Ursula Unraveled
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Thriller
Ursula Astor, an actress past her prime, is visited by Farley, a journalist, for an at-home interview. When Farley reveals himself as a fan, Ursula is charmed—though it will soon become clear he's far more sinister than his demeanor implies. Marcos Guerra's NYU thesis film, shooting November 2024.
Ursula Unraveled
New York City, New York | Film Short
Drama, Thriller
1 Campaigns | New York, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $5,052 for production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
78 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
Ursula Astor, an actress past her prime, is visited by Farley, a journalist, for an at-home interview. When Farley reveals himself as a fan, Ursula is charmed—though it will soon become clear he's far more sinister than his demeanor implies. Marcos Guerra's NYU thesis film, shooting November 2024.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
1970.
Ursula Astor, a once widely celebrated actress in her youth, is only 27 years old and already past the prime of her stardom. Gearing up for a comeback to the screen in a dark Italian thriller following a string of box-office flops that tarnished her reputation, she invites a young journalist named Farley into her home for a candid career write-up and interview — a way of reintroducing herself to the public eye. Once Farley reveals himself to be one of Ursula's own fans with an almost religious admiration for her work, Ursula is touched, and the two proceed to spend one long, seemingly endless night indulging in substances, playing dress-up, and bearing their hearts to one another.
As the night goes on and the two get closer, Farley becomes increasingly possessive over Ursula and the idealized version of her he’s created in his head, and Ursula becomes plagued by strange hallucinations and lapses in memory. Darkness engulfs them and the fine line between reality and illusion blurs, culminating in a violent end for Ursula and the stranger she's let into her home — an end predestined on the waxy front page of a tabloid magazine.
Click here for a list of films that inspired Ursula Unraveled!
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I first joined online fan communities in middle school. Chatting with strangers on the internet over the things I loved was my preferred form of escape; whenever I wasn’t doing homework or chores or arguing with my siblings, I was behind the keyboard discussing the female artists and actresses my heart had become devoted to. The sense of community I couldn't find in real life as a timid boy afraid to share his interests, I ended up finding on the internet. However, I noticed that in many of these online spaces designed to be positive, the most vitriolic hatred towards the women came from their own fans. This kind of fan judges her at every shape; they make fun of her injuries, losses, and grief; they try to meddle in and ruin her personal relationships; they create hurtful rumors and cross clear boundaries. In a way, it’s as if they want to rob her of her agency. At what point does this love become possession?
This toxicity is inherent in internet fandom, and it's only become more commonplace. I see it every time I log on to social media; I've even contributed to it myself. As I've grown, both as a person and an artist, I've often thought about how suffocating this phenomena must be for the person on the other side of the parasocial relationship. To be held in the gaze of so many inscrutable and nameless faces, yet never be truly known or understood by them, is horrifying. In some ways, it's a testament to the human capacity to destroy others and themself — a theme I like to explore in my work.
With Ursula Unraveled, I want to delve into the relationship between a woman in the public eye and this specific kind of fan in a time where the internet did not exist, and through the lens of genre. I am particularly inspired by Italian giallo films from the 70s — hyper stylized, melodramatic, intoxicating crime thrillers often containing disorienting dream logic and twisty plots — the kind of film my actress, Ursula, is slated to star in. In my eyes, the only way to go about telling this story is to make it the most visceral and uncompromising experience for the audience, forming a sense of heightened reality through camerawork and sound design to create a pervasive atmosphere of dread, much like the films that have influenced me. Ursula Unraveled is for audiences like myself — admirers of pop starlets and Hollywood divas, terminally online stans, aficionados of a specific kind of film that is, sadly, rarely made anymore.
To achieve this, my team and I need your help!
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Our total production budget is $7,300. We will be receiving a $1,325 monetary allotment from NYU, and will have an additional $1,000 in funds secured by the time of production.
We are currently in pre-production, with shooting scheduled to take place at the beginning of November.
Our goal for this fundraising campaign is $5,000 to cover our most significant production expenses, which includes meals over four shooting days for our cast and crew, securing our location, and production design.
Our stretch goal for this campaign is $6,500, which would allow us to put more into creating the physical world within the film through props, wardrobe, and art, as we will be sourcing many vintage items and pieces.
After the shoot in November, we plan to begin post-production in December 2024, with our goal for the film to be completed in the summer of next year, ready for a premiere in the fall.
