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BALLET FLATS IN THE BARN is a Chapman University Senior Thesis Film produced by Stephanie Wan and written and directed by Lauren Trippeer. This is a student short film about finding love, home, and community.
The Story: When Andi Palmer loses her title as prima ballerina of the Chicago Ballet, she’s forced home to Arkansas, where a confident swing-dancing cowboy teaches her there might be another way to two-step. Footloose meets Dirty Dancing with a Hallmark flair in this dance romcom that will leave you wanting to grab your boots and get boogying.
Our film will be filmed over 6 days, November 14-23, with over 50 students helping us work on this film. We know that without your support, our endeavor to create a big dance film from our love of romantic comedies and social country dance would not be possible. As female filmmakers, we hope to bring to life a story full of joy and explore the experience of balancing career and passion.
Who Are We:
Stephanie Wan (producer) has been dancing her entire life and found her love for social dancing at Chapman. Originally from Windham, NH, she’s active in the school’s community, serving on the board of both Chapman Student Ambassadors and film society, Delta Kappa Alpha. She’s experienced in producing short films and musical theater and is excited to combine her love for film and dance. While working on a film, her priority is ensuring the cast and crew are a collaborative team and family.
Lauren Trippeer (writer/director) has been singing, dancing, and forcing her parents to watch her perform her whole life. She came to film school to make feel-good, happy movies and musicals. For the past 10 years, she’s created 30-second reports from around the world called Lauren Reporting Live. At Chapman, she works as a Dodge Event Lead. She loves to line dance, despite being quite bad at it.
Key Crew:
Writer/Director: Lauren Trippeer
Producer: Stephanie Wan
Cinematographer: Alex Duva
Production Designer: Ellie Jones
Sound Designer: Riley Hirsch
Editor: Brandon Clark
Unit Production Manager: Miranda Lin
1st AD: Sierra Brogmas
2nd AD: Jo Turner
Why We Need Your Help!
- Locations: The most costly part of our budget is the locations. A big portion of our film takes place in a barn dance hall. to rent an event space barn for a weekend
- Equipment Rentals: We need to rent camera and lighting equipment that are all costly but essential to ensuring the film looks its best.
- Costumes: Our film is going to have 30+ dancers and background actors who we need to costume in western wear and make sure they have the proper shoes to dance in!
- Crafty/Food: As students working on a 12-hour set, none of our crew members are getting paid; however, we want to make sure that they are taken care of and fueled well to make it through long shoot days.
Current Financing:
While our school helps fund a portion of our film, there is still a gap in our funding that we need to make sure we are able to rent the spaces that we need to shoot this film and ensure that our cast and crew are being taken care of while on set. We were very lucky to receive a Women of Chapman film grant, a competitive, merit-based grant; however, we still have a $4,000 gap to reach our final target budget.
Donation Incentives:
- $50 - Themed Stickers
- $100 - Social Media Shout Out, plus everything above.
- $500 - Special Thanks Credit, plus everything above.
- $1,000 - Signed Poster and production thank you basket, plus everything above.
Project Timeline:
- September - November 2025 - Pre-Production: Crewing our team, casting, securing locations, permitting, developing the story, planning shots, and preparing for production.
- November 14-23 - Production: Shooting our film over the course of 6 days at 3 different locations.
- December 2025 - March 2026 - Post Production: Editing the film, color grading, sound design, adding scoring and music, and final deliverables.
- March 13, 2026 - Film Screening: Film Screening at Chapman Senior Thesis Screening in Folino Theater.
- May 7, 2026 - Film Screening: Film Screening at Women of Chapman - Stars of Tomorrow Gala.
We'd really appreciate your support. Any amount, large or small, will go towards us making the film of our dreams. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you want to learn more about the project!
Follow our Instagram! @balletflatsinthebarn