A web series filmed in Greater Victoria marks the launch of Mental Health Month

Note: This story mentions suicide. If you feel you are in crisis or considering suicide, please call the state hotline at 1-800-784-2433.

Filmed across Victoria this summer, the web series promises a touch of humor while tackling serious themes.

In Best Friend Me, protagonist Joy rediscovers her will to live on a journey of self-healing that leads her to unexpected places. This new web series is created by Greater Victoria filmmakers Arnold Lim (producer), Anna de Lala (director), and Vancouver actor and writer Andy Murray, who plays the main character, and was 15 years in the making. I am.

“The script is witty and the cast is great,” De Lara said. “This is a big topic and we’re just working hard on it. … I think a lot of people can relate to this story.”

“Best Friend Me” touches on depression, attempted suicide, alcohol use disorder, child neglect, and depicts sexually intimate scenes. Difficult themes are nothing new for De Lara and Stigma Free Productions. She has approached topics that can trigger her from a child’s perspective, such as chronic illness, suicide, and domestic partner violence.

It’s a timely topic, coinciding with World Mental Health Day on October 10th, as the team is in the process of finishing the final shoot before going into production for release next spring.

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Marie plays Joy, a nonbinary woman who uses they/them pronouns like the actor, and a millennial living with depression.

“It came from my own mental health journey and trying to process it,” the Vancouver-based actor said in a phone interview. “I really struggled with the writing process…The subject matter and content of the story were all things I struggled with[in real life].”

They also take on two additional roles. Joy’s positive and negative selves physically manifest in people that only they can see and hear. I started writing five or six years ago with the specific goal of creating a series dedicated to mental health, and it was a fun way to do it.

“The goal is to remind people to treat themselves with kindness just as they would treat others with kindness,” Marie said.

Filmed entirely in Greater Victoria, ‘My Best Friend Me’ is produced by Silver Rill Farm, Heritage Acres, the Mint, Victoria Family Services and Black Press Media’s Victoria Newsroom Corn Plant. The field is used.

The team is looking for the final location to film the musical episode.

“It was really fun. It was my first time starring in something I wrote…definitely something of this magnitude,” Marie said. “It was so cool to see them bring it to life, and that was the most fun. This story and the character I play, Joy, has been in my head for a long time.”

Related article: Victoria’s Courtnall brothers launch organization to fund grassroots mental health programs

Marie said working with her mother, director De Lara, was also a “positive and really great experience.” “She really helped me complete the project.”

There were stops and starts, challenges, and rewrites by both individuals along the way. It was stressful in the moment and filled with bouts of self-doubt, but ultimately it was okay to ask for help.

“It’s something I’m working on more and more in my personal life, especially in the independent film world,” Marie said.

Marie and Delara are no strangers to the indie scene, with the project funded by the Telefilm Talent to Watch Program and the Canada Council for the Arts, among others.

“This is very ambitious. We are trying to create a lot of magical moments without spending a lot of money,” de Lara said.

My Best Friend Me is a short-form series released online to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2024.

If you or someone you know is struggling, visit crisislines.bc.ca to find local mental health and crisis resources.

Related article: Victoria’s Courtnall brothers launch organization to fund grassroots mental health programs