A story of moral obligation and fighting to stay to true to your inner faith, Respiration is a story about inner strength and believing in yourself. Lead by A.J. Mason, Respiration tells not only the story of Tariq, but of anyone who's had to fight for what they believed in.

How did this film get made?(or how to never shoot a movie that is set at night in the inner city while working in Central Pennsylvania)

The whole thing started in May of 1999. Looking for a good script to direct in the upcoming year, Brad remembered a script entitled Respiration that Mike had written the previous semester, intended for animation. While they were working on the set of the feature, SURFACING, Brad asked for a copy of the script and through some encouraging, was coaxed into believing it could be turned into a live action film. In June, he trecked up to New York City to visit Courtney, who was working on an independent project, to pitch the film to him. Courtney liked the story, as well as the challenge, and they decided this should be their next project. Later that summer, the three filmmakers worked on the independent feature film, A HOLIDAY AFFAIR,and while listening to countless hours of Pearl Jam's 'Last Kiss,' began the initial stages of pre production planning.

In it's infancy, the film ran into many obstacles; from the filmmakers being told "I don't care how many times you ask, you're not making that movie." (that's a direct quote) to losing three weeks prep time while Brad was in the hospital recovering, from all things, of a collapsed lung. (No really, it collapsed, he couldn't breathe). Ironic, don't you think? A note is remembered that Mike left for Brad which ended in him pointing out how humorous it was that someone with one lung was making a film entitled, "Respiration." Some thought it was an omen.

Once the project was officially ago in September of 1999, audtions began. The filmmakers recruited much of their talent from one of the films worked on the previous summer, SURFACING, including its actor/director, Charles Dumas. From this pool, they casted lead actor, A.J. Mason, Scott Dennis (who was talked to in May about coming onto the project), and Louis Graham. While much of the talent was taken from the SURFACING experience, Xanadu Productions recruited much of it's crew from another 'family' project. Many of the additional crew members for Respiration were taken from A HOLIDAY AFFAIR, where a lot of the crew met for the first time.

Filming began in Philadelphia on a beautiful, yet miserable, weekend in October for the opening and ending sequences of the film. Combating missing actors, broken equipment, little paitience, and almost running over the director with the pick-up druck (for a shot that has never seen the light of day, mind you); the crew quickly learned they were not the 'guerrila filmmakers' they thought they were.

From there, shooting continued in 'the mean streets' of Bellfonte, Pa. Learning quickly how cold it can get in central Pa, the cast and crew worked together quickly to turn out the night scenes for the film. Working around class schedules, the weather, and equipment availablity proved to be tiresome. Dealing with broken Nagras, bad film mags, no lights, and even the occasional missing slate began to feel like common-place.

After taking an extended break due to winter break and extremely cold weather, the crew resumed shooting in February. Shooting continued in State College, and also a return trip to Philadelphia (as well as some second unit work in Trenton, NJ).

Shooting wrapped in early April (the 3rd to be precise) and after a month and a half in postproduction the crew was finally able to say it was "in the can." The film is currently being sent out to festivals and will hopefully be popping up in a screening near you.

Xanadu Productions
267 Hidden Spring Lane
Langhorne, PA
19047