First Comes Love

"Happily Ever After"... by any means necessary.

Project type: Fiction Short
Project status: Engagement/Outreach
Director: Tanya Martineau
Writer: Raisa D'Oyley
Director of Photography: Tré Loren

Email: firstcomeslovethefilm@gmail.com
Website: firstcomeslovethefilm.com
Facebook: @FirstComesLovethefilm
Instagram: @firstcomeslovethefilm
 
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Logline

When a woman plans a romantic evening to win back her emotionally distant boyfriend, the night takes a chilling turn when desire turns into desperation to preserve her fairytale ending.

Synopsis

Taylor, an ambitious, caring yet insecure woman in her early 30s, has spent five years cultivating what she believes is the perfect life with her long-term boyfriend, Khalil. Since a child, she has dreamed of getting married to her fairytale prince and decided that Khalil was her knight in shining armor. To her social media followers, they are #CoupleGoals—happy, stylish, deeply in love. But behind the Instagram posts lies a fractured reality and desperation for validation.

Khalil has been a passive participant in his own life, allowing Taylor to carefully curate their relationship. However, Taylor’s most recent push to take their relationship to the next level has sparked a fire under Khalil to decide for himself what he wants. When Taylor suspects that Khalil is unilaterally changing course and planning to leave her, her world begins to unravel. Desperate to hold on to her fairy tale ending and pressured by societal expectations, she stages a romantic evening to win him back.

What begins as seduction, however, quickly morphs into captivity. The farther Taylor takes her plan to win back Khalil, the more she loses her sense of self and grip on reality. She is determined to convince her social media followers – and herself – that she is living the life she imagined. But, it could cost her everything.

 

Meet the Filmmakers

Raisa D’Oyley — Writer/Lead Actresses
Raisa is a Jamaican-American filmmaker, attorney, and educator whose multifaceted career bridges storytelling and social impact. A nontraditional entrant into the film industry, Raisa discovered her passion for the performing arts as a child but did not transition her focus to the entertainment industry until late 2021. Since then, she has starred in the feature film Forgetting Christmas alongside Emmy-nominated actresses as well as seven short films and a tv pilot. In 2024, she independently produced The Benefit Film Festival at Atlanta’s historic Plaza Theatre, drawing over 350 attendees, spotlighting minority and female filmmakers who received proceeds of the festival.

Academically, Raisa holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in International Business from the University of Florida, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Professionally, she was a math teacher in the Mississippi Delta with Teach for America, has practiced corporate finance law at Norton Rose Fulbright in New York, and currently serves as Senior Corporate Counsel at Global Payments Inc. Her diversity of experiences informs her storytelling, making her a compelling voice in contemporary cinema.

Tanya Martineau — Director
Tanya is a director, producer and award-winning photographer dedicated to social impact storytelling. With over 17 years of experience, she has directed films across 30+ countries, collaborating with brands like National Geographic, NBC Sports, and Spotify.

A trauma-informed filmmaker, she specializes in ethical storytelling, ensuring those affected by injustice remain at the center of their own narratives. She is the creative force behind The Hojeok Project, a documentary exploring transnational Korean adoption and its generational impact.

Tanya is also the co-founder of Unseen, a media nonprofit in the counter-trafficking space. Whether behind the camera or leading a creative team, she believes storytelling is a catalyst for action, connection, and change.

Van Dinh — Producer
A true jack-of-all-trades, Van thrives in the ever-evolving world of filmmaking, mastering the art of navigating both union productions and guerrilla-style documentaries abroad. For him, every project is a stepping stone toward something greater—no matter where, no matter how.

Tré Loren — Director of Photography
Tré is a cinematographer based in Atlanta with a quiet, steady presence behind the camera and a deep respect for the power of story. His work moves between narrative and documentary filmmaking, but what unites it is a sharp eye for detail, a sensitivity to human complexity, and an instinct for capturing moments that feel both intimate and true.

As Director of Photography for the PBS docuseries A Brief History of the Future, Tré helped shape a visual language that was both grounded and visionary. He’s the kind of collaborator who listens closely, works deliberately, and shows up with the kind of care that reminds everyone on set why we do this work in the first place. Whether he’s lighting a scene or framing a quiet moment, Tré is driven by a simple but powerful belief: that great storytelling can shift perspective, deepen empathy, and move us toward something better.

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Contact

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