give any wages they earned to their husbands
- Strict divorce laws
- Could not vote
- Could not inherit property
“New Women” were the predecessors to the better-known Suffragettes, fighting for their independence and access to education in the late 1800s. Twenty years later, The Suffragettes taught us that by being bold and brave through campaigning, marching, and engaging in illegal actions including property damage, disrupting public events, and hunger strikes while in prison, they could make a change. Their actions forced the law to change in 1919, finally giving women the right to vote, and that same boldness and bravery is what allows Adelia and Luella to survive during the challenging social and financial times of 1894.
Imagined as a verbal sparring match between a bold “New Woman” and a seemingly submissive “True Woman”, ‘Fortune Favors the Bold’ is about two women at odds, locked in a power play. We’ll be incorporating camera movement inspired by cinematography from boxing films to visually tell the story of their fight.
With a background in writing for both the stage and film, Larissa Kruesi’s script (which was a Second Rounder at Austin Film Festival, previously titled 'Audentes Fortuna Iuvat') incorporates several theatrical elements including a single, confined location and a focus on dialogue. Combining our director, Christine McBurney’s, extensive experience as a theatre director and history of producing women-centered stories, with our cinematographer, Tiffany Laufer’s, extensive film experience and focus on telling intimate stories about young women, will allow us to tell this story visually with a theatrical lens.
Currently in pre-production, we’ve assembled a talented female-led team to tell this story about bold women, we’ve found the perfect historical venue, and we have stacks of research to aid our costume designer and art team, but having encountered some unexpected expenses, we need YOUR support! By contributing to our campaign, you’ll be providing:
Costume patterns for Adelia and Luella | The Annunciator Bell
Thank You for taking the time to learn more about Fortune Favors the Bold and in these unpredictable and unsettling times, we hope you:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food
Costs $100
A well-fed crew makes for a happy team! Help keep our crew happy while they're hard at work on shoot days!
Location Fees
Costs $3,000
We plan to film in a beautiful historic Harlem brownstone, built in 1895!
Share this update!
About This Team
Luella - Catherine Curtin
Catherine Curtin is a well-known Independent Film Festival actor. Last year alone the films she starred in have been presented at The Cannes Film Festival with PROOF, The Palm Springs Film Festival with GALAPAGOS, The Provincetown Film Festival with HANGDOG, and the Tribeca Film Festival with BRENDA AND BILLY. Most recently she appeared in the 2024 hit film SATURDAY NIGHT directed by Jason Reitman. Films currently streaming: 18 1/2 (IFC Center); WEREWOLVES WITHIN (Tribeca Film Fest); RED PILL (PAFF); WORTH (Sundance); BAD EDUCATION (TIFF); BLUSH (Sundance); WHAT BREAKS THE ICE (Showtime); BEAUTYMARK (Woodstock); THE HALF OF IT (Tribeca); THE LIGHT OF THE MOON (Showtime); TV: recurring leads on STRANGER THINGS, PARTNER TRACK, HOMELAND, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, INSECURE. More TV: AWKWAFINA, TOMMY, THE LOUDEST VOICE, BLACKLIST, MINDHUNTER, BLUE BLOODS; BULL; L&O; and SURVEILLANCE. Winner: SAG Award for Best Ensemble 2015 and 2016, OITNB and nominated SAG Award Best Ensemble 2018 STRANGER THINGS. More film: TRIPLE THREAT; FIRST ONE IN; THE ARTIST'S WIFE; INSIDE THE RAIN; GOLDSTAR; CRAZY FAMOUS; BREAKING BROOKLYN; CATFIGHT; EXTREMELY LOUD, INCREDIBLY CLOSE; THE WOLF OF WALL STREET; THE BOURNE LEGACY, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.
Director/Producer - Christine McBurney
Christine is an award-winning theatre director and former artistic director and working actor. She is an alum of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, DirectorsLab North, and Cleveland Play House Directors Gym. She was a 2024 finalist for the inaugural Tina Packer Women of Will Directing Fellowship. She has continued her acting training with Shakespeare & Company, Dream Lab Studio, James Ciccone. and Anthony Grasso. She has taught at The Film and Media Arts School at Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre & Dance. She's an acting coach in private practice. She has completed one screenplay, is writing a second and is developing a solo show about discovering her Italian heritage. She splits her time between Cleveland and New York City. SAG-AFTRA, AEA, SDC.
