An Independent Short Film
About The Film
This dramedy follows an alien and space-obsessed girl named Hazel. After the death of her older sister, Hazel is sent to summer camp. As the first days of camp unfold, Hazel begins to suspect her new bunkmate's true origins. Our story was written in memoriam of the loss of my older brother, who passed away two years ago, leading us to hold this film extremely close to our hearts.
Our goal of $10,000 is to realize this movie supports our cast, crew, and production expenses for a 4-day shoot in California this April!
We have a wonderfully talented team signed on to create this unique project (meet us below). We are humbled to ask you to join us in this endeavor and are thankful for any contribution <3
What's the feel?
FUNDRAISING LEVELS
$10
Equivalent to Smore's for the crew!
A special shout-out in the credits!
$25
Equivalent to a weeks supply of gummy worms, you get:
A special shout-out in the credits!
Exclusive access to Behind the Scenes footage, Blooper Reel, and stills from set!
$50
Equivalent to a mountain of comic books:
A special shout-out in the credits!
Exclusive access to Behind the Scenes footage, Blooper Reel, and stills from set!
3 From Venus inspired buttons!
$100
Equivalent to a day of fishing, you get:
A special shout-out in the credits!
Exclusive access to Behind the Scenes footage, Blooper Reel, and stills from set!
3 From Venus inspired buttons!
A script signed by our cast & crew!
$500
For the price of ONE MILLION friendship bracelets (even though they are priceless) you've secured yourself:
An Associate Producer title in our credits
Exclusive access to Behind the Scenes footage, Blooper Reel, and stills from set!
A script signed by our cast & crew!
3 From Venus-inspired buttons!
From Venus T-shirt!
2 tickets to our summer screening!
$1,000
For just HALF of a lifetime supply of chocolate milk, you'll receive:
an Executive Producer credit
Exclusive access to Behind the Scenes footage, Blooper Reel, and stills from set!
A script signed by our cast & crew!
From Venus-inspired buttons!
From Venus Shirt & Hat!
4 tickets to our summer screening!
Allison Roder
Director
Allison graduated from Chapman University, majoring in Television Writing and Production with a minor in History. She maintains a background in comedy and is passionate about coming of age stories, based primarily upon the awkward yet relatable journey through childhood we all experience. An old soul and simultaneous kid at heart, she is originally from Chicago and couldn’t be more grateful for the incredible souls that combine to form the From Venus team!
Griffen Hamilton
Writer
Griffen Hamilton is a Junior Screenwriting student at Chapman University. He is from the LA area and has worked on over 20 student films in the past two years. His three favorite things are films, nature, and family, which makes this story extremely personal. When he grows up he wants to be a successful writer or the host of The Amazing Race. The film is dedicated to his older brother, Curtis Hamilton, who passed away two years ago.
Casey Naranjo
Producer
Casey graduated from Chapman University, majoring in Television Writing and Production with a minor in Advertising in May 2021. Originally from New Jersey, she’s had a deep passion for cinema and television since the age of 8 years old – possibly still visible via a poorly-made and rather embarrassing YouTube channel. Today, she is fortunate enough to create, direct, write, and produce various projects as a lover of story-telling and connecting with humanity.
Em Shafer
Director of Photography
Em Shafer is a Cinematographer based out of Los Angeles. Em graduated with a Film Production degree from Chapman University in 2021 and has had her work featured in a variety of festivals including NIFFTY and the Student Academy Awards. Em started out as a gaffer and uses that knowledge to create meaning through lighting. Em’s true passion is storytelling and uses camera and lighting as tools to help bring the story to life. Em is incredibly excited to be on the From Venus team and can’t wait to see what they will accomplish.
Ariel Becker
First Assistant Director
Ariel is a senior Film Production major at Chapman with a minor in Television and an emphasis in editing. Ariel got into film by being accidentally placed in a film class in high school and fell in love with it. She began editing her own YouTube videos and decided to emphasize in editing at Chapman. Through student sets Ariel has also found a love for 1st Assistant Directing and hopes to continue that in the future. Her main goal is to make a documentary about the foster care system, bringing awareness to the issues children face every day.
Hannah Greenberg
Production Designer/Art Director
Hannah Greenberg is a Junior Film Production student at Chapman University with an emphasis in Production Design. She is from the Chicago area but is currently based in Orange County and has been working on student and independent films in the art department for over two years. She is so excited to bring the world of From Venus to life and can't wait to get started!
