Underneath Us
Maplewood, New Jersey | Film Short
Drama, Experimental
In an age of loneliness, Underneath Us investigates deep, undefined connection. What does it mean to be in love? Allegra and Giovanna’s love story encompasses the way anguish and joy live in tandem — molding their universe and exposing “The Underneath,” a realm where emotions are alive.
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Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$10,980
Goal: $13,500 for production
In an age of loneliness, Underneath Us investigates deep, undefined connection. What does it mean to be in love? Allegra and Giovanna’s love story encompasses the way anguish and joy live in tandem — molding their universe and exposing “The Underneath,” a realm where emotions are alive.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We Begin
Six-year-old Allegra and Giovanna breathe with determination as their foreheads press up against each other. The two young girls attempt a precarious dance position -- nothing else in the world matters at this exact moment. A light green glow emanates around Allegra and a periwinkle glow seeps from Giovanna as their passion to get their legs on each other’s shoulders overtakes them. This is The Underneath.
This is the exact dance shape the real Rosa Allegra Wolff and Franca Rosenblatt crafted together when we were six years old at our first dance school. This was the beginning of our professional dance and theater careers, and our first collaboration.
After two decades of growing side by side, yearning for each other at our most difficult and joyful moments, we find ourselves asking: What does true love look like?
Why This Matters
Having a romantic partner is taught to be at the forefront of life goals. This project questions this orientation by basing it on our real relationship — first as childhood best friends, currently roommates, and then ultimately life partners.
Our relationship feels like it lives in every time frame. We know each other in the metaphysical realm. This is why we are creating a universe where emotions are personified and visually interact. This is what is happening in our real lives, in Allegra and Giovanna’s real lives, in the lives of those lucky enough to experience profound, boundless love. Underneath Us is the place to show this reality.
Reframing where to find fulfillment from all kinds of love is pertinent as the loneliness epidemic rises and isolation takes over many social lives. A neutral heart is a heart unused -- Deep relationships come with incredible complexities: the willingness to feel on top of the world, as well as the bravery to embrace the sticky feelings. We urge you, the audience, not to shy away from grief and anger, but instead, to lean in, and see where the joy lies.
Future Goals
This short film will serve as a proof of concept for the TV Series of which we have written the pilot. We plan on using this Proof of Concept to pitch our series to production companies that align with our mission and world building vision. Our world needs more examples of queer love to draw from and for this reason, we are most excited to make this first step in bringing Underneath Us to life.
April 2026 - August 2026: Pre Production
Mid June 2026: Launch Seed&Spark Campaign
Late August 2026: Shoot week
September - December 2026: Post Production
January 2027 - Kick off our festival run!
We are raising funds for just about every stage of this project -- Pre Production, Production, and Post. Investing in this Proof of Concept will help us realize the project we have been conceptualizing for two years (maybe we’ve been preparing for this the entire time we’ve known each other, so it’s really 19 years in the making!). If you are unable to donate but have interest in our work, please spread the word and follow our campaign page AND our Instagram for updates. @Underneathus.film
THANK YOU for being part of our journey, no matter what form you've arrived in. We'll see you in The Underneath.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Post Production
Costs $2,000
Editing and color correction to ensure our magical realm is realized.
Equipment Rentals
Costs $2,500
To help ensure we have the best equipment to serve our story.
Music Rights - Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder
Costs $1,500
There is a particular scene where we can't imagine using any other song! Stevie has always been incredibly influential to our story.
Cast/Crew
Costs $4,000
Help pay our incredible team. From our cast, to camera crew, to sound, and everyone in-between.
Animation/VFX
Costs $1,000
Every piece of this project is curated with detail, mixed media, stop motion and digital VFX!
Marketing/Submissions
Costs $1,000
From festival submissions to promotional posters, we cherish the support to spread our word.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Writers/Directors:
Rosa Allegra Wolff and Franca Rosenblatt (R&F Create) became friends choreographing dances at their local dance school when they were six years old. Ever since, they have found their worlds cosmically intertwined through childhood and as young adults as they have pursued their dance and theater passions, side by side. Their sparks have grown together, honoring the fantasies living within them. Rosa and Franca have been conceptualizing and working on Underneath Us for two years. Their creativity melds together to understand love, grief, and the confusion that lies between them. They are now in their 20s and roommates living in Brooklyn, NYC.
