HEAT
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Thriller, Drama
While inside a sauna, two women’s emotional wounds rise with the temperature. What begins as a moment of connection devolves into a rupture neither saw coming. One storms out, the other is left trapped. HEAT explores the fragile nature of trust and the quiet violence of being misunderstood.
HEAT
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Thriller, Drama
1 Campaigns | California, United States
108 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$9,863
Goal: $10,000 for production
While inside a sauna, two women’s emotional wounds rise with the temperature. What begins as a moment of connection devolves into a rupture neither saw coming. One storms out, the other is left trapped. HEAT explores the fragile nature of trust and the quiet violence of being misunderstood.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HEAT explores the fragile nature of trust and the performance of intimacy: the moments we misread, the stories we tell ourselves to stay safe, and the cost of being seen too clearly. When Eleanor storms out of the sauna, Charlotte is left trapped, unsure if it was an accident, or something more deliberate. This is a story about closeness, ambiguity, and the quiet violence of being misunderstood.
HEAT considers how to appropriately support each other in moments of vulnerability. Our intended audience is viewers who gravitate toward character-driven, emotionally intelligent storytelling, films like The Lost Daughter, Persona, Shiva Baby, and Saint Maud. We’re speaking to audiences that appreciate psychological tension, queer narratives, and complex female leads. This is a piece for festival goers who appreciate a blend of genre aesthetics with emotional realism.
The team behind HEAT consists of mainly recent AFI graduates who share a passion for emotionally intelligent storytelling. With a predominantly women department led team, we are engaging the power and importance of women’s voices telling stories about women. We are also excited to have built a team with robust backgrounds in not only filmmaking itself, but also in visual arts, architecture, music, business affairs, and law. We created a team not only of racial and gender diversity, but also diversity of interests, which further enriches the art we are able to create together.
With the entire piece taking place within a sauna, our team is committed to crafting a film that is not only emotionally resonant, but visually unforgettable. We are seeking funds to be able to execute the immersive design elements of the sauna set critical to the emotional arc of the film, namely, a rotating set, a wooden build, and lighting shifts that visualize Charlotte’s psychological descent. The set design foresees wooden benches, built-in lights, and expanding and contrasting walls.
With half of the cost already raised, we need your help in raising the remaining $10k that will allow us to bring HEAT to life. In addition to the sauna build, we will be using the raised funds for pre-production and production costs such as location fees, props, costume, set decoration, insurance, equipment, labor, catering, and craft services.
Pre-production funds allocation (~$9,500):
Production funds allocation (~$10,500):
Any surplus funds will be used toward post-production and festival/distribution costs.
HEAT is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent, a non-profit independent media arts organization. Film Independent will receive grants for the charitable purposes of HEAT, provide oversight to ensure that grant funds are used in accordance with grant agreements, and provide reports as required by the grantor. Contributions for the charitable purposes of HEAT must be made payable to Film Independent and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Design: A Custom Sauna Build
Costs $4,800
A rotating sauna set build that will utilize shifting light and glass reflections to externalize Charlotte’s unraveling.
Sound Stage
Costs $950
We will be building the custom sauna and shooting on a sound stage.
Camera and Lighting Equipment Rental and Labor
Costs $3,500
This will go towards camera and lighting rentals plus labor costs.
Share this update!
About This Team
Elizabeth “Ella” Danna | Director
Elizabeth “Ella” Danna (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based director and producer drawn to stories that live in emotional ambiguity and psychological tension. A graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory’s Producing Discipline, she brings a director’s eye for nuance, intimacy, and visual storytelling to every frame. Her feature A RAMBLE TOWARDS RAIN premiered at Queens World Film Festival, and her award-winning short LA SUONA DELLA CITTA’ earned Audience Choice at Cinefest. With a background in visual arts and international production experience in both the U.S. and Italy, Ella crafts cinematic worlds where atmosphere mirrors interiority, and the unsaid carries as much weight as dialogue.
Becca E. Davis | Writer, Producer
Becca E. Davis (she/her) is a producer, writer and lawyer who was named a PGA Create Fellow for the 2024 Scripted Cycle. Her scripts have all earned various accolades, including from the Academy Nicholls Fellowship, Screencraft, Launch Pad, the PAGE Awards, and Stage 32's Female Driven Screenwriting Contest. Her industry work experience includes stints at AMC Networks, HBO, the WGA, the Walt Disney Company/20th Century Studios, Ryan Coogler's Proximity Media, and the Russo Brothers AGBO. She has a BA from Northeastern, a JD from Georgetown, and a Producing MFA from the AFI Conservatory.
