Rom Com Interrupted - A Dark Comedy about PTSD
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Drama, Comedy
Rom Com Interrupted is the story of Josie, an avoidant audio erotica writer who's totally fine and definitely doesn't have PTSD! After a kiss sends her into a spiral, Josie embarks on a healing journey where she discovers that sometimes when you think you’re spiraling, you’re actually spiraling up.
Rom Com Interrupted - A Dark Comedy about PTSD
Atlanta, Georgia | Film Short
Drama, Comedy
1 Campaigns | Georgia, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $21,515 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
114 supporters | followers
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Rom Com Interrupted is the story of Josie, an avoidant audio erotica writer who's totally fine and definitely doesn't have PTSD! After a kiss sends her into a spiral, Josie embarks on a healing journey where she discovers that sometimes when you think you’re spiraling, you’re actually spiraling up.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Rom Com Interrupted is the story of Josie, a quirky and avoidant audio erotica writer who is totally fine and is definitely not in denial about the effect a past sexual assault had on her! When she meets Luke, a charming and awkward graphic designer, they develop a friendship that blossoms into romantic affection. But when their spectacular first date gets ~steamy~, Josie is triggered into what is totally not a PTSD spiral: avoiding her responsibilities, ignoring the people she cares about, and overall failing to take care of herself. You know, the usual stuff. As her life crumbles and she feels her chance with Luke slip out of her fingers, Josie finally admits that she might, maybe, need some help. So she takes the first terrifying step many of us have had to take in our healing journeys: She goes to therapy. In the process, she discovers that sometimes when you think you’re spiraling, you’re actually just spiraling up. As for her and Luke? I guess you’ll have to watch the film to find out!
Rom Com Interrupted was born out of my desire to talk about my painful experiences with PTSD: my difficulties with intimacy, the way one interaction could send me spiraling for days, and the rippling negative effect those spirals had on my life. But I also wanted to talk about my healing journey: how non-linear the process is and all the different tools I’ve had to dig out of myself to get where I am today (not that I’m anywhere near done).
When I sat down to write, it was just all so… sad. Don’t get me wrong, trauma is devastating. But I know as an audience member, the last thing I want is to be punted with pain— We’ve all got enough of that in our real lives. And as a mental health advocate, I didn’t want to write something that could potentially re-traumatize people who had similar experiences (which is more people than you might think). I wanted to tell a story that was authentic to my experience, but that also brimmed with hope.
So I decided to do what I do best and take something painful and spin it into something funny! And so, Rom Com Interrupted was born.
Rom Com Interrupted juxtaposes both the quirky tone and soft, romantic visuals of rom-coms such a Silver Lining's Playbook, (500) Days of Summer, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist with the genre-bending, irreverent tone and moody, gritty visuals of mental health narratives such as Fleabag, Big Mood, and I May Destroy You.
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Talking about your personal traumas is challenging. As a writer and producer, I consider myself responsible for the psychological safety of my team, my audience, and myself. In order to tell this story as responsibly as possible, we are partnering with the Association of Mental Health Coordinators, an organization that trains interdisciplinary creative professionals with the goal of supporting responsible and compelling storytelling around mental health. We have a team of Mental Health Coordinators who are assisting in every stage of production to ensure a trauma-informed process beginning to end. We are so excited to use this project as a blueprint for what authentic, psychologically safe storytelling around mental health challenges can look like.
Additionally, this short is being produced with support from the Randy Mandy and the Curse of the Plaza Mentorship Program, a paid mentorship which pairs up-and-coming film artists with experienced industry professionals to find guidance, new skill sets, and holistic insight based on our specific goals.
The bulk of our budget will go toward paying people. The last few years have been excruciating for folks in the Film and TV, and it's important to us that we pay people for the time they will put in to make this film amazing. Your contributions will make that possible. You can see exactly what your pledge will go toward in our Wishlist, but here's a detailed breakdown of our budget:
Once we reach our goal (manifesting, y'all!) we will allot the additional funds to music licensing and more marketing, so that as many people as possible can see our film! And I may even go crazy and pay myself!
