Content warning: Description of eating disorders

Kaylee Johnson started making films when she was ten years old. 

But last year, after sitting down with a friend from middle school to brainstorm ideas for a film, she decided to step out of her comfort zone.  

“I really want to make stories that are … relatable and about characters,” Johnson said. “While my other projects haven’t really had that, they’ve been fun, amazing learning opportunities. ‘Feeding Tube’ was a first step into realistic storytelling.”

Johnson’s upcoming short film “Feeding Tube” premieres March 29 on YouTube. The film tells the story of a couple’s struggle with an eating disorder, marking the radio-television-film junior’s most personal film to date. 

Johnson started brainstorming the idea for the film in December 2021 with Aashish Thakur, a friend and actor in Los Angeles who Johnson previously worked with on short films. 

“We knew we wanted to write about something personal that affected us and also would have an effect on other people,” Thakur said. “I struggled with body image and eating, and (Johnson) also struggled with that. So we were like, ‘This is actually something that we could send a good message with.’”

Johnson said the script gradually unraveled over the course of about four months as Johnson and Thakur opened up to each other about their mutual experiences with eating disorders.

“A lot of (the writing) was Aashish opening up to me and then me being able to relate because I went through something similar and then us kind of making characters based off of those experiences,” Johnson said. 

Within the film’s story, Johnson said she and Thakur wanted to highlight how eating disorders can manifest in everyday interactions and relationships. 

“We came up with the idea of incorporating (eating disorders from a) relationship standpoint and then added the stressor of meeting the parents in a dinner setting,” Johnson said. “People with eating disorders usually have a lot of anxiety around food, so we wanted to incorporate these minute details that maybe, at face value, wouldn’t be as anxiety driven until seen in film.” 

Radio-television-film sophomore Beau Cormican, who oversaw sound for the film, said he feels the film tells an important story in an authentic and genuine manner. 

“Eating disorders are something that can go hidden, so it’s nice to have cathartic media where someone with an eating disorder can relate and feel seen,” Cormican said. “It’s easy … to caricaturize it, and I think ‘Feeding Tube’ avoided that and made the characters feel grounded and real.”

With the film releasing soon and being submitted to film festivals, Johnson said she hopes “Feeding Tube” can provide viewers with a glimpse into a personal story regarding an emotional and sensitive topic. 

“If I were to put it into words, the goal for this film is to inform people and share a story,” Johnson said. “This kind of story is something that really sits with the audience. It’s a really character driven, very raw and very personal story.”