Director’s statement:

In my twenties I moved to NYC in pursuit of the art and film dream (whichever came first) It was during this time that I'd heard a close friend of mine had several bouts with mental illness over the last few years. I was no longer in contact with my friend, as young people tend to think their paths will eventually cross someday. That day never came. Several years later I had heard that my friend had ended life here as we know it. It forever changed me. This was a highly creative person with an amazing sense of humor whose world was a stage and made me laugh...belly ache laugh. Also made me think, question authority, and ultimately cultivate early storyline and character choices for films and plays. Years passed, and I was still experiencing the emptiness of not being able to help my friend. I started to look into schizophrenia and read about people whose lives had dramatically changed almost overnight to perhaps understand what my friend might have gone through. I was overwhelmed about the differences and levels of psychosis. Depending on severity, some people could interact with reality and the imagined; others would go for days without a single moment of clarity, living in a world that is as real as the world we live in. Having imaginary jobs, imaginary friends, powerful enemies, even having a wife and a nice home to live in. I even read about a guy who after getting help and proper medication, preferred his imaginary world. He said it was more interesting and fun than his own life, that he was proud to be responsible for saving the world from an alien take-over...It was at this level of psychosis coupled with dreams, memories and fragments of reality that I chose to explore in "PATSY"...I think it's what my friend would've wanted me to do. I also chose to follow a comedic slant because I know in my heart that my friend is somewhere-- Laughing...a belly ache laugh.

-Anton Jarvis Writer/Director

>>> READ MORE!