Reminisce
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Family
Reminisce delves into longing, hypotheticals, and relationships, exploring how societal pressures and peer judgment can overwhelm us, bringing out our insecurities and impacting our relationships.
Reminisce
Los Angeles, California | Film Short
Drama, Family
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $10,220 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
69 supporters | followers
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Reminisce delves into longing, hypotheticals, and relationships, exploring how societal pressures and peer judgment can overwhelm us, bringing out our insecurities and impacting our relationships.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
While Brian is away at his college reunion, Monica prepares a charcuterie plate and gets ready to host Diana and Patrick. She gets a phone call from her mother in India regarding her father. Having been disowned by her family, she wonders if she should make a trip to India but is immediately rejected.
Meanwhile, Patrick and Diana have arrived, already a bit buzzed from the college reunion. Diana requests Brian to sing the song Brian used to serenade women with. As Diana reminisces about what could have been and her youth, Monica realizes that the song she thought was made for her was not that special.
Monica tries to keep her composure as the small talk continues. Diana, noticing this, begins to stir trouble. Brian, looking at Patrick for some help, tries to steer the conversation away from the increasingly tense night.
More revelations surface that prompt Monica to question the perceived perfection of their relationship. As societal expectations and peer judgment loom, Monica spirals out of control and Brian struggles to rein her in.
MONICA - First-generation Indian American and successful data analyst. She fell in love with her professor, Brian, during graduate school, leading to estrangement from her family due to their disapproval. That sacrifice and loneliness was buried deep within and eventually comes out in that one fateful night.
BRIAN - A tenured aerospace engineering professor at Harvey Mudd. Normally having a strict line between himself and his students, he didn't expect to fall in love with his star student. He's been married for 10 years to Monica and could not be happier. His best friend, Patrick, is married to his ex-girlfriend, Diana. He's not a big fan of Diana, but tolerates her because of Patrick.
PATRICK - A long-time analyst at NASA, he recently retired against his wife's wishes. Having had a stressful career, he wants to enjoy the rest of his life. He's best friends with Brian and is excited to see him at the college reunion after years. He is a bit envious of Brian (both for having a younger wife and the fact that he went into teaching) and reminisces.
DIANA - A long-time analyst at NASA working alongside her husband, Patrick. Always proud, ambitious and high strung, she is a bit resentful that Patrick retired but loves her husband very much. Her first love is Brian and she never quite got over the fact that Brian broke up with her and married a younger woman. When she sees that Monica and Brian are still together after all these years, she reminisces about her youth and what could have been.
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- Our obsession with youth
- Age gaps in relationships
- Our inability to let go of our first loves
- Power imbalance and the #metoo movement
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When Hollywood usually shows relationships that resulted from a professor-student relationship, the relationship is blatantly inappropriate. However, not all relationships are black and white. Our story is unique in that it shows a relationship where it is grey. There's NO abuse of any kind, however, could there be a power imbalance and if so, does it matter if they both love one another unconditionally?
Other burning questions to answer:
- How well can we really know our partners?
- Is love blind? Or is that just something we say when a relationship appears to fall outside of societal expectations?
- Does an age gap in a relationship necessarily imply a power imbalance?
- Why would a woman marry an older man?
- Why would an older man marry a younger woman?
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We are aiming to shoot the first weekend in October. We will have several rehearsals with the director beforehand so when it comes to shooting time, we can move efficiently.
Post-production will follow swiftly afterwards so we can have the film completed and ready for festivals by Q1 2025.
By supporting our film, you are supporting women in film and people pursuing their dreams in their 60s. As we get older, we tend to be forgotten or pushed aside. This film is hoping to help fight that.
.png)
We are fiscally sponsored by From the Heart Productions (501c3) meaning that every contribution you make is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.
Any amount is appreciated, because it really does take a village to make a film. No amount is too small.
If you are not able to contribute, there are other ways you can help for free that takes two seconds and can go a long way.
- Share our Seed and Spark page to your friends and family
- Follow us on Instagram
- Like us on Facebook
THANK YOU!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Set Crew
Costs $5,000
It takes a village to make a film so making sure we can hire the people who make the best product is ideal
Expenses
Costs $5,000
This will cover permit, production insurance, location fees, equipment rentals, props, catering, hard drives, etc.
