Melissa Marlette, a 1999 graduate of Pattonville High School and now Hollywood-based writer and director, has successfully secured enough funding online to move forward with her latest movie project, a short film entitled "Sacrifice" about a prisoner of war who finds an opportunity to escape.

Marlette, who grew up in the St. Louis-area, used the social funding platform Kickstarter to raise more than $30,000 to produce the film. That money will go toward funding things such as cast and crew, equipment rentals, location permits, post productionand festival fees. 

The film, according to Marlette's Fina L'eau Films website, is a short story about Michael, an American soldier who is captured in Afghanistan. Just before he’s to be executed, he sees an opportunity to escape but it is not what it seems.

The film, which Marlette helped write and will help produce and direct, is based off a short story by Ambrose Bierce about a civil war soldier facing a similar situation. As of March 5, the project had 366 backers—those that gave money.

Marlette, along with her co-writer Jen Vesuto, said she has a certain respect for the film's subject matter. Many of Marlette's family has served in the military, including a great uncle that served in the 82nd Airborne Division and performed counter intelligence. 

Marlette has worked on popular Hollywood filims such as Premium Rush, The Big Year, The Adjustment Bureau and Limitless, among other projects on both the big screen and TV.

According to a Pattonville newsletter, once “Sacrifice” is finished, Marlette plans to enter it into as many film festivals around the globe as possible