Help Us Tell A Sea Cliff Story!

Who are we?

We are Mike Luciano and Brianna Lee, lifelong friends who grew up making films through the streets of the small seaside town of Sea Cliff…

Mike Luciano is a director, writer and editor who makes TV, films and music videos in NY and Los Angeles. He’s the co-creator of the HBO series ANIMALS. He’s made music videos & short films for years and his collaboration with Brianna goes back to high school when their feature film, SEAN. played festivals and sold out their DIY DVDs.

Brianna Lee is an actress and writer from Long Island, New York. She studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Training Center in New York City, and performed live improvisational and sketch comedy for several years at different venues all over NYC and Los Angeles. Brianna & Mike have been writing and producing comedic films and projects since 2005. They created the short film “The Professional” and won ‘Best of the Fest; Short Short’ Award at the 2019 LA Indie Film Festival. ‘A Sea Cliff Story’ is the crowning achievement of their lifelong artistic friendship.

Why Sea Cliff?

Ahh Sea Cliff — a quaint, former hippie enclave in Long Island, New York. Our magical little hometown Sea Cliff isone square mile, populated with friendly neighbors, Old Victorian houses, and enough memories and colorful characters to make 50 epic movies. For years we have fantasized about paying homage to Sea Cliff by making a film about it, and so we finally decided it was the perfect time to make one. 

It was a thrill of a lifetime for us to try and capture what made this village so special in a film. “A Sea Cliff Story” is our ode to town love, its rich history, and a grand endorsement of the importance of local municipality workers and their deep contribution to a thriving community. This film was made possible with the help of the Sea Cliff Village Museum, who’s staff provided numerous historical images and artifacts and who’s long time board member is featured in the film. 

What is the short about?

The short is set entirely in one day, and Brianna Lee stars as village resident and clerk Lillian Hariclum, whose fundraiser event at Sea Cliff Beach will help save the Sea Cliff Museum. Lillian will go through a roller coaster of emotions throughout the story, meet a ton of lovable Sea Cliff characters, and ultimately overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of her becoming the star she was meant to be. 

This is a story about what it takes to blossom into the boldest version of oneself, while not letting insecurity hold us back. We were inspired to tell a short story across an entire town with multiple characters, influenced by the large scale patriotic satire of Robert Altman’s Nashville, the bold summertime colors and local texture of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project & Red Rocket, the fluid poetry of Richard Linklater’s Slacker, Fellini’s hometown love letter Amarcord, and much more. 

The film is earnest as it is outrageous; heartbreaking as it is silly. Coming of age in an arts-forward village like Sea Cliff allowed for such aesthetic range, which I’m convinced makes for the best art — and sometimes, when lucky — evocative and meaningful cinema. Cheers to Sea Cliff, New York, and hometown love!

Your contributions will help!

In the film world, everything costs and its not cheap. We are wanting to raise at least 55,000 dollars to cover total production costs. This covers equipment rentals, hired services like boom operators and audio tech, budget for gas, craft services for our talent and crew, all the vast post-production costs and other little expenses that came  along the way. Supporting this film financially also allows us to get the film submitted into film festivals world wide, which can be very costly. 

We would really appreciate any support! Any and all contributions, small or large, will go a very long way in helping us tell ‘A Sea Cliff Story’. 

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! <3

Warm wishes,

Mike & Brianna

To see what OUR OTHER PROJECTS HAVE LOOKED LIKE, here:

AUDITION (2006) : https://vimeo.com/6076159

DURT PURZ (2012) : https://youtu.be/kUEl0wZV9HQ

THE PROFESSIONAL (2018) : https://vimeo.com/261583734 

THE BUNGALOW (2018) : https://vimeo.com/261415114

OLD FRIENDS (2019) : https://vimeo.com/384656286