Our number one goal is to get this film in front of as many people as possible, particularly in front of survivors and the people who love them. To do that, we plan on taking the film through the festival circuit. We'll dream big (because you must!) and submit it to Sundance, South by Southwest, and Tribeca, along with many other festivals across the country.
After blowing everyone away at the festivals (because duh), we will secure funding for the feature length version, where we'll dive deeper into Josie’s healing journey by exploring the different types of therapeutic interventions that are available to people with PTSD with the same comedic and irreverent tone. Some of these treatments include are EMDR, somatic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric medication, dialectical behavioral therapy, and many more. We will also get to know Luke better and watch him as he learns what PTSD is and how to love someone who has it while preserving his own boundaries.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew
Costs $8,550
This is the biggest piece of the pie. It takes a team of incredible people to make a movie and they deserve to be paid!
Equipment
Costs $3,100
A movie's gotta look good! This will cover our camera and G&E packages. Basically everything that makes a movie like, well, a movie!
Hard drives
Costs $300
High quality movies require high quality storage. And backups, because you're only ever one teetering water cup away from losing it all.
Costumes
Costs $150
So our actors can look and feel cute!
Set Dressing & Props
Costs $400
So the space can look cute (or not)! It takes a lot of work to make an aesthetic mess.
Locations
Costs $500
Unfortunately, we can't film a movie in the ether (yet). We need a studio apartment, a cafe, and a therapist's office.
Post-production
Costs $1,750
The movie's not over until the editor sings (is that how it goes?). This includes sound, music composition, color grading, and editing.
Marketing & Festivals
Costs $2,300
The most important part of a movie is getting people to watch it! This will help us get the word out and go to festivals.
Insurance
Costs $500
It's exactly what it sounds like. We gotta keep people safe and cover our butts.
Contingency
Costs $1,865
Shit happens. Inevitably. We are allotting 10% of our budget so when shit hits the fan, we're ready to handle it.
Food
Costs $1,100
Can't overstate the importance of keeping people fed. This will cover snacks and lunch for cast and crew!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Sofía Palmero (Writer, Producer, Actor)
Sofía (they/she) is a wickedly smart, fat, queer, Latine born in Venezuela, raised in Florida, and now a 9-year resident of Atlanta, GA. With a background in psychology and sociology, Sofía writes about mental health, friendship, and love, exploring complex characters and existential themes through intimate stories infused with comedy. Sofía seeks to infect her audiences with hope, daring them to ask the question: What if everything works out?
A self-proclaimed jack of all trades and master of words, Sofía is also an actor, dramaturg, producer, and occasional director. They are also in the process of becoming a certified Mental Health Coordinator.
Kristina Arjona (Director, Executive Producer, Mentor)
Kristina (she/they) has worked in the southeastern film industry for over 12 years on both sides of the lens, and uses their unique skills and training to increase effective communication and safety for everyone involved. They developed the Color Code Protocol, a communication technique and safety standards for working with sensitive material in film, adapted with the help of the sex-positive community, and has spoken about set safety strategies involving intimacy work at universities and panels including the Atlanta Film Festival, Women in Film, Out on Film Festival, Actor Empowerment Summit, and the Women in Production Summit.
Proudly queer and Latina, Kristina is particularly passionate about working with material involving queer stories, BIPOC characters, empowering younger individuals, and trauma-informed care in sexual violence-related scenes.
Angélica Pérez-Castro (Director of Photography)
Angélica (she/her) is a Puerto Rican cinematographer and steadicam operator based in Atlanta. She is a member of IATSE Local 600 and has operated on films and TV shows featured on Netflix, Fox, HBO, Amazon, and Hulu, as well as independent films, music videos, live events and commercials.
