This is a film about anxiety. Made in 2006—but trying to channel 1986—this was my thesis project for art school.
During the last 2 months of post-production, I sat in front of a computer for 18 hours a day. I drank so much sugar and caffeine to keep awake and I ate almost nothing but junk food. It was exhilarating to be that focused. And at the end, there was an added bonus: I gained 20 pounds. Mission accomplished.
Now that you mention it, I have a funny story about gaining weight. I have a friend who is a video editor. When he was first starting out, he was working for a small production house in New York, training under a senior editor. This said editor was a swell guy, but he was huge. 400 pounds or more, he was probably as wide as he was tall. He would tell stories about when he was younger and how everyone in the industry would just get wild and party all the time. Stories about loose women, coke, violence, gambling, total debauchery. Stories to be sure, but you couldn’t help but think that this man had declined since times past. One day, he volunteered this to my friend: “You know how I got like this?” He grabbed his gut. There was a sentimental look in his eyes, somewhere between pride and regret. “An inch a year. An inch a year.”
