Psychotherapist-Turned-Screenwriter Named Finalist for 'Occam’s Beard' at Big Apple Film Festival

Writer David Ezell plays Andy Taylor in the upcoming film Occam's Beard

Occam's Beard poster with the Finalist Laurels

The Camelback crew at the end of a shooting day.

Occam’s Beard, a story of truth, trust, and psychosis by therapist-writer David Ezell, is a Finalist at New York’s Big Apple Film Festival.

Occam’s Beard isn’t just about mental illness—it’s about truth. When everyone swears they’re right, but the findings are different, someone’s lying.”

— David Ezell

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Occam’s Beard, a deeply human screenplay about identity and mental illness, has advanced as an official Finalist in the Big Apple Film Festival, one of New York City’s most respected showcases for independent cinema. The script, written by David Ezell, a practicing psychotherapist and co-founder of Camelback Films, is an adaptation of an earlier screenplay he wrote in collaboration with Harry Cooke.

"Harry and I wrote the shooting draft for the

film based on my original short story "Capgras." We then shot that film (with a pending release in early 2026) earlier this year. Even though we had moved on to another project, I could not get the story out of my head. Harry stated in no uncertain terms that he was no longer interested in working on this story, so with he blessing I reworked it and am delighted with the results."

Ezell drew the story from a few different clients he saw in this thousands of hours of clinical practice to craft an emotionally authentic story about the experience of psychosis and the fragile boundary between truth and delusion.

“After years of listening to my client’s stories, I wanted to tell a create a script that explores what it feels like to lose trust in your own perceptions and also in what the truth is,” said Ezell. “Occam’s Beard isn’t just about mental illness—I think many of us are struggling with the question of who to believe on a daily basis. When everyone is saying they speak the truth, and their statements are not in sync, someone is lying."

The film follows PJ, a former child actor in his late twenties, whose trusted psychiatrist may—or may not—be an impostor. Through a blend of realism and psychological tension, Occam’s Beard examines how the mind constructs reality and how compassion can coexist with madness.

The Big Apple Film Festival, known for spotlighting emerging voices in New York’s creative community, will announce its award winners later this month.

For more information about Occam’s Beard or Camelback Films, visit www.camelbackfilms.nyc.