Director of Photography - Tiffany Laufer
Tiffany Laufer trained at The American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles and has directed actors such as FRED ARMISEN (Saturday Night Live); DAVE HILL (the Dave Hill Explosion) and JACK HOURIGAN (Food Network Co-host). Her work as unit stills photographer saw her working on THE BRONZE with Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The First Avenger), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley); THE TANK with Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean), JENNY’S WEDDING featuring Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy), Tom Wilkenson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), Grace Gummer (the Newsroom) to name a few. Presently, Tiffany is the Creative Lead in Photography & Video at The Jackson Laboratory. “Jax” was founded in 1929 as an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit biomedical research institution that seeks to decipher the biological and genomic causes of human disease.
Writer/Producer/Adelia - Larissa Kruesi
A New York-based actor and writer, Larissa has a background in theater but started learning about film after moving to New York. ‘Fortune Favors the Bold' (fka Audentes Fortuna Iuvat) was a Second Rounder for the 2021 Austin Film Festival. She has worked on short films that have screened at Chelsea Film Festival, Queens World Film Festival, and The Chain NYC Film Festival. Education: BA in Theater and English from the College of William and Mary. www.larissakruesi.com
Property Designer - Monica Plunkett
Monica Plunkett, a property designer for both film and theater, has worked on many feature films including: "My Friend Dahmer, " "Judas and the Black Messiah," "I See You," and "The Marksman." Her parents were ardent antique collectors and her father was a master furniture craftsman, giving her a head start on knowledge of period props. Monica is also well traveled internationally and familiar with items unique to specific cultures. She believes that a prop must take into consideration the context of a character, and their time, and place. An innovative builder, she is adept at creating props from unusual objects and offers creative solutions for unique prop dilemmas. She is the owner of the Cleveland Prop Shop and resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Costume Designer - Debby Kruesi
Gaffer - Ranya Aloui
Key Grip - Olivia Tyler
Production Sound - Samantha Cohen
Hair & Make Up Artist - Sarah Plata
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Amidst the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1893, the middle-class Joseph family finds themselves newly destitute and forced to open their brownstone to borders. With Mr. Joseph bed-ridden his wife, Luella, finds her comfortable lifestyle upended and her new roles of caretaker, business woman, and housekeeper miserable, hard work. When the mysterious Adelia Foster, an independent “New Woman,” arrives unaccompanied and looking for a room to let, Luella believes her financial prayers are answered. But Adelia insists on taking the only room in the house that Luella refuses to let. As they negotiate and spar for ownership of the room, both women discover the other’s dangerous secret and Luella sees an opportunity to regain some control over her fate. Will she be bold enough to take it?
Since the 2024 election, this story’s relevance continues to grow a little more everyday. Is the US in the midst of another Gilded Age, with stratospheric levels of wealth and historic levels of income inequality, consolidated power, increasing disenfranchisement, and newly introduced legislation that would restrict women’s behavior? Do drastic times call for drastic measures?
Women’s Legal Rights in the 1890s:
- No legal existence separate from their husband’s
- Could not obtain an education without their husband’s permission
- Restricted to the lowest paying jobs
- Forced to give any wages they earned to their husbands
- Strict divorce laws
- Could not vote
- Could not inherit property
“New Women” were the predecessors to the better-known Suffragettes, fighting for their independence and access to education in the late 1800s. Twenty years later, The Suffragettes taught us that by being bold and brave through campaigning, marching, and engaging in illegal actions including property damage, disrupting public events, and hunger strikes while in prison, they could make a change. Their actions forced the law to change in 1919, finally giving women the right to vote, and that same boldness and bravery is what allows Adelia and Luella to survive during the challenging social and financial times of 1894.
Imagined as a verbal sparring match between a bold “New Woman” and a seemingly submissive “True Woman”, ‘Fortune Favors the Bold’ is about two women at odds, locked in a power play. We’ll be incorporating camera movement inspired by cinematography from boxing films to visually tell the story of their fight.
With a background in writing for both the stage and film, Larissa Kruesi’s script (which was a Second Rounder at Austin Film Festival, previously titled 'Audentes Fortuna Iuvat') incorporates several theatrical elements including a single, confined location and a focus on dialogue. Combining our director, Christine McBurney’s, extensive experience as a theatre director and history of producing women-centered stories, with our cinematographer, Tiffany Laufer’s, extensive film experience and focus on telling intimate stories about young women, will allow us to tell this story visually with a theatrical lens.
Currently in pre-production, we’ve assembled a talented female-led team to tell this story about bold women, we’ve found the perfect historical venue, and we have stacks of research to aid our costume designer and art team, but having encountered some unexpected expenses, we need YOUR support! By contributing to our campaign, you’ll be providing:
Costume patterns for Adelia and Luella | The Annunciator Bell
Thank You for taking the time to learn more about Fortune Favors the Bold and in these unpredictable and unsettling times, we hope you:
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food
Costs $100
A well-fed crew makes for a happy team! Help keep our crew happy while they're hard at work on shoot days!