Rebecca “Reb” Richard | Director of Photography
Rebecca "Reb" Richard (she/her) is an LA based cinematographer with a foundation in sculpture and art history. She has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Michele Oka Doner and Jordan Griska on commissions for institutions including Marlborough Gallery, The Miami City Ballet, and Philadelphia Contemporary. Reb has worked with clients like Nicole Richie and brands such as Rare Beauty. Her dedication to visual storytelling earned her a spot as one of 16 cinematographers selected for the American Film Institute’s 2022 Cinematography Intensive for Women. Reb aims to tell stories that foster empathy and challenge perception. She has a MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute Conservatory.
Khairi X (Khairi Reynolds) | Production Designer
Khairi X (Khairi Reynolds) holdsa degree in architecture and is a current Production Design Fellow at the American Film Institute. His architectural career spans the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York City, where he contributed to projects ranging from high-rise towers and container-based homeless shelters to amusement park designs.
Driven by a passion for visual storytelling, Khairi transitioned into film and television, \ as a drafter on the CBS series The Neighborhood. His production design work includes VMA-nominated music videos for Avril Lavigne, horror collaborations with Dolby Labs, animation with Crunchyroll, and art direction for the AFI Conservatory thesis film We Were Meant To—an official Sundance selection and Oscar-qualifying short.
Sydney Sullivan | Editor
Sydney Sullivan is film editor from Chicago. Her approach focuses on authenticity and allowing space for people to showcase what makes them unique.
Sydney has collaborated with Chicago arts organizations, theater groups and performing artists including The Walder Foundation, Asian Improv Arts Midwest, Motion Pictures / Dance Project and Hubbard Street Dance Company. Recent work includes assistant editing on THE REAL DANCE (Pivot Arts), editor for THE SEEING PLACE - an experimental film shown at IN / MOTION Film Festival and Screen Dance International Film Festival, and editor for BAWDY( Full Spectrum features), about the relationship between intergenerational trauma and body image for women.
Jackie Andresen | Composer
Jackie Andresen is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles, California. Classically trained in violin, her unique sound blends her acoustic background with electronic elements and extended string techniques for an inventive scoring approach. She has received several awards and nominations for her projects, including Best Score for her music for Kabuk (2024) at NYU's annual First Run Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Score for her music for The Second Sunday of May (2024) at ShortStop Film Festival. Her first feature Ninety Minutes Later, directed by Los Angeles based filmmaker and actress Cyndy Fujikawa, was awarded Best Documentary Feature at Long Island Film Festival, and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
She has orchestrated on projects including the Emmy nominated song “All About Me”, from the television series The L Word Generation Q (2022), The Woman King (2022), and HBO’s The Edge of the Earth (2022) as a member of the Los Angeles based score preparation and orchestration company, Joy Music House. Jackie has additionally assisted composer Marcelo Zarvos in New York City, having contributed to projects including The Equalizer III (2023), The Front Room (2024),Nonnas (2025), and season 2 of Netflix’s The Diplomat (2024) She currently assists composer Emily Bear, having worked on Anderson Paak's directorial debut K-POPS (2024), and contributed additional music to Netflix's Our Little Secret (2024).
Kathrene Gawel | Executive Producer, Lead Actress
Kathrene Gawel (she/her) is an actor, filmmaker, and business affairs executive. She has appeared as a lead in film and episodic projects which have screened at festivals such as LA Shorts and Catalyst Content Festival, and has received screenwriting and directing awards, including Best Screenplay of the Year at the Annual Top Shorts Film Festival, Best Director at Oniros Film Awards, and Best Director - Honorable Mention at Independent Short Awards. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and UCLA Extension, Kathrene’s education also includes the master class of Gregory Berger-Sobeck at Berg Studios (ongoing), Alexander Technique workshop with Kristof Konrad, and Clown to Comedia workshop with Christopher Bayes. Her industry work experience includes roles at Miramax, Netflix, and the Writers Guild of America West.
Lauren Rodriguez | Executive Producer, Lead Actress
Lauren Rodriguez (she/her) is a NYC and LA based actor, singer, and filmmaker hailing from the suburbs of Boston with a degree in biochemistry. She held her first lead role at the age of 8 in a play she self-produced for Miss Moore’s first grade class. She has appeared in lead roles that have screened at LA Shorts, Catalyst Content Festival, and CAFF, among others. Some favorite roles she’s played since include Olivia (Twelfth Night), Meg (Little Women) and Olga (Three Sisters), as well as, lead roles in CAFF Golden Angel Award Winner, Magician: Game of Detective and ensemble based comedy mini-series, Cohabs. Lauren has studied acting in NYC and Los Angeles with Gregory Berger-Sobeck, Ann Nobel, Josiah Bania, Christopher Bayes (Clowning), Daniela Varon (Shakespeare), and Jessica Wolf (Alexander Technique).
