Kickstart Your Weekend With 'A Kiss Before You Go'

Some people make films for money. Some make films for laughs. Writer/director Carley Marissa made A Kiss Before You Go to explore deep-seated emotional trauma.

Henry and Magdalena had a pretty solid relationship – laughing, dancing, making out in the shower, your standard young relationship fare – until a random act of sexual assault destroys them, both individually and as a couple. Over the next year and a half, they must learn how to rebuild their futures from the pieces that remain.

Marissa (The Space Between Us), who moved to Austin from Florida three years ago, chose to confront this difficult subject after a close friend endured a similar upheaval, so the writing comes from a deeply personal place. But statistically speaking, one in four women and one in six men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetimes, and it takes a tremendous amount of strength – from within and without – to overcome those tragedies.

And as the cast and crew prepare to shoot (here in town, June 25-27), they need a little help from the community too: The $8,950 goal set on their Indiegogo campaign will help pay the crew, cover craft services, acquire permits for shooting locations, and provide production insurance, but the first thing Marissa cites as a need is "the love and support of our community."

It's a flexible funding campaign, which means they'll receive the funds contributed regardless of whether they surpass the goal, and every bit counts. Check out the perks for donators on the fundraiser page, and snag A Kiss Before You Go.

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Kickstart Your Weekend is a series intended to showcase Texas film and tech projects that are crowdfunding their way to a goal, be it distribution, a prototype, or production costs. If you have a project that we should know about, email us at filmflam@austinchronicle.com.