Rosa Allegra Wolff is a multi-hyphenate creative: a writer, photographer, choreographer, actor, and dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. They are world builder, grasping the spectrum of realities humans face, to spark melancholic, electrifying truths. Rosa has presented their choreography at venues such as the Martha Graham Dance Theater and Arts on Site. They graduated from George Mason school of Dance with honors in writing and choreography. Rosa has performed in venues such as the Brooklyn Arts Music Opera House, New York Live Arts, Theatre in Quarantine's 8- sq foot closet, and more. For Rosa, behind every shape, every voice, is a thread that wants to be followed.
Franca Rosenblatt is a charming and fiery actor, writer, singer, and dancer, who gravitates towards work that stirs the pot, hoping to spark new perspectives and possibilities of fantasy. She loves working on projects of all mediums, including plays, musicals, films, and those in between. Franca graduated from UCLA (Paws Up, Bruins!), and since then has worked in multiple regional and Off-Broadway houses, received a writing award from The Dance Theater of Harlem, and most recently was flagged in a glowing performance review on BroadwayWorld.
Producer:
Ivan Cecil Walks is a New York based producer, dancer, movement director, musician, as well as an Elliot Norton Award Winning actor. It is one the greatest honors of his career to be brought into the producing team for this beautiful story with such beautiful artists. The opportunity to tell stories through film is a privilege we do not take lightly and are so excited to receive your help & support beginning this journey. Any donation means the world to us, and is immensely appreciated! See you at the premiere!
Director of Photography:
Yosa is a Brooklyn based DP and director. Her interest in imagery comes from being in love with the world around her. She’s moved by the genuineness in people, finding beauty in the “good” and the “bad”. She’s pulled by stories with no villains; that treat the multiple facets of human life with dignity.
Gaffer:
Noah Hense graduated Montana State University with a BA in film and photography (and a minor in small business management that has yet to be put to use) in 2022. While In school, Noah wrote and directed a senior thesis film that won best film among his graduating class, and would later go on to be a semi-finalist at Indie Cannes (best horror short at Indiex Festival in LA). Shortly after school, Noah worked as a camera operator and editor on a feature documentary, Siloed, that received funding from the state of Montana, and was awarded a grant for a short documentary St. Marie, Montana, which he produced in collaboration with a cohort member. Noah is now based in New York City and pursues a full time freelance career in film and television where he works primarily as a lighting technician and cinematographer. Noah is incredibly excited and honored to be acting as a gaffer on UNDERNEATH US, and he relishes the opportunity to bring Franca and Rosa's beautiful vision to life!
Assistant Director:
Sophie Shapiro is an artist from Los Angeles with a love for power ensemble-driven storytelling across genres. She is a graduate of UCLA's Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program and a former Joffrey Ballet School trainee. Recent credits include Ballet Collective's The Woods (NYSAF), dancing with Disney Live Entertainment, the indie short film Carnival, and performing with her band, The Painted Ladies. She's excited to be stepping behind the camera and joining the heartfelt team creating Underneath Us.
Animator/Mixed Media Artist:
Damian Gong is an artist and filmmaker based in NYC. He works with animation, painting, printmaking, drawing, installation, sculpture, and film. Using material experiments, his work interprets mainstream American culture through a trans lens.
Composer:
Roger Suen is an Emmy-nominated composer whose work spans feature films, television, video games, and documentaries. Most recently, he scored the Lily Gladstone-narrated PBS documentary Bring Them Home, earning his first News & Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Composition.
His other recent work includes the upcoming thriller Tommy Karate, starring Camila Mendes and Pete Davidson; Assassin’s Creed Jade for Tencent and Ubisoft, the latest installment in the iconic video game franchise; the Paramount+ rom-com Love in Taipei; and the Nicolas Cage-led action-comedy The Retirement Plan.
Roger is a longtime collaborator of director Justin Chon, having scored the MACRO-produced drama Blue Bayou, which premiered at Cannes in 2020, was acquired by Focus Features, and was named among Film Scorer’s Top 10 Scores of 2021. His work with Chon also includes Gook (Sundance 2017), Ms. Purple (Sundance 2019), and Jamojaya (Sundance 2023). Film Music Magazine described his acclaimed Gook score as “powerfully unexpected musical color,” also including it in its Top 10 Scores of 2017.
Roger’s diverse portfolio includes additional music for Guillermo del Toro’s four-time Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water, Netflix’s Daredevil and The Defenders, and 21st Century Fox’s science fiction thriller The Darkest Minds, starring Amandla Stenberg and Mandy Moore.
