Leave Room for Jesus is a coming-of-age short film that takes place over course of a single, intense day, following 14-year-old Sofia, the new kid at school, as she reckons with three conflicting forces in her life: her adolescence, her Catholicism, and her mother.

Originally written by me, Olivia Capestany, during my junior year at NYU Tisch in the Dramatic Writing program as a full-length feature film, it went on to receive several accolades, including Best Undergraduate Feature at NYU’s Fusion Film Festival and Brown University’s Ivy Film Festival, as well as a semifinalist in the Humanitas Comedy Awards and Athena Screenwriting Lab.

Now, in 2025, my fellow producers Carmen Ami and Amelie Brooks, and I decided to finally bring this story back to life, this time reimagining it as a short film, translated into Spanish (with the help of fellow screenwriter Carlota Moreno) and set in Madrid.

Since moving to Madrid in 2024 to pursue a Masters degree in Executive Production at ECAM, I've been eager to create a project that is truly international, speaking to audiences across boarders, in Spain, the United States, and beyond.

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Logistics & Game Plan:

This film will be shot in Madrid, Spain, over the course of two weekends in late November/early December 2025.

The amount fundraised will be divided into these main categories for the production costs: cast and crew, locations, insurance, costume and makeup design, set design, logistical costs (food and transport) as well as technical equipment.

Any additional funds raised will be used towards the submission costs for festivals.

We greatly appreciate your donations and support as we make our dreams a reality.

The Team:

Director/writer/producer: Olivia Maria Capestany

Cuban-American writer/director/producer living in Madrid. Olivia’s production credits include, season 55 of Sesame Street, 47 & 49 of Saturday Night Live, and 8 of Late Night with Seth Meyers. She recently graduated with her Masters in Executive Production at ECAM and currently works as a producer at Hogarth Studios. This is her directorial debut.

Executive Producer: Amelie Brooks

Amelie is a writer/director/producer living in Brooklyn. Amelie wrote, produced and directed a sold out run of her original play Gathering in December 2024. Amelie’s producing credits include International Puerto Rican Heritage Fest/Out On Film Fest selection Heels, Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories with David Rubenstein for PBS, and the upcoming off-Broadway run of Take Me To Dollywood.

Executive Producer: Carmen Ami

Spanish-Japanese producer living in Madrid. In her time in Miami, she produced various short films, before moving back to Madrid in 2021 and graduating with a Master of Executive Producing at ECAM. In 2021 to 2024, Carmen worked at the production company, Mogambo, as Head of Content. Now, in 2025 she works at Sangre Films as a Production Coordinator.

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If you have reached this far, thank you very, very much for your time and attention reading all of information above. We very much believe in this short film and are excited about the potential it may have in the festival circuit.

As a young team of female creatives focused on telling and amplifying female driven stories, we very much appreciate your support through this fundraising process. We look forward to creating and breathing life into this powerful piece.

If you would like to learn more about this short film, please take a look at our links below.

Click here to learn more.

Our Donation Program - CLICK HERE