Post-Production
Costs $2,000
We can't have a film without the post-production team to piece our movie together.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Leslie Morris (Director)
With over two decades of experience in television production, she's honed her craft as a director through a multifaceted journey. Through her work as a camera operator on iconic series such as Grey’s Anatomy, All Rise, and Terminal List, she developed a deep understanding of the intricacies of effective visual storytelling. Complementing this hands-on experience, she dedicated a decade of her career to studying the Meisner technique at the esteemed Actors Workout Studio. This deep dive into the craft of acting has provided her with invaluable insights into character development and an actors
process. Thus, she is both an actors' director as well as a technical director. However, it is her intuitive approach to filmmaking that defines her directorial style.
Ashna Sharan (Actor, Writer, Producer)
A former pageant queen from Virginia, Ashna moved to LA to pursue her acting dreams. Speaking five languages, she's played characters from different countries. She can be seen on HBO Max's Our Flag Means Death, BET Twenties, sketches with Lilly Singh to name a few. During the pandemic, she wrote and produced a 14 episode web-series about quarantine life that won several awards across the world. From then on, she found her second love: screenwriting. In the past year, she has had four projects optioned. She writes diverse, inclusive stories that include a positive message.
Wayne Jay (Actor)
Wayne Jay has been an actor, voice actor, singer, guitarist, and aerospace engineer on-and-off for most of his life. He finally settled down in Los Angeles California after living the last several decades in five states, three countries, and four hemispheres. In addition to acting, he loves being involved in all aspects of the industry. He is most grateful for the projects he gets to work on with friends.
Elisa Nixon (Actor)
Elisa started dancing at the age of 3, and basically never stopped. After a Biopsychology degree, and a 5 year stint in Corporate America she auditioned for her first musical and she got the part! After that show closed, she called in sick to work to fly to LA for the day to audition for ANOTHER musical and...She got the part! She quit her job, packed up her car and drove from San Francisco to LA and has since performed in numerous musicals, plays and films. She is honored to be part of this project with such a fantastic team, and is grateful to be able to do what she loves most.
Roger Gutierrez (Actor)
Roger started acting in college before he eventually transitioned to film and television. Booking leads in several acclaimed indie films, he’s also an accomplished playwright with various one-acts produced. He fancies playing and writing characters that don’t quite get what they want in life. He’s excited to play ‘Patrick’ in Reminisce: “There’s a lot of dimensions to this guy."
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
While Brian is away at his college reunion, Monica prepares a charcuterie plate and gets ready to host Diana and Patrick. She gets a phone call from her mother in India regarding her father. Having been disowned by her family, she wonders if she should make a trip to India but is immediately rejected.
Meanwhile, Patrick and Diana have arrived, already a bit buzzed from the college reunion. Diana requests Brian to sing the song Brian used to serenade women with. As Diana reminisces about what could have been and her youth, Monica realizes that the song she thought was made for her was not that special.
Monica tries to keep her composure as the small talk continues. Diana, noticing this, begins to stir trouble. Brian, looking at Patrick for some help, tries to steer the conversation away from the increasingly tense night.
More revelations surface that prompt Monica to question the perceived perfection of their relationship. As societal expectations and peer judgment loom, Monica spirals out of control and Brian struggles to rein her in.
MONICA - First-generation Indian American and successful data analyst. She fell in love with her professor, Brian, during graduate school, leading to estrangement from her family due to their disapproval. That sacrifice and loneliness was buried deep within and eventually comes out in that one fateful night.
BRIAN - A tenured aerospace engineering professor at Harvey Mudd. Normally having a strict line between himself and his students, he didn't expect to fall in love with his star student. He's been married for 10 years to Monica and could not be happier. His best friend, Patrick, is married to his ex-girlfriend, Diana. He's not a big fan of Diana, but tolerates her because of Patrick.
PATRICK - A long-time analyst at NASA, he recently retired against his wife's wishes. Having had a stressful career, he wants to enjoy the rest of his life. He's best friends with Brian and is excited to see him at the college reunion after years. He is a bit envious of Brian (both for having a younger wife and the fact that he went into teaching) and reminisces.
DIANA - A long-time analyst at NASA working alongside her husband, Patrick. Always proud, ambitious and high strung, she is a bit resentful that Patrick retired but loves her husband very much. Her first love is Brian and she never quite got over the fact that Brian broke up with her and married a younger woman. When she sees that Monica and Brian are still together after all these years, she reminisces about her youth and what could have been.