Em Shafer
Director of Photography
Em Shafer is a Cinematographer based out of Los Angeles. Em graduated with a Film Production degree from Chapman University in 2021 and has had her work featured in a variety of festivals including NIFFTY and the Student Academy Awards. Em started out as a gaffer and uses that knowledge to create meaning through lighting. Em’s true passion is storytelling and uses camera and lighting as tools to help bring the story to life. Em is incredibly excited to be on the From Venus team and can’t wait to see what they will accomplish.
Ariel Becker
First Assistant Director
Ariel is a senior Film Production major at Chapman with a minor in Television and an emphasis in editing. Ariel got into film by being accidentally placed in a film class in high school and fell in love with it. She began editing her own YouTube videos and decided to emphasize in editing at Chapman. Through student sets Ariel has also found a love for 1st Assistant Directing and hopes to continue that in the future. Her main goal is to make a documentary about the foster care system, bringing awareness to the issues children face every day.
Hannah Greenberg
Production Designer/Art Director
Hannah Greenberg is a Junior Film Production student at Chapman University with an emphasis in Production Design. She is from the Chicago area but is currently based in Orange County and has been working on student and independent films in the art department for over two years. She is so excited to bring the world of From Venus to life and can't wait to get started!
Isabelle Rogerson
Hair & Makeup / Costumes
Isabelle Rogerson is a Sophomore Theater and Screenwriting student at Loyola Marymount University. She is from the LA area and has been in love with film and the arts since her birth. She is so excited to help bring this tender and sweet story to life, and to see how far From Venus can go!
Kelsi Roberts
Casting Director
Kelsi Roberts is a Casting Director based out of Los Angeles. She has a background in Comedy and was a writer and performer in the Sunday Compay at The Groundlings and UCB LA. She has a deep love for casting and has assisted in casting many commercials, movies, and television shows. She can't wait for you to see From Venus and loves being a part of such a stellar team.
Roxy Cowan
Social Media Manager
Roxy Cowan is a Junior Creative Producing major, and a Women and Gender Studies Minor. Her favorite movies are Eighth Grade and Disney's Treasure Planet, which spurred her love of world-building. Although she loves film, she's very passionate about themed entertainment and wants to be a show writer for theme parks in the future.
Sarah Best
Sound Design
Sarah recently graduated from Chapman in 2021 with a major in Film Production and a minor in Italian! She's currently pursuing sound mixing now, training under Warner Brothers sound mixer Todd Grace on television series such as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Picard. She also loves painting and crafting, so she is best known at the camp for face painting. Also fun fact: She and her sister, Sophia went to a summer camp to learn the art of clowning.
Lo-Tide
Music Compostion
Morgan and David met throughout the early years of high school and later solidified their friendship through the common themes of music and cross country that they vigorously participate in. After playing shows in a rock band, Lonely Ghost, the two decided to create a duo that infused their talents in guitar and violin. They then made a trip to Jake's house to pick up a ukulele and the rest is history.
Meet Our Cast
Jasmine
Sunshine
Munoz
as
Hazel Katz
Jasmine has been acting for almost 2 years and taking acting classes. She fell in love with acting and movies when she was 5. The LA area has been home since she was born. She’s so excited to bring this incredible story to life with the whole team!
Alice
California
Siders
as
Nelia Star
Alice California Siders is an actor and student based in the LA area. She has performed in a number of youth theater productions and is thrilled to continue building her experience in indie and student films. Outside of acting, Alice trains as a competitive figure skater and devours graphic novels. If this were summer camp, you’d find her playing guitar by the fire.
Jordan Villegas
as
Lily Katz
Jordan recently graduated from USC’s film and theatre schools on a full-tuition merit scholarship. While at USC she starred as Hamlet her sophomore year and then as Griselda, Shona, and Louise in Top Girls her senior year. Outside of school, she took classes at Upright Citizens Brigade. Since graduating, she starred as the lead in the world premiere of “The Last, Best Small Town” at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, and assisted directed their production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has continued studying acting at Stella Adler, South Coast Repertory, and the Lee Strasberg Institute. In addition to her acting work, she directs music videos. Jordan is also a foster through the ASPCA, has fostered a total of seven cats in two years.
Joshua Tanenbaum
as
Jesse Murphy
At the age of two, Joshua fell in love with musical theatre and acting, and his love has grown into a true passion. Now 10 Joshua eats, sleeps, and breathes musical theatre and is so grateful to be a part of this production. Joshua has been seen in as ‘Olaf’ in Frozen the Musical, ‘Jo-Jo’ in Seussical the Musical, ‘Winthrop’ in The Music Man, ‘Jack’ in Into the Woods, ‘Michael’ in Peter Pan, and ‘The Mayor’ in The Wizard of Oz. He is represented by Bartlett/Carter Management, and CESD Talent Agency. He would like to thank his friends and family for their love and support.