His work also spans major studio and franchise projects including Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance, Netflix’s Red Notice, Lionsgate’s Borderlands, and Warner Bros.’ DC League of Super-Pets, as well as Marvel and Fox titles such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and The Star.
A Southern California native, Roger studied music composition at UCLA and CSUN. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
We Begin
Six-year-old Allegra and Giovanna breathe with determination as their foreheads press up against each other. The two young girls attempt a precarious dance position -- nothing else in the world matters at this exact moment. A light green glow emanates around Allegra and a periwinkle glow seeps from Giovanna as their passion to get their legs on each other’s shoulders overtakes them. This is The Underneath.
This is the exact dance shape the real Rosa Allegra Wolff and Franca Rosenblatt crafted together when we were six years old at our first dance school. This was the beginning of our professional dance and theater careers, and our first collaboration.
After two decades of growing side by side, yearning for each other at our most difficult and joyful moments, we find ourselves asking: What does true love look like?
Why This Matters
Having a romantic partner is taught to be at the forefront of life goals. This project questions this orientation by basing it on our real relationship — first as childhood best friends, currently roommates, and then ultimately life partners.
Our relationship feels like it lives in every time frame. We know each other in the metaphysical realm. This is why we are creating a universe where emotions are personified and visually interact. This is what is happening in our real lives, in Allegra and Giovanna’s real lives, in the lives of those lucky enough to experience profound, boundless love. Underneath Us is the place to show this reality.
Reframing where to find fulfillment from all kinds of love is pertinent as the loneliness epidemic rises and isolation takes over many social lives. A neutral heart is a heart unused -- Deep relationships come with incredible complexities: the willingness to feel on top of the world, as well as the bravery to embrace the sticky feelings. We urge you, the audience, not to shy away from grief and anger, but instead, to lean in, and see where the joy lies.
Future Goals
This short film will serve as a proof of concept for the TV Series of which we have written the pilot. We plan on using this Proof of Concept to pitch our series to production companies that align with our mission and world building vision. Our world needs more examples of queer love to draw from and for this reason, we are most excited to make this first step in bringing Underneath Us to life.
April 2026 - August 2026: Pre Production
Mid June 2026: Launch Seed&Spark Campaign
Late August 2026: Shoot week
September - December 2026: Post Production
January 2027 - Kick off our festival run!
We are raising funds for just about every stage of this project -- Pre Production, Production, and Post. Investing in this Proof of Concept will help us realize the project we have been conceptualizing for two years (maybe we’ve been preparing for this the entire time we’ve known each other, so it’s really 19 years in the making!). If you are unable to donate but have interest in our work, please spread the word and follow our campaign page AND our Instagram for updates. @Underneathus.film
THANK YOU for being part of our journey, no matter what form you've arrived in. We'll see you in The Underneath.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Post Production
Costs $2,000
Editing and color correction to ensure our magical realm is realized.
Equipment Rentals
Costs $2,500
To help ensure we have the best equipment to serve our story.
Music Rights - Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder
Costs $1,500
There is a particular scene where we can't imagine using any other song! Stevie has always been incredibly influential to our story.
Cast/Crew
Costs $4,000
Help pay our incredible team. From our cast, to camera crew, to sound, and everyone in-between.
Animation/VFX
Costs $1,000
Every piece of this project is curated with detail, mixed media, stop motion and digital VFX!
Marketing/Submissions
Costs $1,000
From festival submissions to promotional posters, we cherish the support to spread our word.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Writers/Directors:
Rosa Allegra Wolff and Franca Rosenblatt (R&F Create) became friends choreographing dances at their local dance school when they were six years old. Ever since, they have found their worlds cosmically intertwined through childhood and as young adults as they have pursued their dance and theater passions, side by side. Their sparks have grown together, honoring the fantasies living within them. Rosa and Franca have been conceptualizing and working on Underneath Us for two years. Their creativity melds together to understand love, grief, and the confusion that lies between them. They are now in their 20s and roommates living in Brooklyn, NYC.
Rosa Allegra Wolff is a multi-hyphenate creative: a writer, photographer, choreographer, actor, and dancer with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. They are world builder, grasping the spectrum of realities humans face, to spark melancholic, electrifying truths. Rosa has presented their choreography at venues such as the Martha Graham Dance Theater and Arts on Site. They graduated from George Mason school of Dance with honors in writing and choreography. Rosa has performed in venues such as the Brooklyn Arts Music Opera House, New York Live Arts, Theatre in Quarantine's 8- sq foot closet, and more. For Rosa, behind every shape, every voice, is a thread that wants to be followed.
