A Sci-fi Adventure Short Film
Ava Everheart is a sci-fi adventure short film about two aliens who take their duel to Earth and get an unsuspecting college student involved, unintentionally registering herself as a fighter for the duel. The worst part, all of Earth is now at stake and will be forfeit to an alien empire if she loses. Now Ava must find a way to get out of it or win, otherwise we all lose.
Overview
The aim of this film is to make a “mini blockbuster” that has all the excitement, fun, action, humor and heart that you would come to expect from a big tent pole film, but all on a smaller scale in a short film runtime. Specifically, we are aiming to capture the feel of the great blockbusters of the 1980s and 1990s. Ones that told personal stories about a small group of characters but felt epic in scope.
At its heart, Ava is a story about the deep longing for connection. To find your people. The ones you can be so desperate to find that you are willing to change for fear that no one will accept you as you are. This film is for anyone that has ever felt like “the weird kid” and felt like they were the only one who didn’t fit in. It’s for anyone who has ever struggled with that feeling and to help them learn to love themselves just as they are.
Story
Two star fighters fight through our solar system, and they take their fight into Earth’s atmosphere. Meanwhile a college student (Ava) is getting ready to go meet with some potential new friends. As she bikes to them, she sees the alien ships fighting overhead. Ignoring it at first, she stops when one of the ships gets shot down. Torn, Ava heads into the forest to see if there are survivors. It’s there that she finds the space pirate princess Ryaka wounded on the ground.
In a rush to help the bleeding alien on the ground, Ava searches for something in the strange alien items that might be medicine. However, as she grabs one item, a floating robot (Arbiter) approaches and informs her that she has just officially been registered as a fighter representing all of Earth.
Now Ava must figure out how to get out of it or win the duel. Otherwise, she will forfeit all of Earth to an alien empire!
At its heart, Ava is a story about the deep longing for connection. To find your people, the ones you can be so desperate to find that you are willing to change for fear that they won’t accept you as you are.
Characters
Ava Everheart
Ava is a 1st year college student that wants to make true friends. Ones that won’t dismiss her as weird and avoid her. Ava is at heart, a passionate and bold person with a slightly snarky side, who doesn’t hesitate to leap towards adventure and to help those in need.
Ryaka
The space pirate princess Ryaka is notorious even among her peers. Spirited, mischievous and with a lust for life, Ryaka seems to relish living life in the fast lane. However, deep down she’s quite lonely and feels a desperate longing for connection.
Valren
The most decorated and capable soldier in the Vaylen Union army. Valren is strong, courageous, intelligent, and inside he cares deeply about things. However, he must be in constant control of his emotions and what he can show outwardly.
Production Design
A great deal of time and energy went into the look and feel of the various props needed for the film. The alien weapons and the floating robot were all designed in detailed 3D and are being made into detailed physical props for the actors to use on set.
There are three distinct alien cultures in the film, and all three need to be immediately recognizable and distinguishable from each other at a glance. These swords are made by the Yira Collective, an enigmatic and higher advanced alien civilization that wishes to keep peace in the galaxy. Going so far as to create ways to avoid all out warfare between parties. They create special weapons for duels like the one in the film. 
Two alien ships will be featured in the film, a personal fighter for each of the two aliens, and each will be realized through a combination of physical model miniatures and CGI.
The personal starfighters used by Ryaka and Valren were a blast to design. We put so much thought into how their cultures would design and use their ships, especially given their function.
Ryaka’s fighter embodies the scrappy, individualist ideals of the pirates. It’s a kitbash of parts from around the galaxy, but all put together in the coolest way possible. It’s the starship equivalent of a hot rod or a high e
nd custom built PC.
Valren’s ship reflects the Vaylen Union’s focus on craftsmanship and nature. Using materials like stone, wood and crystal in ways we can’t imagine. However, being a military ship, they want to intimidate so they craft it to reflect a dangerous bird of prey from their home world.
