Guest Post by Sophie Max 

At the time of writing, my film “Callie” is nearing the end of post-production and preparing to enter the festival circuit. “Callie” is a tale of friendship, secrets, and loss against the background of modern day New York City. It tells the story of two young women, Callie (played by me) and Jenn (Fay Koulouri), who meet and form an instant connection. But that connection is complicated by the fact that Callie is unable to communicate her struggles with depression in the aftermath of sexual assault, sending her down a path that will change hers and Jenn’s lives forever — and leave Jenn wondering if their friendship was real.

As an actress and a writer, I have always been fascinated by the portrayal of women and mental health in cinema: often two dimensional, often through a male lens, often judged, stereotyped, or fetishized. I have always wondered how my own teenage years would have been different if I had seen more realistic portrayals of mental health and more complex female characters on screen. Would I have been more empowered to talk about my own mental health? Would I have been able to accept the validity of my own struggles instead of feeling that they didn’t count because they did not look exactly like the characters’ struggles I was seeing in the media?

These thoughts must have been brewing for a while, but the idea for “Callie” came to me suddenly one night as I was about to go to bed and the script flowed out. I finished it in under a week. As soon as I did, I knew I had to make this movie. I am so excited to be in this industry right now — in this crucial time of change for women and representation –and I wanted to contribute to that conversation and be part of the solution. I did this by writing complex, nuanced roles for women — the kind of role I would like to both see and play more of– in a story which openly discuss mental health, as well as hiring a majority female crew.

Working with a majority female crew — something I am a huge champion of — was a no-brainer for me; this story is centered in a woman’s experience and point of view, so having the crew led by a female director and director of photography (Jessica Fornear), shaping the vision and the way we access these women’s world, was extremely important to me. These are stories that deserve to be told, and when writing “Callie,” I set out to tell them in as honest a way as possible. I wanted to tell a young woman’s story on her own terms and create the kind of movie that I wish I had been able to see when I was a teenager and one that would resonate with audiences of all ages.

When writing the script, I did not know that I would end up playing Callie, but when it came to casting the film, the character came from such a personal place in my heart and I connect to her so deeply that I just couldn’t imagine anyone else in the role.

Creating a dynamic, natural friendship between strong and unique young women was a gift to portray as an actor. This story allowed for rawness in the friendship between the two female leads, which is rare and compelling. At its heart “Callie” is a film about friendship. It is both a love letter to the friends that shape us and a visceral portrayal of a woman struggling with her mental health. It begins with the hopeful notion that in a city as lonely as New York can be, deep human connection is possible.

Throughout the duration of the film, the audience has an acute sense of every missed warning sign in Callie’s path. It is an important and resonant message; whenever I discuss the film, it sparks meaningful conversations about how we can communicate about mental health in a more open and healthy way and what we can look out for in others to alert us that they may be struggling.

I hope that people will walk away from the film with gratitude and love for the people in their lives and motivated to discuss mental health more openly and without stigma. I hope that young women will see “Callie” and feel hopeful that there is a place for their voices and their stories on the big screen and in the world.

You can find more information about “Callie” and the progress of the film on  Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Sophie Max is an actress and writer who was born and raised in London, UK and moved to New York to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her theater credits include “Nowhere Man” at Theater for the New City and “Upstander Bystander” at the Frigid Festival. She recently published her debut poetry collection, “lost and found.”