A SHORT SOCIAL-HORROR FILM
created by
Alisha Bhowmik & Amanda Centeno
SO WHAT IS
VANILLA?
VANILLA is a short film created by Amanda Centeno and Alisha Bhowmik.
It's a social horror film that is centered on and creatively led by Asian American women and made for all to enjoy!
Think GET OUT meets STEPFORD WIVES.with the style of BLINK TWICE
Though we haven’t made the film yet, we’ve written a stellar script and are ready to go into production, but we need your help.
THE
STORY
On the day of her friend’s engagement party, Angie, a late-20s Asian-American woman, unearths her chilling preference for dating white men.
Her day starts with brunch with her besties who surprise her by setting her up with a date for the party. As the day goes on, Angie encounters subliminally bizarre occurrences, which bring her attention to ways her life is inextricably intertwined with colonial mindsets. Angie arrives at her friend’s engagement party, and is confronted with the drastic measures her fellow Asian American friends are willing to undergo. The horror sets in and Angie makes a run for it — literally. After escaping the party, she encounters two men who challenge her beliefs on attraction — leaving her trapped in the cycle of her own complicity with no immediate escape.
THE
CHARACTERS
ANGIE
Angie is a late 20's Asian American woman in consulting. Both her career and her love life leave a lot to be desired, and though she's elevated herself from her middle class upbringing, she has been feeling lost, unfulfilled and dissatisfied with life. Her friends’ drastic attempts to conform becomes unbearable for her. She then finds herself in the liminal space between what she knows she does not want to perpetuate within herself, and what she has been conditioned to desire.
THE FRIENDS
is a beauty editor at Cosmo and the first of her friend’s to tie the knot. She’s marrying her boyfriend Brett and excited to show it all off at her engagement party.
CONNIE
is a bonafide girl boss. She’s a corporate lawyer who sees climbing to the top with her boyfriend John as her next step in life.
PRIYANKA
is the bubbly one of the friend group. She’s more down to earth and has a steady relationship with her boyfriend Andrew.
CINDY
THE GUYS
is Connie's husband-to-be. He’s an All-American guy. He loves Connie's Korean ethnicity, enough to make their engagement party as fusion as he can.
BRETT
is Cindy’s longtime boyfriend. He’s handy in the backyard and easy-going. He isn’t one you’d ever question to be misogynistic but the patriarchy still runs deep subconsciously.
ANDREW
is the boy-next-door Asian American man. He’s kind and looks out for those in need, especially fellow Asian kin. He’s had his fair share of caucacity.
DAVE
OUR WORLD
WHO WE ARE +
WHY THIS FILM
THE CREATORS
ALISHA BHOWMIK
CO-WRITER / PRODUCER / DIRECTOR
Alisha is a multi-racial filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She graduated from NYU Tisch with a BFA. in acting in conjunction with the Atlantic Acting School. She produced feature film Blow Up My Life (Tubi) which premiered at Austin Film Festival '22 and had a limited theatrical run in fall 2023. She has produced and/or directed short films and music videos that have been awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick, NoBudge Best of the Year 2022 and have been featured in Huffington Post, Refinery29, NYLON and PAPER magazine. Her short doc Dot & a Feather was the first Sundance Collab Challenge winner. The first short film she collaborated with Amanda, Disaster Panties, screened at AAIFF '21 and Cucalorus '21. She currently works as a producer at advertising agency Droga5 (clients: Chase Bank, Essentia, Atlassian). Her favorite fruit is kiwi. www.alishabhowmik.com
AMANDA CENTENO
CO-WRITER / PRODUCER
Amanda is a New York City based actress and creative. She holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch, where she studied at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and the Experimental Theatre Wing. She wrote, produced and acted in the short film Disaster Panties, which she collaborated with Alisha, and screened at AAIFF 2021, Cucalorus 2021 and was featured on Film Shortage. She is a former Bat at The Flea Theater and former student of Anthony Abeson. She has performed Off-Broadway with Pan Asian Rep, regionally with Berkshire Theatre Group via their Apprentice Program, and in other theater spaces, including Ars Nova, Feinstein’s 54 Below, le poisson rouge, A.R.T New York, The Lark, The Flea Theater, The Tank, and Dixon Place. Her favorite restaurant is McDonald’s. www.amandacenteno.com
OUR TEAM
YUKI M. LEDBETTER
CONSULTINGPRODUCER
Yuki is an independent producer based in Brooklyn, New York by way of Sapporo, Japan who has worked on wide variety of award winning narrative films, music videos, and branded content. She worked as associate producer and post production supervisor the feature film, Alieu the Dreamer (2019), for BET Films and Paramount Pictures. She was also a producer for The Black Disquisition (2021), an animated short film that has screened in over 16 domestic and international festivals, winning two awards for Best Narrative Short Film, one for Best Director, and has exhibited in Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, WA. In 2020 she co-founded her production company ML-NEBULA with an intent focus on creating a safe and open environment for underrepresented filmmakers to thrive.
JALENA KEANE-LEE
CONSULTING PRODUCER
Jalena is a filmmaker who explores intergenerational trauma and healing through an intersectional lens. She produced Rest Stop a short film that premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2022 and won Best Short Film at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Her short film, Standing Above the Clouds, screened at over 40 film festivals, won best short documentary at LA Asian Pacific Film Festival and Special Jury Mention from the Center for Asian American Media, streamed on the Criterion Collection, and broadcast on POV. Jalena co-founded Breaktide Productions, an all women of color production company that has won two Cannes Lion awards for branded content. She’s produced commercial series for Nike and Facebook, and won Tribeca Through Her Lens 2020.
Maya is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker originally from the Bay Area, based in Brooklyn, NY. Her films have screened at TIFF, Chicago Film Festival, Cucalorus, New Orleans Film Festival, TIDE Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, and more. Her film Honolulu won the 2021 Tribeca Through Her Lens program & grant.
MAYA TANAKA
PRODUCER
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT
$56K PRODUCTION COSTS
$16K POST-PRODUCTION COSTS
We have currently raised $38K and are eager to raise more funding in order to lock in a stellar cast and crew. This will also ensure we are paying our nearly entirely POC and women crew a living wage!
For detailed info on our budget please contact us at vanilla.shortfilm@gmail.com!
YOUR INVESTMENT
Donations will makes this film what it can be! As emerging artists we rely on the support of friends, family, peers and generous donors to help make films like these happen. Short films can catapult careers of those who make them. Your donation will be a generous investment in the careers and art of the filmmakers and actors creating VANILLA. Your support will mean the world to us.
We want to recognize and celebrate your support!
ALL DONATIONS
We will list your name among Supporters at the end credits of the film!
$5,000
You will be listed as a Contributing Producer in our films credits!
$10,000
You will be listed as an Executive Producer in our films credits!