![]()
(Posters created by Jennifer Huang)
WHAT'S THE FILM ABOUT?
MOONLIGHT revolves around a woman, Lara, who is under house arrest. Lara leads a lonely life trapped inside her home by her ankle monitor. She has created a world for herself of red wine, isolation, and regret. Lara's demons lurk in the shadows of her empty townhouse until she receives an unexpected visit. Her neighbor, Kate, sheds some light on Lara's bleak outlook.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
In the early stages of development, I was deeply influenced and inspired by Claude Debussy's classic piece Clair de Lune. To me, the song is both beautiful and tragic and I modeled the overall mood of this film around that concept. Lara and Kate's story is both a heart-warming and heart-wrenching one, which makes MOONLIGHT so much more than a love story - it's a story of how two people transform one another. I wanted to explore the idea of how a memory that once defined a person could eventually be the reason for their demise.
PROJECT STATUS
We've recently finished shooting MOONLIGHT which currently puts us in the early phases of post-production. We're working hard to have the film finished in time to submit to a number of film festivals worldwide.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
All donations raised on Indiegogo will directly fund our post-production costs. This includes professional editing, sound mixing, color correction, and film festival fees.
THE TEAM
Janella Lacson - Writer & Director
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Janella is currently a film and television student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She wrote and directed her first short film, THE FIRST DATE, early in 2012 through the OutSet mentoring program from LifeWorks Mentoring (LAGLC) and LA's Outfest Film Festival. THE FIRST DATE has screened at over 35 film festivals worldwide and has won numerous awards including the Audience Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film at Outfest in 2012. Other awards include: 2nd Place Jury Award (Tampa Int'l Gay & Lesbian Film Festival) and Best Lesbian Short Film (Hamburg Int'l Queer Film Festival). Janella has also received several film related scholarships from Pariah director Dee Rees, LifeWorks, and NBCUniversal.
Elizabeth Phillipson-Weiner - Producer
Born in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in music, with a minor in film at New York University. Elizabeth stumbled upon her passion for producing a year ago and has since produced seven short films and is making her directorial debut this summer on a self-written comedic short. In addition to producing, Elizabeth is a working trombonist and composer for film and multimedia in New York City.
Frances Chen - Cinematographer
Originally from Toronto, Canada - Frances Chen is MOONLIGHT's director of photography. Frances' rigorous, conservatory-style training at Tisch School of the Arts's prestigious cinematography program shaped her into an exceptional cinematographer at a young age. She has shot numerous student short films during her time at NYU, all of which intensified her passion and talent for cinematography.
Starring Kendra Mylnechuk and Rachel Womble
![]()
RISKS AND CHALLENGES
Filmmaking always has its challenges, but with your help we are certain we will overcome any and all obstacles with ease.
The good news is - we've wrapped principal photography! This means the hardest part of making the film is over. We now need your help to make the rest of the process go smoothly. The amount of money we're asking for is a precisely calculated number which is the exact amount we will need to take this short film through post productions and get it out into the film festival circuit.
Thank you your visiting our Indiegogo page and we appreciate your support! All donations are greatly appreciated and we promise we'll make you proud!
---------------------------------
Thank you for your time and support! Please like us on Facebook and follow us onTwitter for updates!