Franca Rosenblatt is a charming and fiery actor, writer, singer, and dancer, who gravitates towards work that stirs the pot, hoping to spark new perspectives and possibilities of fantasy. She loves working on projects of all mediums, including plays, musicals, films, and those in between. Franca graduated from UCLA (Paws Up, Bruins!), and since then has worked in multiple regional and Off-Broadway houses, received a writing award from The Dance Theater of Harlem, and most recently was flagged in a glowing performance review on BroadwayWorld.
Producer:
Ivan Cecil Walks is a New York based producer, dancer, movement director, musician, as well as an Elliot Norton Award Winning actor. It is one the greatest honors of his career to be brought into the producing team for this beautiful story with such beautiful artists. The opportunity to tell stories through film is a privilege we do not take lightly and are so excited to receive your help & support beginning this journey. Any donation means the world to us, and is immensely appreciated! See you at the premiere!
Director of Photography:
Yosa is a Brooklyn based DP and director. Her interest in imagery comes from being in love with the world around her. She’s moved by the genuineness in people, finding beauty in the “good” and the “bad”. She’s pulled by stories with no villains; that treat the multiple facets of human life with dignity.
Gaffer:
Noah Hense graduated Montana State University with a BA in film and photography (and a minor in small business management that has yet to be put to use) in 2022. While In school, Noah wrote and directed a senior thesis film that won best film among his graduating class, and would later go on to be a semi-finalist at Indie Cannes (best horror short at Indiex Festival in LA). Shortly after school, Noah worked as a camera operator and editor on a feature documentary, Siloed, that received funding from the state of Montana, and was awarded a grant for a short documentary St. Marie, Montana, which he produced in collaboration with a cohort member. Noah is now based in New York City and pursues a full time freelance career in film and television where he works primarily as a lighting technician and cinematographer. Noah is incredibly excited and honored to be acting as a gaffer on UNDERNEATH US, and he relishes the opportunity to bring Franca and Rosa's beautiful vision to life!
Assistant Director:
Sophie Shapiro is an artist from Los Angeles with a love for power ensemble-driven storytelling across genres. She is a graduate of UCLA's Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program and a former Joffrey Ballet School trainee. Recent credits include Ballet Collective's The Woods (NYSAF), dancing with Disney Live Entertainment, the indie short film Carnival, and performing with her band, The Painted Ladies. She's excited to be stepping behind the camera and joining the heartfelt team creating Underneath Us.
Animator/Mixed Media Artist:
Damian Gong is an artist and filmmaker based in NYC. He works with animation, painting, printmaking, drawing, installation, sculpture, and film. Using material experiments, his work interprets mainstream American culture through a trans lens.
Composer:
Roger Suen is an Emmy-nominated composer whose work spans feature films, television, video games, and documentaries. Most recently, he scored the Lily Gladstone-narrated PBS documentary Bring Them Home, earning his first News & Documentary Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Composition.
His other recent work includes the upcoming thriller Tommy Karate, starring Camila Mendes and Pete Davidson; Assassin’s Creed Jade for Tencent and Ubisoft, the latest installment in the iconic video game franchise; the Paramount+ rom-com Love in Taipei; and the Nicolas Cage-led action-comedy The Retirement Plan.
Roger is a longtime collaborator of director Justin Chon, having scored the MACRO-produced drama Blue Bayou, which premiered at Cannes in 2020, was acquired by Focus Features, and was named among Film Scorer’s Top 10 Scores of 2021. His work with Chon also includes Gook (Sundance 2017), Ms. Purple (Sundance 2019), and Jamojaya (Sundance 2023). Film Music Magazine described his acclaimed Gook score as “powerfully unexpected musical color,” also including it in its Top 10 Scores of 2017.
Roger’s diverse portfolio includes additional music for Guillermo del Toro’s four-time Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water, Netflix’s Daredevil and The Defenders, and 21st Century Fox’s science fiction thriller The Darkest Minds, starring Amandla Stenberg and Mandy Moore.
His work also spans major studio and franchise projects including Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance, Netflix’s Red Notice, Lionsgate’s Borderlands, and Warner Bros.’ DC League of Super-Pets, as well as Marvel and Fox titles such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, and The Star.
A Southern California native, Roger studied music composition at UCLA and CSUN. He currently resides in Los Angeles.