Last November, I shot my junior year film Angelhood, in which I collaborated with many of the same talented people I'm working with for Ursula. That film is in the last stages of post-production. Although it's a smaller, more experimental and visually-driven film, it tells a story that is just as personal and close to me as this one. I'm incredibly proud of what my team and I achieved, and I look forward to bringing another dark, bloody vision to life with their help.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1) PLEDGE
Contribute what you can and help bring URSULA UNRAVELED to life!
2) FOLLOW US
Follow our Seed & Spark page for progress updates as we move to production,
and follow us on Instagram: @ursulaunraveled!
3) SHARE OUR STORY
The only way we can reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks.
Share our campaign via social media, email, word-of-mouth, or any way you can!
Feel free to copy, paste, and share the template below!
Help filmmaker Marcos Guerra by supporting his new short film, URSULA UNRAVELED. Support them at seedandspark.com/fund/ursula-unraveled
Thank you for reading and for your support! We hope you're as excited as we are to bring Ursula Unraveled to life.
Best,
Marcos and the Ursula Unraveled Team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food
Costs $1,000
Help us make sure our crew is well-fed!
Art and Costumes
Costs $1,500
Help us transport our audience to the world of a late-60s movie star!
Camera + G&E
Costs $500
Help us acquire the additional camera and lighting equipment we need!
Location
Costs $2,000
Help us secure the most beautiful and period-accurate shooting location we can find!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
MARCOS GUERRA - WRITER/DIRECTOR
Marcos is a filmmaker and production designer of Costa Rican and Guatemalan descent from Hatboro, Pennsylvania. His work leans into horror, mystery, and the darker psychological aspects of the human experience, centering characters with disenfranchised identities that shape the way they navigate the world. His short film, Angelhood, is currently in post-production, with an anticipated online release in the Fall. With Ursula Unraveled, he hopes to use his affinity for horror and exploitation cinema to explore themes of celebrity obsession, fan culture, and autonomy in a time where conversations around such topics were not as commonplace as they are in the internet age.
NIKKI PAGE - PRODUCER
Nikki is a filmmaker from Boston, Massachusetts based in New York. Her senior thesis film Mix-Matched Socks received the NYU Student Producer’s Award and Post-Production Award, and was fiscally sponsored by Filmmakers’ Collaborative. She and co-producer Sebastian have produced several films together on a range of scales, from Soft Launch, a $70 short that screened at NFFTY 2023, to Third, on which they flew out a crew of 10 to Seattle this past January. Currently interning at Cinetic Media, Nikki has also worked with ReFrame, a project founded by Sundance and Women in Film.
SEBASTIAN ZUFELT - PRODUCER
Sebastian is a filmmaker based in New York and Seattle. His film Soft Launch was a selection of NFFTY 2023 & won Best Screenplay at the Gallatin Film Awards. His senior thesis film Third was the first student production fiscally sponsored by Northwest Film Forum. He received the NYU Student Producer’s Award and Post-Production Award for his work on Nikki Page’s thesis film, Mix-Matched Socks. He has worked for A24, The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, and Spectacle Theater. He and Marcos are longtime collaborators.
JULIA LIPSZTEIN - PRODUCER
Julia is a passionate filmmaker currently pursuing her studies in Film and Television at NYU Tisch, with minors in Producing and the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technologies from Stern. As a Brazilian-American artist, she has a rich background in creative work and philanthropy, having interned with the Brazil Foundation during her high school and early college years. Julia self-produced a successful cabaret that raised nearly $15,000, allowing underprivileged ballet dancers from Brazil to perform in New York City. Currently, she is a business development intern for the food documentary series TASTE. Julia aims to leverage her Brazilian heritage and education in producing to enhance the entertainment industry in South America and create opportunities for those in need.
JAKE TOLLMAN - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Jake is a cinematographer and colorist based in New York and Los Angeles, attending his final year at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Having worked with both analog and digital film mediums, he has had the pleasure of shooting numerous thesis projects and short films as well as music videos, live events, multi-channel video art installations and commercial work.
JULIA SONG - PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Julia (they/she) is a filmmaker currently studying Film & Television at NYU Tisch, along with a double major in Art History. Most recently, Julia has been working at Mythical Entertainment as their Summer Production Intern. Julia is also serving their second year as a member of the Comic Relief US Youth Advisory Council, along with seven other young leaders from around the world. With the YAC, Julia helped design and develop the Juntanza Fund, which makes grants of $5,000-$10,000 USD for up to a one-year term to youth-led programs, organizations, and campaigns around the world. Through collaboration and creativity, Julia hopes to make an impact as a storyteller in today's industry by enriching media representation with authentic, nuanced stories and voices.
