"Dealing with Tristan" Short Film About Grief Seeks Your Support

Burbank, California-based screenwriter and actress Clarissa Thibeaux lost her mother and her father when she was very young; when she was 11, her mother was diagnosed with an advanced stage of breast cancer. Shortly after, her father unexpectedly passed away from kidney failure. By the age of 12, her mother lost her battle with cancer and she was devastated and alone. After additional losses in her family, Clarissa came to find that with each death brought a new way of grieving and coping with her loss and her grief.

Art has always been an outlet for Clarissa for dealing with her emotions and finding catharsis. With her latest short film, to be directed and produced by New York University-educated filmmaker Ryan Miller in November, entitled Dealing with Tristan, is the latest catharsis.

Dealing with Tristan centers around Sophie and Josephine and their grieving process over the recently deceased Tristan on the day of his funeral. Both struggle with the life-altering event in different ways but ultimately lean on each other for support. Sophie is outlandishly open about her grief; Joe, on the other hand, internalizes all of her grief without expressing much outlandish behavior. The loss of Sophie's brother sends Sophie into a hermit-like existence. Her quirkiness is an outward chaos, visually symbolized in the mess of her apartment. Joe, Tristan’s lover, stays strong for her friend – outwardly, none would suspect Joe of being emotionally broken. She keeps her pain inside. Because of Sophie's antics, Joe is compelled to make Sophie's well being her priority.

On the day of the postponed memorial service for Tristan, both women find themselves face-to-face with their inner demons. Dealing with Tristan explores the levels of the grieving process as we watch Sophie and Joe come to terms with their loss.

The story that we want to tell with this film is not just of loss, but about coping and surviving. Our goal is for this film to reach someone who may feel alone or confused, and let them know that the crazy rollercoaster of emotions that they are experiencing is warranted and completely ok. It's ok to laugh, it's ok to cry, it's ok to laugh until you cry or cry until you laugh. The story of Sophie and Josephine highlights those crazy moments when you're losing control but are able to persevere.

We are making the film for a very low cost - we need a minimum of $850 to make the movie come to life, and are looking to raise up to $1,200 to cover all of our production costs and to make sure that we have the equipment and props that we need to properly, professionally, and cinematically tell the story that we want to tell. If this project sounds of interest to you, please consider making a donation to make the film a reality - perks of donating range from us giving you a thank you shout out in the credits, sending you behind-the-scenes photos, to giving you associate producer or even executive producer credit in the movie and on IMDb. Please consider donating and sharing our Indiegogo campaign, here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dealing-with-tristan#/