West End

This meta day-in-the-life drama deals with a teenage boy who struggles with depression, anxiety, and writer's block as he attempts to pluck up the courage to talk to his long-time crush.

  • Jakob Hegewisch-Allen
    Director
  • Jakob Hegewisch-Allen
    Writer
  • Jakob Hegewisch-Allen
    Producer
  • Robert Holmesacourt
    Key Cast
    "Oliver"
  • Ashley Sarris
    Key Cast
    "Petra"
  • Ben Davis
    Key Cast
    "Johnny"
  • Graham Silverman
    Key Cast
    "Luke"
  • Aaron Avidon
    Key Cast
    "Stephan"
  • Xander Kleimann
    Director of Photography
  • Jakob Hegewisch-Allen
    Composer
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Coming-of-Age, Short
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 5, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    300 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Tulane University
Director Biography - Jakob Hegewisch-Allen

Jakob Hegewisch-Allen is a German-English director/screenwriter from DC who moved to New Orleans at 18 to pursue filmmaking. There he made “WEST END,” an anxiety-inducing coming-of-age film which served as his directorial debut. He has also worked in Germany for post-production firm "Achtfeld GmbH" as Video-Editing Intern and as Assistant Production Manager for German film "König der Raben". Hegewisch-Allen is currently finishing multiple projects, including an architectural arthouse film shot in Switzerland and a Covid-quarantine horror short before embarking on a full-length screenplay of a has-been screenwriter’s ominous return to the spotlight. As Hegewisch-Allen delves further into the film world, he looks to create thought-provoking content which pushes arthouse cinema into a contemporary lens.

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Director Statement

West End was an incredibly personal film for me and is largely rooted in real-life experience. As someone who has suffered from anxiety and depression throughout my life, West End served as an outlet to show the world how it feels to suffer from these maladies as a young adult, especially with regard to social anxiety, phone-induced anxiety, and writer’s block. I felt this aspect of young-adult life was underrepresented in mainstream culture, so I wanted to create a means for young people to see the struggles they went through, and to realize they were not alone.