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HEAT explores the fragile nature of trust and the performance of intimacy: the moments we misread, the stories we tell ourselves to stay safe, and the cost of being seen too clearly. When Eleanor storms out of the sauna, Charlotte is left trapped, unsure if it was an accident, or something more deliberate. This is a story about closeness, ambiguity, and the quiet violence of being misunderstood.
HEAT considers how to appropriately support each other in moments of vulnerability. Our intended audience is viewers who gravitate toward character-driven, emotionally intelligent storytelling, films like The Lost Daughter, Persona, Shiva Baby, and Saint Maud. We’re speaking to audiences that appreciate psychological tension, queer narratives, and complex female leads. This is a piece for festival goers who appreciate a blend of genre aesthetics with emotional realism.
The team behind HEAT consists of mainly recent AFI graduates who share a passion for emotionally intelligent storytelling. With a predominantly women department led team, we are engaging the power and importance of women’s voices telling stories about women. We are also excited to have built a team with robust backgrounds in not only filmmaking itself, but also in visual arts, architecture, music, business affairs, and law. We created a team not only of racial and gender diversity, but also diversity of interests, which further enriches the art we are able to create together.
With the entire piece taking place within a sauna, our team is committed to crafting a film that is not only emotionally resonant, but visually unforgettable. We are seeking funds to be able to execute the immersive design elements of the sauna set critical to the emotional arc of the film, namely, a rotating set, a wooden build, and lighting shifts that visualize Charlotte’s psychological descent. The set design foresees wooden benches, built-in lights, and expanding and contrasting walls.
With half of the cost already raised, we need your help in raising the remaining $10k that will allow us to bring HEAT to life. In addition to the sauna build, we will be using the raised funds for pre-production and production costs such as location fees, props, costume, set decoration, insurance, equipment, labor, catering, and craft services.
Pre-production funds allocation (~$9,500):
Production funds allocation (~$10,500):
Any surplus funds will be used toward post-production and festival/distribution costs.
HEAT is a fiscally sponsored project of Film Independent, a non-profit independent media arts organization. Film Independent will receive grants for the charitable purposes of HEAT, provide oversight to ensure that grant funds are used in accordance with grant agreements, and provide reports as required by the grantor. Contributions for the charitable purposes of HEAT must be made payable to Film Independent and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Production Design: A Custom Sauna Build
Costs $4,800
A rotating sauna set build that will utilize shifting light and glass reflections to externalize Charlotte’s unraveling.
Sound Stage
Costs $950
We will be building the custom sauna and shooting on a sound stage.
Camera and Lighting Equipment Rental and Labor
Costs $3,500
This will go towards camera and lighting rentals plus labor costs.
Share this update!
About This Team
Elizabeth “Ella” Danna | Director
Elizabeth “Ella” Danna (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based director and producer drawn to stories that live in emotional ambiguity and psychological tension. A graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory’s Producing Discipline, she brings a director’s eye for nuance, intimacy, and visual storytelling to every frame. Her feature A RAMBLE TOWARDS RAIN premiered at Queens World Film Festival, and her award-winning short LA SUONA DELLA CITTA’ earned Audience Choice at Cinefest. With a background in visual arts and international production experience in both the U.S. and Italy, Ella crafts cinematic worlds where atmosphere mirrors interiority, and the unsaid carries as much weight as dialogue.
Becca E. Davis | Writer, Producer
Becca E. Davis (she/her) is a producer, writer and lawyer who was named a PGA Create Fellow for the 2024 Scripted Cycle. Her scripts have all earned various accolades, including from the Academy Nicholls Fellowship, Screencraft, Launch Pad, the PAGE Awards, and Stage 32's Female Driven Screenwriting Contest. Her industry work experience includes stints at AMC Networks, HBO, the WGA, the Walt Disney Company/20th Century Studios, Ryan Coogler's Proximity Media, and the Russo Brothers AGBO. She has a BA from Northeastern, a JD from Georgetown, and a Producing MFA from the AFI Conservatory.