In 2021, she was selected for the ASC Vision Mentorship Program, followed by the AFI Cinematography Intensive in 2022. She is also a member of Women In Media and an active member of the Society of Camera Operators (SOC).
Angélica lensed the indie feature film Greek Mothers Never Die, set for release in May 2025.
Veronica Kelly (Mental Health Coordinator)
Veronica Nia Kelly (she/they) is a radiant creative force and an eternal student of life, led by curiosity and grounded in truth. As a classically trained actor, filmmaker, 200-hour certified yoga teacher and Sound Bath facilitator, they’ve found their deepest alignment where art and mindfulness meet. Veronica moves with purpose at the intersection of storytelling, healing, and advocacy, serving as a mental health coordinator on film and TV sets and sharing the transformative power of sound healing and yoga at drug and alcohol rehab centers across Atlanta. She’s seen lives shift and hearts open through these practices and feels deeply honored to share her art, wisdom, and humanity with the community.
Dionne Mahaffey (Mental Health Coordinator)
Dr. Dionne (she/her) is an Intimacy Professional and Mental Health Coordinator based in Atlanta and available for travel. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Industrial/Organizational Psychologist with a strong background in trauma-informed care, consent-forward practice, and on-set emotional safety in the documentary space. Her interdisciplinary training allows her to support both performers and crew with navigating scenes involving intimacy, identity-based stress, and emotionally intense material - without disrupting the flow of production.
Dr. Dionne brings a grounded, calm presence to set and works collaboratively across departments to help ensure everyone feels supported, seen, and respected. She offers script consultations, consent choreography, pre- and post-scene care, and practical strategies for managing the psychological impact of difficult content. She specializes in helping productions tell powerful stories while maintaining a culture of care behind the scenes.
Amanda Edwards (Mental Health Mentor)
Amanda M. Edwards (she/her) is a licensed therapist, certified Intimacy and Mental Health Coordinator, and trauma-informed educator based in Parker, Colorado. With a foundation in dance, theatre, and choreography that began in early childhood, she has worked on a diverse range of productions—from youth theatre and touring companies to independent films and major studio projects across the country. Amanda co-founded the Association of Mental Health Coordinators, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training professionals in supporting mental health on stage and screen. She also serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Theatre and Dance Department at Metropolitan State University in Denver and the Innovative Arts Department at the Community College of Aurora.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Rom Com Interrupted is the story of Josie, a quirky and avoidant audio erotica writer who is totally fine and is definitely not in denial about the effect a past sexual assault had on her! When she meets Luke, a charming and awkward graphic designer, they develop a friendship that blossoms into romantic affection. But when their spectacular first date gets ~steamy~, Josie is triggered into what is totally not a PTSD spiral: avoiding her responsibilities, ignoring the people she cares about, and overall failing to take care of herself. You know, the usual stuff. As her life crumbles and she feels her chance with Luke slip out of her fingers, Josie finally admits that she might, maybe, need some help. So she takes the first terrifying step many of us have had to take in our healing journeys: She goes to therapy. In the process, she discovers that sometimes when you think you’re spiraling, you’re actually just spiraling up. As for her and Luke? I guess you’ll have to watch the film to find out!
Rom Com Interrupted was born out of my desire to talk about my painful experiences with PTSD: my difficulties with intimacy, the way one interaction could send me spiraling for days, and the rippling negative effect those spirals had on my life. But I also wanted to talk about my healing journey: how non-linear the process is and all the different tools I’ve had to dig out of myself to get where I am today (not that I’m anywhere near done).
When I sat down to write, it was just all so… sad. Don’t get me wrong, trauma is devastating. But I know as an audience member, the last thing I want is to be punted with pain— We’ve all got enough of that in our real lives. And as a mental health advocate, I didn’t want to write something that could potentially re-traumatize people who had similar experiences (which is more people than you might think). I wanted to tell a story that was authentic to my experience, but that also brimmed with hope.
