Filmmaker Statement

As a teenager, I was plagued with an eating disorder, forcing me to a liquid diet for many years, leaving me severely underweight. I was tortured by my own judgment and despised seeing myself in the mirror; I sought bodybuilding to pull me out of my mental hole. 2 years and 85 extra pounds later, I was jacked but never satisfied. I lifted weights two times a day, ate 4,000 calories daily, and never had time for friends or family. I reached the finish line, but I was alone. How could such a healthy endeavor leave me with such an unhealthy way of living? "Damien's Gym" is an allegory for the ballistic mind of the unsatisfied bodybuilder. I sought to make a film that shifts away from the usual themes of steroids, dieting, and everything we've seen before. My aim for this film is to capture the facets of masculinity that bodybuilding touches on –– validation, ego, and hyper-ambition. I want this film to serve as a parable for living at your own pace; adequacy comes from within, not from o