17/12/2025
As many of you know, our daughter Kaleigh has been studying film at NYU. She has been a straight A student, is currently a senior and will be graduating in May. Today, on her 22nd birthday, she launched a fundraising campaign for her senior thesis film at NYU|Tisch. Please consider supporting and sharing her project. Thank You!!
In her own words:
Hi All,
I am writing to you today, on my 22nd birthday to share a quick life update and a project Iām really excited about. This year, Iām creating my senior thesis film at NYU Tisch, a project Iāve written and developed over the past four months and will be directing in March, and one that means a great deal to me.
The film is called Golden Age, a fantasy drama about loneliness, trust, and connection as it triumphs over isolation. Hereās the premise:
In a city where creatures and humans alike regard dragons as dangerous, long extinct relics of the past, Loki, a dragon hiding in human form, melts into the shadows of his apothecary, his dragonfire fading and his body succumbing to sickness. He believes himself the last of his kind, until Auri, a stranger with a spark of mischief and a quiet appetite for life, stumbles into his shop. They meet, and Loki sees what he never thought he would again: glowing, golden eyes. Auri is a dragon too, and Loki is not the last. Their chance encounter stirs something long buried in Loki: recognition, fear, anger, and the ache of memory for a world long gone. As Auriās lightness collides with Lokiās guarded isolation, flickers of their true nature begin to emerge ā scales shimmering upon skin, eyes burning a draconic gold. When Lokiās sickness worsens the more he pushes Auri away, he must confront the truth heās avoided: his fire is dying because he is starved of connection with another of his kind. He needs to connect with Auri, or he will die. But for a creature so burdened by years of isolation and the horrors of his species demise, to trust another is not an easy feat.
This story was born out of the many pieces of myself Iāve spent years learning to understand ā the lingering sense of isolation by virtue of being adopted, the inherent sense of solitude that accompanies that reality, and the experience of learning to value trust and connection over self doubt and self isolation. This is a story Iāve lived in my own quiet ways: the desire to do things on my own, independently, the instinct to withdraw rather than risk being known, and the ache of wanting connection yet being too shy or too hesitant to pursue it. These emotional truths sit at the center of the film. They are the truths I understand most intimately, and the ones I feel compelled to explore through myth and metaphor. Fantasy gives me the language to express what real life often makes difficult to articulate, that being the tenderness of vulnerability, the courage of trust, and the healing power of being recognized by another.
Iām incredibly grateful to be working on this project with my passionate team of fellow NYU undergraduates, alongside young film professionals in both Georgia and New York City, as we bring this world to life. Weāre currently in pre-production, meaning we're building the fantasy spaces in NYC, making props, casting actors and planning the film. Our goal is to release Golden Age in Fall 2026. We hope this story will not only resonate with fans of the fantasy genre, but anyone who has ever found themselves feeling alone, or like an outcast in a world too big and too cold to exist in.
I hope youāll follow along as Iāll be sharing updates, behind-the-scenes moments, and progress on my socials. Iād love for you to be part of the journey in that way, to be able to see this process unfold ā especially once we start shooting!
Your friendship and support will help make this project possible. Weāve launched a fundraiser on Seed&Spark, a crowdfunding platform specifically for independent films. Contributions go toward production design, visual and special effects, cast and crew food, and of course helping us bring the magic and heart of this story to the screen. Even sharing the campaign means so much. If youāre interested in learning more about the project ā why Iām making it, why it matters, what the moving parts are ā please take a look at our Seed&Spark page!
Thank you, truly, for taking the time to read this and for all the support, encouragement, and love youāve given me over the years. I wouldnāt be here without the people who believed in me early on, and Iām so grateful to have you along for this chapter.
With gratitude,
Kaleigh OāLeary
Instagram:
oleary
In a city where dragons are feared, Loki - a dying dragon in human form - believes he's the last of his kind until Auri arrives. Their connection reignites Loki's fading fire, proving neither is alone. Through trust and sacrifice, they rediscover hope and kinship in a world that's forgotten them.