So I decided to do what I do best and take something painful and spin it into something funny! And so, Rom Com Interrupted was born.
Rom Com Interrupted juxtaposes both the quirky tone and soft, romantic visuals of rom-coms such a Silver Lining's Playbook, (500) Days of Summer, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist with the genre-bending, irreverent tone and moody, gritty visuals of mental health narratives such as Fleabag, Big Mood, and I May Destroy You.
Talking about your personal traumas is challenging. As a writer and producer, I consider myself responsible for the psychological safety of my team, my audience, and myself. In order to tell this story as responsibly as possible, we are partnering with the Association of Mental Health Coordinators, an organization that trains interdisciplinary creative professionals with the goal of supporting responsible and compelling storytelling around mental health. We have a team of Mental Health Coordinators who are assisting in every stage of production to ensure a trauma-informed process beginning to end. We are so excited to use this project as a blueprint for what authentic, psychologically safe storytelling around mental health challenges can look like.
Additionally, this short is being produced with support from the Randy Mandy and the Curse of the Plaza Mentorship Program, a paid mentorship which pairs up-and-coming film artists with experienced industry professionals to find guidance, new skill sets, and holistic insight based on our specific goals.
The bulk of our budget will go toward paying people. The last few years have been excruciating for folks in the Film and TV, and it's important to us that we pay people for the time they will put in to make this film amazing. Your contributions will make that possible. You can see exactly what your pledge will go toward in our Wishlist, but here's a detailed breakdown of our budget:
Once we reach our goal (manifesting, y'all!) we will allot the additional funds to music licensing and more marketing, so that as many people as possible can see our film! And I may even go crazy and pay myself!
Our number one goal is to get this film in front of as many people as possible, particularly in front of survivors and the people who love them. To do that, we plan on taking the film through the festival circuit. We'll dream big (because you must!) and submit it to Sundance, South by Southwest, and Tribeca, along with many other festivals across the country.
After blowing everyone away at the festivals (because duh), we will secure funding for the feature length version, where we'll dive deeper into Josie’s healing journey by exploring the different types of therapeutic interventions that are available to people with PTSD with the same comedic and irreverent tone. Some of these treatments include are EMDR, somatic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychiatric medication, dialectical behavioral therapy, and many more. We will also get to know Luke better and watch him as he learns what PTSD is and how to love someone who has it while preserving his own boundaries.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew
Costs $8,550
This is the biggest piece of the pie. It takes a team of incredible people to make a movie and they deserve to be paid!
Equipment
Costs $3,100
A movie's gotta look good! This will cover our camera and G&E packages. Basically everything that makes a movie like, well, a movie!
Hard drives
Costs $300
High quality movies require high quality storage. And backups, because you're only ever one teetering water cup away from losing it all.
Costumes
Costs $150
So our actors can look and feel cute!
Set Dressing & Props
Costs $400
So the space can look cute (or not)! It takes a lot of work to make an aesthetic mess.
Locations
Costs $500
Unfortunately, we can't film a movie in the ether (yet). We need a studio apartment, a cafe, and a therapist's office.
Post-production
Costs $1,750
The movie's not over until the editor sings (is that how it goes?). This includes sound, music composition, color grading, and editing.
Marketing & Festivals
Costs $2,300
The most important part of a movie is getting people to watch it! This will help us get the word out and go to festivals.
Insurance
Costs $500
It's exactly what it sounds like. We gotta keep people safe and cover our butts.
Contingency
Costs $1,865
Shit happens. Inevitably. We are allotting 10% of our budget so when shit hits the fan, we're ready to handle it.