ADRIANA GUEVARA - EDITOR
Adriana Guevara is a Peruvian-American filmmaker and editor recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her time at NYU was dedicated to the art of editing where she edited several narrative-driven projects, freelanced for USA Table Tennis, and created short-form content for local businesses and students. Her editing work was nominated for the 2023 American Cinema Editors (ACE) Student Award. Outside of the cutting room, Adriana channels her passions into telling stories centered around the experiences of growing up in a Catholic environment.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
1970.
Ursula Astor, a once widely celebrated actress in her youth, is only 27 years old and already past the prime of her stardom. Gearing up for a comeback to the screen in a dark Italian thriller following a string of box-office flops that tarnished her reputation, she invites a young journalist named Farley into her home for a candid career write-up and interview — a way of reintroducing herself to the public eye. Once Farley reveals himself to be one of Ursula's own fans with an almost religious admiration for her work, Ursula is touched, and the two proceed to spend one long, seemingly endless night indulging in substances, playing dress-up, and bearing their hearts to one another.
As the night goes on and the two get closer, Farley becomes increasingly possessive over Ursula and the idealized version of her he’s created in his head, and Ursula becomes plagued by strange hallucinations and lapses in memory. Darkness engulfs them and the fine line between reality and illusion blurs, culminating in a violent end for Ursula and the stranger she's let into her home — an end predestined on the waxy front page of a tabloid magazine.
Click here for a list of films that inspired Ursula Unraveled!
I first joined online fan communities in middle school. Chatting with strangers on the internet over the things I loved was my preferred form of escape; whenever I wasn’t doing homework or chores or arguing with my siblings, I was behind the keyboard discussing the female artists and actresses my heart had become devoted to. The sense of community I couldn't find in real life as a timid boy afraid to share his interests, I ended up finding on the internet. However, I noticed that in many of these online spaces designed to be positive, the most vitriolic hatred towards the women came from their own fans. This kind of fan judges her at every shape; they make fun of her injuries, losses, and grief; they try to meddle in and ruin her personal relationships; they create hurtful rumors and cross clear boundaries. In a way, it’s as if they want to rob her of her agency. At what point does this love become possession?
This toxicity is inherent in internet fandom, and it's only become more commonplace. I see it every time I log on to social media; I've even contributed to it myself. As I've grown, both as a person and an artist, I've often thought about how suffocating this phenomena must be for the person on the other side of the parasocial relationship. To be held in the gaze of so many inscrutable and nameless faces, yet never be truly known or understood by them, is horrifying. In some ways, it's a testament to the human capacity to destroy others and themself — a theme I like to explore in my work.
With Ursula Unraveled, I want to delve into the relationship between a woman in the public eye and this specific kind of fan in a time where the internet did not exist, and through the lens of genre. I am particularly inspired by Italian giallo films from the 70s — hyper stylized, melodramatic, intoxicating crime thrillers often containing disorienting dream logic and twisty plots — the kind of film my actress, Ursula, is slated to star in. In my eyes, the only way to go about telling this story is to make it the most visceral and uncompromising experience for the audience, forming a sense of heightened reality through camerawork and sound design to create a pervasive atmosphere of dread, much like the films that have influenced me. Ursula Unraveled is for audiences like myself — admirers of pop starlets and Hollywood divas, terminally online stans, aficionados of a specific kind of film that is, sadly, rarely made anymore.
To achieve this, my team and I need your help!
Our total production budget is $7,300. We will be receiving a $1,325 monetary allotment from NYU, and will have an additional $1,000 in funds secured by the time of production.
We are currently in pre-production, with shooting scheduled to take place at the beginning of November.
Our goal for this fundraising campaign is $5,000 to cover our most significant production expenses, which includes meals over four shooting days for our cast and crew, securing our location, and production design.
Our stretch goal for this campaign is $6,500, which would allow us to put more into creating the physical world within the film through props, wardrobe, and art, as we will be sourcing many vintage items and pieces.
After the shoot in November, we plan to begin post-production in December 2024, with our goal for the film to be completed in the summer of next year, ready for a premiere in the fall.
Last November, I shot my junior year film Angelhood, in which I collaborated with many of the same talented people I'm working with for Ursula. That film is in the last stages of post-production. Although it's a smaller, more experimental and visually-driven film, it tells a story that is just as personal and close to me as this one. I'm incredibly proud of what my team and I achieved, and I look forward to bringing another dark, bloody vision to life with their help.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1) PLEDGE
Contribute what you can and help bring URSULA UNRAVELED to life!
2) FOLLOW US
Follow our Seed & Spark page for progress updates as we move to production,
and follow us on Instagram: @ursulaunraveled!
