A Picture of You

This movie has some delightfully awkward moments mixed with genuine grief and human feelings that are lacking from a lot of films today. Life isn't easy to capture, and usually when filmmakers attempt to make something that reflects real human experiences it misses the mark. This one gets it right.

When I lost my mom to cancer, I was devastated with grief. I couldn't imagine anything
worse than a child losing his mother...until I looked up and realized that it wasn’t all
about me. My stepfather had lost his wife. My aunts and uncles had lost their sister.
Countless others had lost a good friend.

It’s obvious now, of course: my mother was always much more than just my mom. But I
wasn’t mature enough to understand this until she was gone. (You don’t truly become
an adult until you accept the reality that the people who created you also had other gigs
happening, often more important and interesting ones.)

At first, this felt tragic but eventually I realized that not being the center of mom’s
existence meant there would always be more to discover. Hearing an anecdote from an
aunt, finding her handwriting on a scrap of paper – it all kept her alive in a way I never
could have imagined.

I also couldn’t have imagined that what we call grieving doesn’t consist entirely of crying
under the covers for weeks (although there is that). It’s mostly a roller coaster of deep
sadness alternating with spontaneous laughing remembering the good times you
shared.

I wanted to make a movie that reflected all of these messy, bewildering, ups-and- downs.
To create a movie that anyone who’s gone through the experience can watch and say
Yep, it feels like this — and know that they are not alone.

I hope you enjoy the ride.