The Push

Last fall in New York City - as his wife watched in horror - an innocent man was pushed into the path of an oncoming subway car. It was a random act of violence, and its senselessness made it all the more disturbing to me. I began to fixate on this random "push" that ended an innocent man's life. For the first time, I felt something sinister in my fellow commuters, and a dread as I stepped near the yellow safety strip at the edge of the subway platform. In speaking with friends about their reactions to this story, I found I was not alone, and knew that I wanted to develop a film that explored this primal fear. As someone who has dealt with my fair share of anxiety, I have always been interested in the ways in which feelings of panic and fear can mutate everyday events - riding the subway, crossing the street, stepping onto an escalator - into dark and foreboding experiences. These feelings are at the heart of The Push. (Nashville Film Festival)