Location Fees
Costs $3,000
We plan to film in a beautiful historic Harlem brownstone, built in 1895!
Share this update!
About This Team
Luella - Catherine Curtin
Catherine Curtin is a well-known Independent Film Festival actor. Last year alone the films she starred in have been presented at The Cannes Film Festival with PROOF, The Palm Springs Film Festival with GALAPAGOS, The Provincetown Film Festival with HANGDOG, and the Tribeca Film Festival with BRENDA AND BILLY. Most recently she appeared in the 2024 hit film SATURDAY NIGHT directed by Jason Reitman. Films currently streaming: 18 1/2 (IFC Center); WEREWOLVES WITHIN (Tribeca Film Fest); RED PILL (PAFF); WORTH (Sundance); BAD EDUCATION (TIFF); BLUSH (Sundance); WHAT BREAKS THE ICE (Showtime); BEAUTYMARK (Woodstock); THE HALF OF IT (Tribeca); THE LIGHT OF THE MOON (Showtime); TV: recurring leads on STRANGER THINGS, PARTNER TRACK, HOMELAND, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, INSECURE. More TV: AWKWAFINA, TOMMY, THE LOUDEST VOICE, BLACKLIST, MINDHUNTER, BLUE BLOODS; BULL; L&O; and SURVEILLANCE. Winner: SAG Award for Best Ensemble 2015 and 2016, OITNB and nominated SAG Award Best Ensemble 2018 STRANGER THINGS. More film: TRIPLE THREAT; FIRST ONE IN; THE ARTIST'S WIFE; INSIDE THE RAIN; GOLDSTAR; CRAZY FAMOUS; BREAKING BROOKLYN; CATFIGHT; EXTREMELY LOUD, INCREDIBLY CLOSE; THE WOLF OF WALL STREET; THE BOURNE LEGACY, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD.
Director/Producer - Christine McBurney
Christine is an award-winning theatre director and former artistic director and working actor. She is an alum of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, DirectorsLab North, and Cleveland Play House Directors Gym. She was a 2024 finalist for the inaugural Tina Packer Women of Will Directing Fellowship. She has continued her acting training with Shakespeare & Company, Dream Lab Studio, James Ciccone. and Anthony Grasso. She has taught at The Film and Media Arts School at Cleveland State University and Baldwin Wallace University Department of Theatre & Dance. She's an acting coach in private practice. She has completed one screenplay, is writing a second and is developing a solo show about discovering her Italian heritage. She splits her time between Cleveland and New York City. SAG-AFTRA, AEA, SDC.
Director of Photography - Tiffany Laufer
Tiffany Laufer trained at The American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles and has directed actors such as FRED ARMISEN (Saturday Night Live); DAVE HILL (the Dave Hill Explosion) and JACK HOURIGAN (Food Network Co-host). Her work as unit stills photographer saw her working on THE BRONZE with Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The First Avenger), Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley); THE TANK with Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean), JENNY’S WEDDING featuring Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy), Tom Wilkenson (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), Grace Gummer (the Newsroom) to name a few. Presently, Tiffany is the Creative Lead in Photography & Video at The Jackson Laboratory. “Jax” was founded in 1929 as an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit biomedical research institution that seeks to decipher the biological and genomic causes of human disease.
Writer/Producer/Adelia - Larissa Kruesi
A New York-based actor and writer, Larissa has a background in theater but started learning about film after moving to New York. ‘Fortune Favors the Bold' (fka Audentes Fortuna Iuvat) was a Second Rounder for the 2021 Austin Film Festival. She has worked on short films that have screened at Chelsea Film Festival, Queens World Film Festival, and The Chain NYC Film Festival. Education: BA in Theater and English from the College of William and Mary. www.larissakruesi.com
Property Designer - Monica Plunkett
Monica Plunkett, a property designer for both film and theater, has worked on many feature films including: "My Friend Dahmer, " "Judas and the Black Messiah," "I See You," and "The Marksman." Her parents were ardent antique collectors and her father was a master furniture craftsman, giving her a head start on knowledge of period props. Monica is also well traveled internationally and familiar with items unique to specific cultures. She believes that a prop must take into consideration the context of a character, and their time, and place. An innovative builder, she is adept at creating props from unusual objects and offers creative solutions for unique prop dilemmas. She is the owner of the Cleveland Prop Shop and resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Costume Designer - Debby Kruesi
Gaffer - Ranya Aloui
Key Grip - Olivia Tyler
Production Sound - Samantha Cohen
Hair & Make Up Artist - Sarah Plata