3) SHARE OUR STORY
The only way we can reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks.
Share our campaign via social media, email, word-of-mouth, or any way you can!
Feel free to copy, paste, and share the template below!
Help filmmaker Marcos Guerra by supporting his new short film, URSULA UNRAVELED. Support them at seedandspark.com/fund/ursula-unraveled
Thank you for reading and for your support! We hope you're as excited as we are to bring Ursula Unraveled to life.
Best,
Marcos and the Ursula Unraveled Team
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Food
Costs $1,000
Help us make sure our crew is well-fed!
Art and Costumes
Costs $1,500
Help us transport our audience to the world of a late-60s movie star!
Camera + G&E
Costs $500
Help us acquire the additional camera and lighting equipment we need!
Location
Costs $2,000
Help us secure the most beautiful and period-accurate shooting location we can find!
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
MARCOS GUERRA - WRITER/DIRECTOR
Marcos is a filmmaker and production designer of Costa Rican and Guatemalan descent from Hatboro, Pennsylvania. His work leans into horror, mystery, and the darker psychological aspects of the human experience, centering characters with disenfranchised identities that shape the way they navigate the world. His short film, Angelhood, is currently in post-production, with an anticipated online release in the Fall. With Ursula Unraveled, he hopes to use his affinity for horror and exploitation cinema to explore themes of celebrity obsession, fan culture, and autonomy in a time where conversations around such topics were not as commonplace as they are in the internet age.
NIKKI PAGE - PRODUCER
Nikki is a filmmaker from Boston, Massachusetts based in New York. Her senior thesis film Mix-Matched Socks received the NYU Student Producer’s Award and Post-Production Award, and was fiscally sponsored by Filmmakers’ Collaborative. She and co-producer Sebastian have produced several films together on a range of scales, from Soft Launch, a $70 short that screened at NFFTY 2023, to Third, on which they flew out a crew of 10 to Seattle this past January. Currently interning at Cinetic Media, Nikki has also worked with ReFrame, a project founded by Sundance and Women in Film.
SEBASTIAN ZUFELT - PRODUCER
Sebastian is a filmmaker based in New York and Seattle. His film Soft Launch was a selection of NFFTY 2023 & won Best Screenplay at the Gallatin Film Awards. His senior thesis film Third was the first student production fiscally sponsored by Northwest Film Forum. He received the NYU Student Producer’s Award and Post-Production Award for his work on Nikki Page’s thesis film, Mix-Matched Socks. He has worked for A24, The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, and Spectacle Theater. He and Marcos are longtime collaborators.
JULIA LIPSZTEIN - PRODUCER
Julia is a passionate filmmaker currently pursuing her studies in Film and Television at NYU Tisch, with minors in Producing and the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technologies from Stern. As a Brazilian-American artist, she has a rich background in creative work and philanthropy, having interned with the Brazil Foundation during her high school and early college years. Julia self-produced a successful cabaret that raised nearly $15,000, allowing underprivileged ballet dancers from Brazil to perform in New York City. Currently, she is a business development intern for the food documentary series TASTE. Julia aims to leverage her Brazilian heritage and education in producing to enhance the entertainment industry in South America and create opportunities for those in need.
JAKE TOLLMAN - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Jake is a cinematographer and colorist based in New York and Los Angeles, attending his final year at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Having worked with both analog and digital film mediums, he has had the pleasure of shooting numerous thesis projects and short films as well as music videos, live events, multi-channel video art installations and commercial work.
JULIA SONG - PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Julia (they/she) is a filmmaker currently studying Film & Television at NYU Tisch, along with a double major in Art History. Most recently, Julia has been working at Mythical Entertainment as their Summer Production Intern. Julia is also serving their second year as a member of the Comic Relief US Youth Advisory Council, along with seven other young leaders from around the world. With the YAC, Julia helped design and develop the Juntanza Fund, which makes grants of $5,000-$10,000 USD for up to a one-year term to youth-led programs, organizations, and campaigns around the world. Through collaboration and creativity, Julia hopes to make an impact as a storyteller in today's industry by enriching media representation with authentic, nuanced stories and voices.
ADRIANA GUEVARA - EDITOR
Adriana Guevara is a Peruvian-American filmmaker and editor recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her time at NYU was dedicated to the art of editing where she edited several narrative-driven projects, freelanced for USA Table Tennis, and created short-form content for local businesses and students. Her editing work was nominated for the 2023 American Cinema Editors (ACE) Student Award. Outside of the cutting room, Adriana channels her passions into telling stories centered around the experiences of growing up in a Catholic environment.