Rebecca “Reb” Richard | Director of Photography
Rebecca "Reb" Richard (she/her) is an LA based cinematographer with a foundation in sculpture and art history. She has collaborated with acclaimed artists such as Michele Oka Doner and Jordan Griska on commissions for institutions including Marlborough Gallery, The Miami City Ballet, and Philadelphia Contemporary. Reb has worked with clients like Nicole Richie and brands such as Rare Beauty. Her dedication to visual storytelling earned her a spot as one of 16 cinematographers selected for the American Film Institute’s 2022 Cinematography Intensive for Women. Reb aims to tell stories that foster empathy and challenge perception. She has a MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute Conservatory.
Khairi X (Khairi Reynolds) | Production Designer
Khairi X (Khairi Reynolds) holdsa degree in architecture and is a current Production Design Fellow at the American Film Institute. His architectural career spans the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York City, where he contributed to projects ranging from high-rise towers and container-based homeless shelters to amusement park designs.
Driven by a passion for visual storytelling, Khairi transitioned into film and television, \ as a drafter on the CBS series The Neighborhood. His production design work includes VMA-nominated music videos for Avril Lavigne, horror collaborations with Dolby Labs, animation with Crunchyroll, and art direction for the AFI Conservatory thesis film We Were Meant To—an official Sundance selection and Oscar-qualifying short.
Sydney Sullivan | Editor
Sydney Sullivan is film editor from Chicago. Her approach focuses on authenticity and allowing space for people to showcase what makes them unique.
Sydney has collaborated with Chicago arts organizations, theater groups and performing artists including The Walder Foundation, Asian Improv Arts Midwest, Motion Pictures / Dance Project and Hubbard Street Dance Company. Recent work includes assistant editing on THE REAL DANCE (Pivot Arts), editor for THE SEEING PLACE - an experimental film shown at IN / MOTION Film Festival and Screen Dance International Film Festival, and editor for BAWDY( Full Spectrum features), about the relationship between intergenerational trauma and body image for women.
Jackie Andresen | Composer
Jackie Andresen is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles, California. Classically trained in violin, her unique sound blends her acoustic background with electronic elements and extended string techniques for an inventive scoring approach. She has received several awards and nominations for her projects, including Best Score for her music for Kabuk (2024) at NYU's annual First Run Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Score for her music for The Second Sunday of May (2024) at ShortStop Film Festival. Her first feature Ninety Minutes Later, directed by Los Angeles based filmmaker and actress Cyndy Fujikawa, was awarded Best Documentary Feature at Long Island Film Festival, and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
She has orchestrated on projects including the Emmy nominated song “All About Me”, from the television series The L Word Generation Q (2022), The Woman King (2022), and HBO’s The Edge of the Earth (2022) as a member of the Los Angeles based score preparation and orchestration company, Joy Music House. Jackie has additionally assisted composer Marcelo Zarvos in New York City, having contributed to projects including The Equalizer III (2023), The Front Room (2024),Nonnas (2025), and season 2 of Netflix’s The Diplomat (2024) She currently assists composer Emily Bear, having worked on Anderson Paak's directorial debut K-POPS (2024), and contributed additional music to Netflix's Our Little Secret (2024).
Kathrene Gawel | Executive Producer, Lead Actress
Kathrene Gawel (she/her) is an actor, filmmaker, and business affairs executive. She has appeared as a lead in film and episodic projects which have screened at festivals such as LA Shorts and Catalyst Content Festival, and has received screenwriting and directing awards, including Best Screenplay of the Year at the Annual Top Shorts Film Festival, Best Director at Oniros Film Awards, and Best Director - Honorable Mention at Independent Short Awards. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and UCLA Extension, Kathrene’s education also includes the master class of Gregory Berger-Sobeck at Berg Studios (ongoing), Alexander Technique workshop with Kristof Konrad, and Clown to Comedia workshop with Christopher Bayes. Her industry work experience includes roles at Miramax, Netflix, and the Writers Guild of America West.
Lauren Rodriguez | Executive Producer, Lead Actress
Lauren Rodriguez (she/her) is a NYC and LA based actor, singer, and filmmaker hailing from the suburbs of Boston with a degree in biochemistry. She held her first lead role at the age of 8 in a play she self-produced for Miss Moore’s first grade class. She has appeared in lead roles that have screened at LA Shorts, Catalyst Content Festival, and CAFF, among others. Some favorite roles she’s played since include Olivia (Twelfth Night), Meg (Little Women) and Olga (Three Sisters), as well as, lead roles in CAFF Golden Angel Award Winner, Magician: Game of Detective and ensemble based comedy mini-series, Cohabs. Lauren has studied acting in NYC and Los Angeles with Gregory Berger-Sobeck, Ann Nobel, Josiah Bania, Christopher Bayes (Clowning), Daniela Varon (Shakespeare), and Jessica Wolf (Alexander Technique).