Coming to terms of her younger sister, Maya’s terminal cancer has always been difficult for Serena Gonzalez. She struggles with her own mental health issues and relies on her bond with Maya to help through those struggles. The sisters share a bond like no other which makes it difficult for Serena to accept Maya’s fate.

Written and Produced by Anna Carina Scalzi, So Long and Good Night, explores the sisterly bond that Serena and Maya Gonzalez have as Serena tries to come to terms with Maya’s terminal cancer.

So Long and Good Night is a film that conveys a young Cuban American woman, Serena Gonzalez’s fight with her own mental illness while trying to come to terms with her younger sister, Maya Gonzalez’s, terminal cancer.

This story is very personal to me because similar to the sister’s relationship’s my sister and I are extremely close, and we share a bond like no other. Like our protagonist, I too have mental illness and I want to share light on how discussing having anxiety and functioning depression should be discussed more in media and even amongst friends and your community.

 In my experiences whenever my mental health issues are brought to light, I’m quickly looked at differently or stigmatized whenever I’m facing personal issues and that shouldn’t be the case. People who have mental illness should feel open and free when discussing their mental health illness and my hope with my thesis is to have more open conversations about people’s mental health.

I have a multicultural background of Italian descent (from my father’s side) and Cuban descent (from my mother’s side). This film heavily focuses on my Cuban roots, mostly due to my abuelita, Hipolita ‘Pola’ Gonzalez always being a constant in my life. She was living with my parents since I was in middle school and was always getting herself into the good kind of trouble. She was fierce, loved, extremely independent and a kick ass Latina. Sadly, she passed last year and now my thesis film will be dedicated to her.

Let's Meet Our Team!

Anna Carina Scalzi (Writer, Producer, & Editor) is a multicultural writer, producer, and editor of Cuban and Italian descent. Scalzi is currently pursuing her MFA in Film and TV in Atlanta, at the Savannah College of Art & Design. While she loves to learn the different aspects and departments in Film and TV, her passion is video editing. Anna has developed, scripted, supervised, and taken on different crew positions on diverse projects ranging from documentary, music video, branded films, and narratives. She has a great eye for detail, and continuity.

She received her bachelor’s degree in Art and Science from the University of North Florida in Communications with is a concentration in Electronic Media. Anna has developed, script supervised, and taken on different crew positions, on different projects ranging from documentary, music video, branded films, and narratives.

Mya-Breyana Morton (Director) is Cinematographer,  Producer, and Director based in Atlanta, Ga. She spent the majority of her childhood in Kuwait attending the American School of Kuwait where she traveled the Middle East playing softball for Kuwait’s National Softball Team. She holds an M.F.A. in Film & Television Production from Savannah College of Art and Design and a B.I.S. in Sports Administration from Georgia State University.

At age 19 she was the youngest student to graduate from Georgia State's Sports Administration program and at age 22, one of the youngest to graduate from SCAD's Film & Television Master's program. She was recently the cinematographer and co-producer for a short horror film entitled, "Auntie", which is currently streaming on social media platforms. "Auntie" was a viral hit and has since gained over 800,000 views. Her main goal within her career is to travel the world making films that resonate with people in new and exciting ways. Her approach in doing so is by educating herself on the craft of filmmaking and storytelling and simple trial and error.

Marcus Kyle (Directory of Photography) is s a diverse film maker focused on cinematography with a passion for directing/writer. Raised in Dallas TX, Bachelor’s in Marketing from Morehouse College, pursing MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).  He currently mainly operates on indie shorts and commercials in the ATL area. He’s shot a number of shorts for local film makers and boasts a deepening collection of directorial endeavors himself. 

Erik Francisco Medina (Casting Director) is a writer, filmmaker, and development producer from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. He brings a much-needed new perspective to his work, creating thought-provoking works that explore the experiences of young people of color in modern America. Erik is not beholden to a single medium, incorporating everything from music and cuisine to politics to bring his visions to life. Erik holds an MFA in Film and Television from Savanna College of Art and Design, and a BA in Mass Communications from Universidad del Turabo. He currently splits his time between Atlanta, Puerto Rico and Los Angeles, where he continues to use his creativity to start important conversations and propel society forward.

Ekaterina Soyuznova (Illustrator) is an internationally renowned Illustrator from Moscow, RU. She is known for traveling and enhancing her professionalism by living in different countries. Currently, she is based in Los Angeles.

Her professional skills include storyboarding, character design, and Background painting. She had significantly contributed to Numerous award-winning film projects.   And currently working on one of her personal projects webtoon comics " Monster pet" while creating appealing designs for various announced animated short films.

So Long & Good Night is a dramatic, origin story about Cuban American, Serena Gonzalez dealing with her own mental health issues while trying to come to terms with her younger sister, Maya’s terminal cancer.

This film explores Serena and Maya’s sisterly bonds, and the lengths Serena will go to help Maya. I’m looking at raising a flexible goal of $10,000 for my thesis film. Your support and donation will help pay for:

Locations and Permits

Equipment Rentals

VFX

Stunt Coordination

Wardrobe

Props

Cast and Crew gifts

Food for Cast and Crew

Post-Production

Festival Submissions

EVERY SINGLE DONATION COUNTS, so please show your support in any way that you can! You will be receiving the tier perks that you donate to and their respective perks above. 

With you help and donations my hope is for this project to shed light and support and normalize more discussions and people dealing with different mental health issues.

With the hope of the success of this film, Serena will embark and in a coming-of-age story with her magical, superhero, origin story. The hope is to continue Serena’s story in the future and have her embrace becoming the first Cuban American Female Lead who will develop magical powers and watch her as she tries to become a hero in her own right.

A big challenge for this film will be Stunt Coordination, due a fight scene that happens between Serena and a Man. Safety is my number one priority and having the proper Stunt Coordinator and a Set Medic is really important.

Another challenge is VFX because there will be magical components that affect Serena and a VFX Supervisor will need to be on set to make sure the effects will be useable in post-production.

Having Stunts and VFXs in a short film is something that I incorporated in my script because I wanted to challenge myself in Principal Photography (filming my thesis) and in Post Production.

Here’s another way you can help:

• Get the word out and make some noise about my campaign! Send it to all your friends and family!
• Please use your social media outlets and share, share, share!
• Remember to use the Indiegogo share tools as well!