Regulation is a short sci-fi film directed by Ryan Patch

In the near future, a young social worker (Sunita Mani, “Glow”) travels to a small community to administer behavior-modifying "patches" that guarantee happiness for the wearers. She must decide what to do when a precocious girl (Audrey Bennett, “Frozen on Broadway”) refuses to accept the patch.

Director Ryan Patch’s Statement

As someone with a close family member who struggles with severe mental health issues, the way that we understand and help people with these challenges is always on my mind.  So, when I stumbled across a Harvard bioethicist’s blog about the idea of always-on, perfectly-administered drip dosage of antidepressants, an entire world began to form in my head where this technology was a part of everyday life.

I started to think about what this could do for people in our country, but also what it would do for our country’s culture. Who would use it? How would we handle this as a society? And also, how might the government address the disparity in privilege this technology would create between children who grew up with the wealth to be “happy” and those who did not? This lead me to think about what the government’s responsibility is to “level the playing field” in health and where can human freedom be factored into these decisions?

There are a number of contentious issues in our country that, at their core, are discussions that pit something that might make society “better” against a loss of individual freedoms.  We all agree it’s good the government removes citizens’ “freedom” to drive on the left side of the road in return for having safe roads. But where should the line be between giving up a freedom that makes “society” a better place, and allowing citizens to retain important autonomy? Many of us disagree about where this line might be for different issues like guns, education, or medical care, but I hope that this film serves as a starting place to discuss these issues, and for each side to empathize with the values and motivations of the other.

Mia and Kaleigh are both characters based on my wife, Alison.  She inspired Mia as an optimistic, hopeful millennial, who wants to make the world a better place. Kaleigh is based on stories that Alison told me of making up magical kingdoms and worlds for herself to play in as a lonely 10-year old.  I combined these ideas with my own memories of childhood - roaming around Colorado, scraping knees and finding tree forts - and created a single conversation between Mia and Kaleigh about why one would - or would not - want this sort of patch.

Casting both Sunita and Audrey were fantastic surprises. As soon as Sunita came into our world, we knew almost immediately that she was our ‘Mia’. She had an earnestness in her eyes that perfectly captured the tenseness of ‘Mia’s pivotal scene at the end. We were very fortunate to bring Audrey to the screen for her first time - an accomplished Broadway actress, she has an amazing subtlety to her reactions, and brought an innocence and tenderness to Kaleigh that would cause the audience to “root” for her in a way that I could not have written.

Many other special things came together for us. Our award-winning DP, Matt Mitchell, was a true partner in helping me develop the visual narrative for the piece - going on multiple scouts in one week and passing a lot of emails and photos back and forth to get the tone right. The art team that built the treehouse in less than a day and dressed the entire set on a meager budget. Our costume designer who turned a vintage skirt suit into a well-fitting pant suit of the future tailored just for Sunita. And the magical location that fit all three of our scenes into one property.