- Our obsession with youth
- Age gaps in relationships
- Our inability to let go of our first loves
- Power imbalance and the #metoo movement
When Hollywood usually shows relationships that resulted from a professor-student relationship, the relationship is blatantly inappropriate. However, not all relationships are black and white. Our story is unique in that it shows a relationship where it is grey. There's NO abuse of any kind, however, could there be a power imbalance and if so, does it matter if they both love one another unconditionally?
Other burning questions to answer:
- How well can we really know our partners?
- Is love blind? Or is that just something we say when a relationship appears to fall outside of societal expectations?
- Does an age gap in a relationship necessarily imply a power imbalance?
- Why would a woman marry an older man?
- Why would an older man marry a younger woman?
We are aiming to shoot the first weekend in October. We will have several rehearsals with the director beforehand so when it comes to shooting time, we can move efficiently.
Post-production will follow swiftly afterwards so we can have the film completed and ready for festivals by Q1 2025.
By supporting our film, you are supporting women in film and people pursuing their dreams in their 60s. As we get older, we tend to be forgotten or pushed aside. This film is hoping to help fight that.
We are fiscally sponsored by From the Heart Productions (501c3) meaning that every contribution you make is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.
Any amount is appreciated, because it really does take a village to make a film. No amount is too small.
If you are not able to contribute, there are other ways you can help for free that takes two seconds and can go a long way.
- Share our Seed and Spark page to your friends and family
- Follow us on Instagram
- Like us on Facebook
THANK YOU!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Set Crew
Costs $5,000
It takes a village to make a film so making sure we can hire the people who make the best product is ideal
Expenses
Costs $5,000
This will cover permit, production insurance, location fees, equipment rentals, props, catering, hard drives, etc.
Post-Production
Costs $2,000
We can't have a film without the post-production team to piece our movie together.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Leslie Morris (Director)
With over two decades of experience in television production, she's honed her craft as a director through a multifaceted journey. Through her work as a camera operator on iconic series such as Grey’s Anatomy, All Rise, and Terminal List, she developed a deep understanding of the intricacies of effective visual storytelling. Complementing this hands-on experience, she dedicated a decade of her career to studying the Meisner technique at the esteemed Actors Workout Studio. This deep dive into the craft of acting has provided her with invaluable insights into character development and an actors
process. Thus, she is both an actors' director as well as a technical director. However, it is her intuitive approach to filmmaking that defines her directorial style.
Ashna Sharan (Actor, Writer, Producer)
A former pageant queen from Virginia, Ashna moved to LA to pursue her acting dreams. Speaking five languages, she's played characters from different countries. She can be seen on HBO Max's Our Flag Means Death, BET Twenties, sketches with Lilly Singh to name a few. During the pandemic, she wrote and produced a 14 episode web-series about quarantine life that won several awards across the world. From then on, she found her second love: screenwriting. In the past year, she has had four projects optioned. She writes diverse, inclusive stories that include a positive message.
Wayne Jay (Actor)
Wayne Jay has been an actor, voice actor, singer, guitarist, and aerospace engineer on-and-off for most of his life. He finally settled down in Los Angeles California after living the last several decades in five states, three countries, and four hemispheres. In addition to acting, he loves being involved in all aspects of the industry. He is most grateful for the projects he gets to work on with friends.
Elisa Nixon (Actor)
Elisa started dancing at the age of 3, and basically never stopped. After a Biopsychology degree, and a 5 year stint in Corporate America she auditioned for her first musical and she got the part! After that show closed, she called in sick to work to fly to LA for the day to audition for ANOTHER musical and...She got the part! She quit her job, packed up her car and drove from San Francisco to LA and has since performed in numerous musicals, plays and films. She is honored to be part of this project with such a fantastic team, and is grateful to be able to do what she loves most.
Roger Gutierrez (Actor)
Roger started acting in college before he eventually transitioned to film and television. Booking leads in several acclaimed indie films, he’s also an accomplished playwright with various one-acts produced. He fancies playing and writing characters that don’t quite get what they want in life. He’s excited to play ‘Patrick’ in Reminisce: “There’s a lot of dimensions to this guy."