Write of Passage

Write of Passage is a comedy-drama directed by Aydan Woodward released in March 2020. The film tells the story of Belvin Davis, a popular author who begins to suffer from writer's block during the creation of the final entry in his beloved book series.

The film was initially set to be released in February of 2020, but due to sound problems, it was delayed a month.

Plot
Belvin Davis is a successful Canadian writer living in Los Angeles known for his Alan Jupiter series of detective books, which began with his breakthrough novel Alan Jupiter and the Black Suitcase, which made Belvin a star twelve years earlier. In the present day, Belvin is in the process of writing the final Alan Jupiter book, the anticipated conclusion to his series; however, he has been continuously procrastinating and delaying the writing of the book, which leads to him being scolded by his publisher Arthur Penningbury, who insists that Belvin bring him a draft by the next week. Belvin returns to his house and decides to finally start writing the novel, however, he feels unable to create or write after sitting at his table for two hours simply thinking. Anxious, he stops writing and decides to continue the next morning.

In his garden the next morning, Belvin tries to write, but again, cannot think of anything. Coming to the conclusion that he has writer's block, he contacts his estranged friend and former writing partner, Keith Anderson, in order to try and conjure up some ideas. Belvin and Keith meet at a bar somewhere in the city, and despite having an argument in which Keith accuses Belvin of not crediting him with co-creating Alan Jupiter, they put their differences and past squabbles aside and write two chapters of the novel. Belvin later tries to talk to Keith again about having another writing session, but Keith declines, which leads to Belvin calling his cousin Zelda, who is a successful screenwriter living in New York. Despite Belvin politely asking Zelda for help, she tells him that she isn't good at writing complicated detective stories, specialising mostly in simpler romantic comedies. Belvin, disappointed once again, decides to ask his mystical bohemian friend Dobie for help. Dobie tells Belvin that he can cure his writer's block with a simple drink, which he offers to the writer. Unbeknownst to him, the drink contains LSD. Belvin, upon consuming the dark drink, starts hallucinating and enters a drug-induced trip. Upon awakening, he finds that he had written a heap of pages full of ideas and drawings.

Belvin, realizing that he can write more ideas in a drug-induced state in the short time that he has, decides to use more and more of Dobie's LSD, which greatly speeds up the writing process, regardless of the quality of the content. Wednesday arrives, and Belvin brings his draft to Mr. Penningbury. However, the publisher is disgusted by the poor quality of Belvin's writing, which leads him to despair. Belvin, however, insists that he will complete the book and simply prepare himself for the reception. An exhausted Belvin finishes the book, Alan Jupiter's Grand Finale, and publishes it. The book is poorly received, is unanimously declared Belvin's worst piece, and fails to sell.

The failure of the final Alan Jupiter book sends Belvin into a deep depression, and he starts drinking heavily and hardly ever leaving the house. Concerned for his old friend, Keith comes to visit, shocked by the terrible state Belvin is in, and attempts to motivate him to write down what is troubling him.

Feeling inspired again, he stops drinking and taking drugs, apologizes to Penningbury and successfully convinces him to publish his autobiography, Write of Passage, or the Truth Behind My Literary Monstrosity, which is a success. Belvin's autobiography leads readers to buy more copies of the failed book, which becomes a pop culture phenomenon. Belvin and Keith meet on a bridge by a river, where the two old friends say their goodbyes and Belvin decides to embark on a new adventure, to "start over".

Cast

 * Aydan Woodward as Belvin Davis, a popular author from Vancouver but living in Los Angeles, who is famous for his Alan Jupiter series, who struggles with writer's block in a rush to complete the final book in the series. Belvin, however, is a pretentious, arrogant and rude young man who is in the bad position he finds himself in due to his bad treatment in the past of the people close to him. Woodward describes him as "an absolute arsehole who the viewers will definitely take time to warm to".
 * Aston Wyatt as Keith Anderson, Belvin's estranged friend and former writing partner who helped him co-create Alan Jupiter almost a decade earlier. Despite their falling out, Belvin "comes crawling back to Keith" during the events of the film when he is desperate for help. Compared to Belvin, Keith is a genuinely good person who doesn't care about fame and success and who does agree to help his old friend.
 * Gary Smith as Arthur Penningbury, the head of Penningbury Publishing who pressures Belvin to finish his book and make a profit.
 * Gimmy Viti as Dobie, the drug dealer from Beverly Hills who gives Belvin LSD in order to help him overcome his writer's block.
 * Amy Woodward as Zelda Davis, Belvin's famous cousin who is a successful screenwriter working with director David Fincher.
 * Edgar Jacobi as Dan, Zelda's boyfriend who hates Belvin for his rudeness in the past.
 * Nick Pedersen reprises his role as Nicky Mail, now as a TV presenter who interviews Belvin Davis.

Production
The idea for the film began when Woodward himself was struggling to come up with an idea for a new short. The doubts he was constantly experiencing led to him writing a story about this very feeling. Instead of writing it about a film director, however, it was decided that the film would be about a struggling author.

Shooting took place during the summer of 2019, and was scheduled to be released on YouTube in February of 2020. However, audio issues and arguments over the soundtrack choice led to the release being postponed to March of that same year.

Trivia

 * The majority of the film's dialogue is completely improvised except for the phone call scene between Belvin and Zelda Davis.
 * The film's soundtrack is jazz-themed. Woodward said he "wanted to capture the sensation of being a writer in L.A., with the whole situation, despite being set in the present day, just having such a jazzy vibe".
 * The bohemian look of Belvin Davis is based on a variety of real-life characters, such as Jim Morrison of The Doors. Woodward said he "wanted to make Belvin particular, different from most authors. He's young, he's cocky, has a bit of an attitude".