Creative Constraints = Creative Freedom

The original plan was to shoot in Japan. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would make this film in a studio in Joplin, Missouri.  In researching the hikikomori phenomenon, we met with individuals who had lived that way and emerged on the other side, psychologists, parents of hikikomori. When we scouted Sendai Japan in the fall of 2019, we had all the logistics lined up. Official support from the Sendai Film Commission, locations locked, crew secured, and a script that had been revised many times. In February 2020, the project was cancelled, 1 week before we were to step on an airplane. 

Originally we thought, by December surely Japan will be reopened. December came and went it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. We brainstormed many alternatives. What if it was filmed on a stage as a play? What if it was an animation? Many script iterations, trying different things. Finally…what if we shot it in a studio and created a room with a moving wall? That was it. A single location captured the spirit of hikikomori best.

In recreating a Japanese teenage girl’s room in the middle of American I knew we needed a Production Designer with creativity and resourcefulness. Thankfully I was introduced to Megumi Nakazawa who came on board. She did many things to ensure cultural accuracy, including shipping a suitcase full of trash from Japan to dress the set. Her attention to detail was impeccable. Matt Foreman and Mike Smith created an incredible rail system for our wall to move and our creative limitations became our greatest strength. 

Shout out to Patrick Snow for believing this was possible and releasing the funding to make it happen. Thank you Yuiko and Mia for putting your heart and soul into these performances. Thank you to everyone on the team who was committed to problem solving and uniting to tell this story. I am so grateful we got to make this together.

Keep the door open.