​John Smith known as “John The Human Studio” is 53 years old and lives with mental illness. John inspires the town of Elkton, Maryland and anyone he comes in contact with, this is because of John’s great personality and the fact that he never gives up on life. As a filmmaker I wanted to produce a very touching, but educational film about mental illness. I thought what better way of highlighting mental illness and dispel some of the myths and stigma that comes with this subject of mental illness. John is the perfect person to follow through this film. When I first talked to John I had no idea that I would be producing a film about mental illness, but after 30 minutes of conversation with John, I said this is one film I must do. I don’t know of many documentaries about mental illness and I was touched by the stories John had told me. With the subject being mental illness I knew this was going to be a film, were I would have to rely heavily on interviews intercut with lots of B Roll shots, archival footage, and John interacting with the public. I also knew that it would be a challenge to get the local mental health department involved with this film as this can be a very sensitive subject about people living with mental illness. The good news was that I had full access to John and his daily life.