The idea for BREATHE IN began with discussions about tone and atmosphere. Dense forests. Winding roads. Thunder storms. I spent many-a-summer in upstate New York visiting my dad and step-family, and I was always struck by how romantic it was there, but also by the stuffiness of the culture. It seemed appearances were everything, even at the expense of personal truth. At a certain point, the trees of the forest began to look more like prison cell bars— a feeling which became a source of inspiration for writing the film. My co-writer / director Drake Doremus and I once again wrote a dense “scriptment,” around 80 pages this time, wherein things like subtext and motives were spelled out in detail, but lines of dialogue were rarely specified. The film Premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was the opening night film of the 2013 Edinburgh Film Festival. Currently available on Kanopy.