Private Project

Luccica

In this modern opera, a couple eagerly enter their married lives by renovating an old Victorian they hope will become their home. But tragedy strikes when the young wife unexpectedly commits suicide—right before her husband’s eyes. Little did they know, the house was already inhabited by a ghostly apparition seeking revenge on the innocent couple for her own unfortunate life and untimely death. And she wants the husband too. Like a siren, she uses his former love’s own voice to lure him to his death in exchange for a more complete visage in the afterlife.

  • Jesse McAnally
    Director
    After Ashes, Sunny Days
  • Jesse McAnally
    Writer
    After Ashes, Sunny Days
  • Frederick McAnally
    Producer
    After Ashes, Sunny Days
  • Stephanie Stoiko
    Key Cast
    "Mimi"
  • Phillip Shaun Devone
    Key Cast
    "Tom"
  • Rochelle Nicholle
    Key Cast
    "Katie"
  • Firas Allouch
    Cinematographer
    After Ashes, Borders Crossed
  • Zac Clark
    Gaffer
  • Jenna Kroepel
    Assistant Director
  • Dark Hoffman
    VFX
    Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Idiocracy
  • Fractal FX
    VFX
  • Eli Vail
    Lighting Crew
  • Nathan P Keelan
    Lighting Crew
  • Jeff Kot
    Lighting Crew
  • Miranda Moffat
    Line Producer
    Sunny Days; After Ashes
  • Shelby Zuk
    Script Supervisors
  • Aaron Jesse
    Script Supervisors
  • Gloria Koehler
    Casting
  • Sean Snider
    Camera Team
  • Paul Malone
    Camera Team
  • Thomas Butcher
    Camera Team
  • Tori Surowiec
    Special FX Makeup
  • Manny Aroyo
    Color Grade
  • Austin Frazier-Smith
    Production Assistants
  • Briana Banko
    Production Assistants
  • Nashawn Craig
    Production Assistants
  • Chris Sirhan
    Production Assistants
  • Anthony Silvey
    Production Assistants
  • Paul Emil-Levasseur
    Music
  • Frank Secen
    DIT
  • Loys Couette
    Sound Design
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 30 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Shooting Format:
    4K BMPCC
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39.1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Jesse McAnally

Co-founder of Fosca Features, Jesse McAnally has a degree in media arts from Wayne State University. He currently serves as Creative Director of Fosca Features, LLC where he has successfully directed and produced three short films as well as many of professional promotional materials over the last four years.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Luccica is the story of a ghostly apparition taking revenge on an innocent couple for her unfortunate life, untimely death, and unending purgatory. As a result, a recently widowed husband seeks to rebuild from the embers of his grief by physically remodeling the home he chose with his wife, while the apparition hungers for a more complete visage. Ultimately, then, despite their innately antagonistic relationship, both husband Tom and apparition Mimi share the same goal: rebirth from the ashes of tragedy.

This dual search for catharsis comes to an emotional climax too grand for simple conversation to express, leading to the choice of genre: opera. To me, opera is the purest form of expression, allowing English speaking-audiences to step back from their conscious existence, and to take in the story from a more instinctive, emotional place free from the limitations of verbal language.

Directors Ingmar Bergman, Bob Fosse, Robert Dornhelm, Ari Aster, and Julie Taymor inspired the visual language, and composers Puccini, Mozart, Bizet, and Gounod influenced the operatic style. The story of Luccica is brought to life by an incredible cast of actors, supported in their efforts by a crew of consummate professionals behind the camera, costumes, light, and sounds.