Set Life: Writer-director-producer Nicholas Molencupp spotlights self-love and acceptance in queer romcom ‘In Between’

ArtsATL’s Set Life series focuses on local creatives who work in Atlanta’s film and television industry. We’ll talk to those who work on both sides of the camera and explore their struggles and successes in navigating Georgia’s volatile film and TV scene.

::

It’s difficult navigating the dating scene as a chubbier gay guy. But filmmaker Nicholas Molencupp makes it touchingly relatable in his first feature film, In Between.

“It’s based off my real-life experience of feeling like I don’t fit in within my own community, and trying to find love,” says Molencupp, who stars in the movie, directed alongside Juli-Ann De Barros. The film was produced through production company Closet Monster Films, which Molencupp co-owns with his partner. And the film’s senior executive producer is Canadian TV host Jay Manuel.

Currently in post-production, In Between came to life with the help of Atlanta film crews over a 10-day production period at 19 bustling film locations throughout the city.

“I came here during COVID, and I wanted to make a movie with my community,” says Molencupp, who partnered with local businesses — like Boy Next Door Menswear, Midtown Butcher Shoppe, Woofs Atlanta sports bar and Lore on Edgewood — in an effort to build up the city’s queer spaces and community.

In a broad sense, Molencupp’s script highlights the truth that navigating the dating scene is difficult — first dates, last texts, loud disappointment, reads the logline. Strife that’s amplified when you’re newly learning to accept yourself, confront body-image issues, and look beyond pre-conceived notions of how you should be.

“The joke is, I’m fat for the hot athletic gays, and I’m too thin for the chubby chasers,” Molencupp says. “So, it’s learning to love myself first so I can love others and have others love me.”

The film’s heartfelt message reportedly drew in Molencupp’s seasoned co-producer and fellow actor, Elle Army, in a way few scripts have. When the busy mother of a two- and four-year-old was first approached, working on yet another project seemed almost insurmountable.

“I was like, I don’t know if I have the bandwidth, but let me read the script,” Army recalls, who has another film coming out in October. As a filmmaker and artist herself, though, Molencupp’s story stood out.

“I just fell in love with it because it had all the wonderful elements that you want for romantic comedy. But then it had this really raw honesty of the mental health part, when he chooses to love himself at the end,” she says.

“Nick is just fantastic [in] his story, and I was blown away by the vulnerability,” Army adds of Molencupp, noting his ability to swiftly switch context between the roles of director, producer and actor. “It’s very hard to find a first-time filmmaker who has written something about themselves and then to be able to see it, cinematically.”

Oftentimes, creatives get so close to their material that they can’t view it objectively as a director. Yet, according to Army, Molencupp met the challenge while highlighting experiences that are rarely reflected in gay cinema.

“A lot of LGBTQ+ films are tragedies,” Molencupp finds. “From the past 30 years, our films are inherently on the coming out, the drugs and alcohol, the HIV AIDS epidemic — very hard-hitting trauma stories.”

In a twist, Molencupp saw an opportunity for his film to stretch beyond standard stories that have become associated with the genre. “Everyone is typically attractive — white, cisgender — all of these things where people have had this experience with our gay community,” he notes.

“There are people who look like that, and that’s their lived experience,” Molencupp continues. “But there’s a whole diaspora of other people who look like me and who have other gender expressions.”

Perhaps it was time for an authentic love story from the perspective of someone who looks like the In Between leading man does.

“I’m not your stereotypical attractive model or what someone would think of when they think of a gay man,” Molencupp states.

He also saw In Between as a way to shine a cinematic spotlight on mental health issues that affect the gay community and everyone else.

“Even though it’s sunny, warm and heartfelt, it also dives deeper into the mental health aspects,” Molencupp describes. “We talk about body image, self-love and mental health care. Even suicidal ideation. So we touch on a myriad of topics, and having those conversations in a therapeutic space.”

Where did Molencupp muster the courage and creativity to address subjects that are typically untouched in gay cinema?

“I’m an actor, and I wanted to be the leading man, because that really doesn’t happen for people who look like me,” he says. “So I wrote from my experience, and then it turned into something that seems to be very universal for a lot of people, I’ve found with my crew and with people who have gotten to see snippets.”

After all, everyone feels “in between” in their lives, in some aspect, whether it’s a first-generation immigrant or someone having a trans experience, Molencupp finds. It’s the universal experience of accepting yourself for who you are.

In an important time when everyone, universally, is thirsting for positive developments, growth and messaging, In Between has an almost serendipitous sway.

“It definitely feels like the right time,” Molencupp says. “I was out of work payroll-wise for a year because of the [writers and actors] strikes, and then the reduction in projects. But had I been working for that year, I would have never made this film.”

He closes, “It’s my story and within my community. I know a lot of people who look like me, a lot of people who go through experiences like I go through. And we don’t really get to see that in the mainstream.”

Following post-production, festival placement and public release dates for In Between are still to come. Information and updates are available here.

::

Carol Badaracco Padgett is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who focuses on film and television, the automotive industry, architectural design and collaborative storytelling projects.