I believe that every joke has a little bit of truth in it, so naturally every stand up routine I've ever written is based on some aspect of my life and "Reggie" is no different. This project started as a 10 minute stand-up routine about my future and how I would interact with a miniature therapy horse (I laid on the floor a lot and spoke in a horse accent). One day I was going over my set in my head for that night’s show while working out and a song I had never heard started playing via my discover new playlist, "Where Would I B Without U" by hip hop artist Spose. It hooked me with the very first note and had me until the very last beat. I don’t know why, but for some reason that song connected just the right synapses in my brain and activated just the right brain to heart to gut connection and that's how "Reggie" was born. I finished my workout, had a great set that night and went home after and wrote the first 60 page draft. Having struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life, which I more recently found out, was compounded by severe adult ADHID and abandonment issues, this was my outlet for telling the truth about my pain. It was my opportunity to let someone, anyone, actually know me, even if it was under the guise of a “fictional” story. This became the catalyst that eased me into the idea of actually getting help. Through this film I'm hoping to shed light on mental health issues, show people they aren’t alone, to show that your stereotypical vision of who you think might be suffering, isn't necessarily accurate, to show people “Hey, I asked for help, and I’m still here, I’m not a man exiled because of some perceived notion of weakness” and that the “one size fits all” way of mental health treatment is outdated and in some case even harmful. There is, as they say, more than one way to cook an egg (in this case the egg is your brain, and cooking is how you fix it, aren't words fun).