As a male without an eating disorder, I feel as though I need to start by explaining my interest in women with eating disorders as a documentary subject. I often get this question, which is understandable because the vast majority of people with bulimia and anorexia are women, and as a man it’s important to explain what kind of contribution I could have on a conversation about a disorder with which I myself have never struggled. To begin with, eating disorders are so prevalent that it should come as no surprise that I once discovered someone close to me was heavily bulimic. She and I were in love and had dated for nearly six months before she revealed her secret. It was such an extreme way to begin thinking about such a grave topic. But I doubt it is easy for anyone; for family members, partners and friends it must all be quite a shock. So I had fallen in love with someone who by all social measures was a normal and healthy person, but deep inside as our lives began to become one, I discovered a world that existed which was painful and out of control.
            Time went on, and our relationship blossomed. In many ways we were a normal, happy couple. As a filmmaker and overactive thinker, I couldn’t get my mind off of how many people in my life must be secretly going through the same psychological struggles. As it turns out, studies suggest that something like 1 in 4 women in college deal with disordered eating, if not full-blown Eating Disorders (hereafter called “Ed”). This came as quite a shock to me and has since inspired an unshakable desire to understand what feelings are involved in Ed that would lead to the extreme behavior that most people exhibit. An even better question is how much of those feelings are they themselves aware of, in light of their behavior. 
            For a filmmaker like me, I like to think visually and poetically in how I approach problems. After much research, I began to find information on the Expressive Arts Therapies (be sure to visit the “history” page on this website for the full story). Right away I was captivated by the kind of emotional expression that was taking place in novel methods like Drama Therapy, Dance/movement Therapy, Music Therapy, and many others. As my good friend and Drama Therapist Carol Dietrich has said, these are not substitutes for therapies, but supplements of it. They are means of aiding the process of externalizing the “voice” of the eating disorder and finally confronting it. Puling Ed out and talking to him, so to speak. 
            So because I am so interested in the subject and there is a total dearth of healthy, fresh media about Ed, I have begun to produce and direct a documentary film that will show what we can learn about eating disorders through this new and interesting field of Expressive Art Therapies. I will follow very personalized stories with a few accessible therapists and will ultimately show that hope and healing is a reality for people with disordered eating. With preliminary research and professional advising from the many professionals, I have been given paramount counsel on what kind of film will be best for viewers with disordered eating and how best to express the many complex issues involved. This is good because I am most certainly not an eating disorder professional.
          So I'm still left with the question: how are the loved ones of people with Ed supposed to understand what the behavior is really about? And what are we, in our perfect ignorance, supposed to do about it? Or not do, for that matter. One of the most difficult things I remember from being so close to bulimia was learning when I was supposed to NOT interfere. For my personality type, it was difficult and unnerving to be in a position where I’m supposed to stay out of a fight for the woman that I loved. This is the tightrope walk that I intend to explore it in the film. The project's advisors have recommended approaching this question in a non-triggering way. That is, by not showing binging and purging… and not zooming the camera lens in on the ribs of near-death anorexics. Instead, I will be orchestrating a film that will sensitively explore the emotions of real people who have fought to recover from eating disorders. It won’t reduce them to an eating disorder or overlook their wonderful and unique traits that define them as people. Perhaps the viewers can learn something in the process that can change perspectives forever. 
Please follow this project as we begin to explore, enlighten, and advocate for the eating disorder community. And above all, please go to this link to learn how you can participate in the success of this film: http://www.indiegogo.com/EDdoc