Food
Costs $1,100
Can't overstate the importance of keeping people fed. This will cover snacks and lunch for cast and crew!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Sofía Palmero (Writer, Producer, Actor)
Sofía (they/she) is a wickedly smart, fat, queer, Latine born in Venezuela, raised in Florida, and now a 9-year resident of Atlanta, GA. With a background in psychology and sociology, Sofía writes about mental health, friendship, and love, exploring complex characters and existential themes through intimate stories infused with comedy. Sofía seeks to infect her audiences with hope, daring them to ask the question: What if everything works out?
A self-proclaimed jack of all trades and master of words, Sofía is also an actor, dramaturg, producer, and occasional director. They are also in the process of becoming a certified Mental Health Coordinator.
Kristina Arjona (Director, Executive Producer, Mentor)
Kristina (she/they) has worked in the southeastern film industry for over 12 years on both sides of the lens, and uses their unique skills and training to increase effective communication and safety for everyone involved. They developed the Color Code Protocol, a communication technique and safety standards for working with sensitive material in film, adapted with the help of the sex-positive community, and has spoken about set safety strategies involving intimacy work at universities and panels including the Atlanta Film Festival, Women in Film, Out on Film Festival, Actor Empowerment Summit, and the Women in Production Summit.
Proudly queer and Latina, Kristina is particularly passionate about working with material involving queer stories, BIPOC characters, empowering younger individuals, and trauma-informed care in sexual violence-related scenes.
Angélica Pérez-Castro (Director of Photography)
Angélica (she/her) is a Puerto Rican cinematographer and steadicam operator based in Atlanta. She is a member of IATSE Local 600 and has operated on films and TV shows featured on Netflix, Fox, HBO, Amazon, and Hulu, as well as independent films, music videos, live events and commercials.
In 2021, she was selected for the ASC Vision Mentorship Program, followed by the AFI Cinematography Intensive in 2022. She is also a member of Women In Media and an active member of the Society of Camera Operators (SOC).
Angélica lensed the indie feature film Greek Mothers Never Die, set for release in May 2025.
Veronica Kelly (Mental Health Coordinator)
Veronica Nia Kelly (she/they) is a radiant creative force and an eternal student of life, led by curiosity and grounded in truth. As a classically trained actor, filmmaker, 200-hour certified yoga teacher and Sound Bath facilitator, they’ve found their deepest alignment where art and mindfulness meet. Veronica moves with purpose at the intersection of storytelling, healing, and advocacy, serving as a mental health coordinator on film and TV sets and sharing the transformative power of sound healing and yoga at drug and alcohol rehab centers across Atlanta. She’s seen lives shift and hearts open through these practices and feels deeply honored to share her art, wisdom, and humanity with the community.
Dionne Mahaffey (Mental Health Coordinator)
Dr. Dionne (she/her) is an Intimacy Professional and Mental Health Coordinator based in Atlanta and available for travel. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Industrial/Organizational Psychologist with a strong background in trauma-informed care, consent-forward practice, and on-set emotional safety in the documentary space. Her interdisciplinary training allows her to support both performers and crew with navigating scenes involving intimacy, identity-based stress, and emotionally intense material - without disrupting the flow of production.
Dr. Dionne brings a grounded, calm presence to set and works collaboratively across departments to help ensure everyone feels supported, seen, and respected. She offers script consultations, consent choreography, pre- and post-scene care, and practical strategies for managing the psychological impact of difficult content. She specializes in helping productions tell powerful stories while maintaining a culture of care behind the scenes.
Amanda Edwards (Mental Health Mentor)
Amanda M. Edwards (she/her) is a licensed therapist, certified Intimacy and Mental Health Coordinator, and trauma-informed educator based in Parker, Colorado. With a foundation in dance, theatre, and choreography that began in early childhood, she has worked on a diverse range of productions—from youth theatre and touring companies to independent films and major studio projects across the country. Amanda co-founded the Association of Mental Health Coordinators, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training professionals in supporting mental health on stage and screen. She also serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Theatre and Dance Department at Metropolitan State University in Denver and the Innovative Arts Department at the Community College of Aurora.