To make our aliens look sufficiently otherworldly, we will be using a combination of prosthetics and special effects makeup for the full effect.
Each element and pattern have been designed by our talented SFX artist and hand crafted to fit the actor and the story.
While makeup like this is common in sci-fi shows and movies, the use of it is no small feat. The artistry to make them and apply them every production day is involved, sometimes taking several hours each day.
Building believable alien cultures hinges heavily on things that show a great deal about those cultures. None more so than costumes.
With two aliens prominently shown in the film, each of their costumes have been designed with the backstory of their alien world in mind. We’ve gone through many design iterations with the concept art shown here being just one of them.
These costumes will be brought to life by our talented costumer who is making each of these specifically tailored for our actors.
The Cast
Izzy Thompson
Ava Everheart
Professionally trained, Izzy Thompson is a skilled actor with expertise in both on-screen and stage performances. From The Outsiders to a TV Pilot, KGG, she has adeptly taken on a variety of demanding roles, skillfully navigating both emotional and physically challenging projects. With a passion for captivating storytelling, Izzy is dedicated to bringing profound depth and dynamic range to every character she portrays, along with compelling performances across diverse media platforms.
Elizabeth Maxwell
Ryaka
Elizabeth Maxwell has an extensive resume in both mainstream media (A Perfect Getaway, Criminal Minds, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), as well as in the indie film world (Nia DaCosta’s Little Woods, the highly anticipated Johnny Ryan Movie, cult classic Virgin Cheerleaders in Chains). She also has a robust voice over career, lending her talents to numerous hit anime titles (My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Dragon Ball, RWBY) and award-winning video games (Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Persona 5).
Jung Moon Yoon
Valren
Jung Moon Yoon is a Korean American actor who shifted from a Biology major at the University of Texas at Austin to follow his passion for acting. He has appeared in projects such as "Seoul Vibe," "Dangun," "Non Grata," and "Shadow Unit." With a commitment to his craft, Moon continues to explore diverse roles in the industry.The Universe Beyond The Film
More Adventures Await...
Ava’s adventures don’t end with the film. This story was developed with a much broader universe of stories in mind. Ava’s adventures will take her further out into the galaxy, encountering all kinds of other alien cultures and exciting new challenges.
But she’s not the only adventurous member of her family. Her little brother Evan will also have a tendency to get involved in the paranormal. With his adventures taking him into the darker parts of our world and facing monsters, cryptids, ghosts and all kinds of other unexplained phenomenon.
Building an IP on a Budget
From a feature film version of the story to books and graphic novels, there are a variety of avenues to keep growing the Ava Everheart brand. Designed with serial storytelling in mind, the story includes a rich array of aliens, characters, and situations that can be explored in more than one medium.
While it takes a great deal of time and money to make films, other media such as books, graphic novels and social media shorts provide many opportunities to keep the story and the fanbase growing, allowing us to grow the brand along with it. This leads to bigger opportunities in the future.
Banners of the various factions at odds in the film
Production Already Underway
Work on the film is already well underway with a target for beginning principal photography in April of 2026.
Our team has been hard at work for months training actors, running camera tests. and more. We’ve also been putting a lot of effort into making all the custom props, makeup, etc. needed for the film. This has required a great deal of skills from a lot of talented people all working hard to bring this film to life.
How Can You Help?
If you are interested in helping this film come to life and proving that big adventures films don’t have be only made by studios with big budgets, please consider helping out the film by donating towards our budget (link at the top of the page). Every cent is greatly appreciated!
Why does donating make such a difference? Making a film of this scale on our very small budget is difficult to say the least. We are making it work with every trick imaginable, but there are some things that just need a certain minimum amount of money to be able to make it work. For example, we simply couldn’t have made the props without a minimum amount for the materials themselves.
We have ambitious goals for this film and Ava’s adventures in the future, but we can’t do any of it without help from wonderful people like you that want to help make it a reality. We can’t thank you enough for your support!