Director's Statement

My partner Kelly and I wrote 2 in the Bush: A Love Story for the queer community, the sex worker community, and the polyamorous and ethically non-monogamous communities because these communities need and deserve stories. 

This film follows a traditional romantic comedy structure, but with a few modern twists. The most obvious is that it's about three people instead of two. We also explore the subjects of bisexuality, polyamory, kink, and sex work in a way that is both honest and loving. Ultimately, it’s a story about self-acceptance. It's about overcoming the expectations that other people have for you and finding out who you really are and what you really want.

Some fun facts about our production:
- Over 75% of our cast and crew were women, LGTBQ+, and/or people of color.
- Due to a small, self-funded budget, we only had 10 days to shoot the film and it was shot entirely in Chicago.
- We had an on-set safeword, it was “pineapple”.

The reception for this film has been wonderful! We had our world premiere at Outfest LA in 2018. Since then, it has been an official selection in over 22 film festivals throughout the world, including BFI: Flare, Portland Film Festival, and Twin Cities Film Fest. It has won 8 awards, including the “Alfred C Kinsey Prize” and the “Danielle McClelland Emerging Filmmaker Award” at Bloomington PRIDE Film Festival. As well as “Best Narrative Feature” at CineKink, the “Audience Award” at ClexaCon, “Best Romantic Comedy Feature” at the North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, “Best Domestic Feature” at Outflix, “Best First-Time Director” at qFLIX, and “Best Full-Length Narrative” at The Women’s Film Festival.

I’ve had so many people contact me to say how much it meant to them to see themselves represented like this onscreen. I am humbled that this film is not only making people feel less alone, but also giving them hope for their own happy endings.

Kelly and I hope to create many more films together, so if you can donate to our virtual tip jar, it would be much appreciated!