SNYOPSIS

PETALS AND STEMS is a delicate narrative short film that touches on life’s many ups and downs. The story follows Julie, a modern florist, on her quest to find love in a bittersweet comedy-of-errors with a feminist twist.

While setting up the flowers for a Chateau-inspired wedding, Julie meets a dashing gentleman who invites her to join in the celebrations later that evening. With her hopes raised for a romantic encounter, she returns to the party to find those hopes dashed. Instead, an unexpected stranger becomes a catalyst for change in her life. The encounter reminds her that nothing in life is permanent and pushes her to find happiness for herself.

DIRECTOR’S INTENT

These days, I find that I look to the past, more and more, for ideas and inspiration. PETALS AND STEMS was one such story, inspired by memories I have of growing up in my mother's flower shop in Hawaii. I still have vivid memories of the colors, smells and textures of some of the flowers we played with as

kids.

To me, the hidden meanings and symbology of flowers are fascinating. Protea have always been one of my favorite flowers. So, as I was digging a little deeper into their meaning I discovered that they represent change and hope. I felt like this would be an interesting dynamic to explore for a florist already struggling with the idea that nothing lasts forever.  Even though this story is fictional, my goal was to approach it with a certain level of authenticity. 

ABOUT PRODUCTION

In January 2017, we went into production and shot over three days, here in Austin, TX. An amazing crew pulled together for a smooth shoot on very little budget. It wouldn't have been possible without them. We had some intense ups and downs during our months of pre-production and I almost called off the entire production after a family emergency. However, we remarkably pulled together to stay on schedule and I couldn't be happier with the results.

Our core team included: producing extra-ordinaires Lauren Christensen and Joe H. Lee, Tom Suhler as my assistant director, Amy Bench as director of photograph, Josh Verduzco as our chief electrican and Leah Pipes-Meltzer as our florist/production designer.

All our actors and actresses, including extras, were exceptional. Everyone put in extra time for rehearsals and time to block, which helped us get more creative and have fun on set.

We were able to shoot at two dreamy locations. Brooke, the owner and floral designer of "Pollen" was generous enough to lend us her working studio for our shoot. The space reminded me so much of my mom's shop as a kid, it was incredible.

Chateau Bellevue was our other location. It's a goregous event space run by the Austin Women's Club in downtown Austin. We had some crazy requests, which they generously accomodated. For example, to stage our fake wedding reception, we asked if they would leave the used event materials from the day before for our production designer. There were cups with lipstick on them, and dirty forks and napkins we happily picked from to stage an "after-party" scene. It was perfect. It saved us a ton of time and added an extra layer of authenticity, which I loved.

For more fun stories from production, follow us here and on our social media! 

NOW

After a successful production, we are excited to take the next steps towards finishing this film. I've taken a short hiatus on the project to focus on family and other work that's come up this year.

The finishing funds raised here will go towards our post-production team, our next team of creative professionals, and take what we have to a whole new level.

I'll be announcing more about that in future updates, so again, follow the project and see what more is in store! 

DIGITAL REWARDS EXPLANATION:

We've created a list of digital rewards you can choose from as a thank you for contributing to our campaign. We are trying to avoid the added cost of printing posters or manufacturing other goods to focus on raising the necessary funds needed for post-production.

As each tier increases in price, it will include all the rewards below it. For example, the perk of donating $500+ includes everything listed on the side: a fresh box of flowers shipped anywhere in the US to friends or family, a visual/written treatment for a feature length version of the story, a lei-making demo, an online screening party, the original script and BTS photos, and special social media shout out online.

We'll have some special perks and giveaways to announce throughout the campaign, so keep your eye out for those, too!