“The Skinny is all about what happens when all your self awareness can’t save you.” – Jessie Kahnweiler. Photo: Mark Knezevic

Jessie Kahnweiler’s Twitter bio reads “I can’t afford therapy so I make films”, a jokey riff on the personal nature of her projects. The 30-year-old Los Angeles filmmaker drew on her own experiences for her smart and funny 2013 short Meet My Rapist, which starts with her recognising her rapist at a farmers’ market and deftly skewers the ‘get over it’ reactions of those around her.

Her current project, a black comedy called The Skinny, sees her mining similarly dark autobiographical material – this time based on her 10-year relationship with bulimia. Kahnweiler is well aware that making a humorous series about eating disorders is tricky territory. “I didn’t realise this at first, but nobody wants to talk about this or hear about this. I hear ‘bulimia comedy’ and I want nothing to do with it! I have to remind myself, oh, that’s actually your show,” says Kahnweiler with a laugh. “For me, the story of The Skinnyis all about what happens when all your self awareness can’t save you. How do you manage this thing that is driving you crazy, but is also your safety blanket?”

One thing that kept her going despite the pushback was the response when she would speak to others about the concept. It was a stark reminder of the secretive and shame-filled cloud that hangs over the topic of eating disorders. “There’s this rule in Hollywood that if you have an idea, don’t talk about it. But I ask everyone, and it’s interesting because everyone would be like ‘I used to have an eating disorder’ or ‘my mum had an eating disorder’ or ‘my grandpa used to throw up’. It’s f–king everywhere, but I didn’t see those stories on TV.”

From the teaser video created for the series’ Kickstarter campaign, The Skinny looks like it could be a powerful antidote to the usual media representation of eating disorders, which tend to centre on thin, young, white women. It’s a stereotypical portrayal that can stop people realising they have a problem because they don’t think they fit the mould of a person with the illness – something Kahnweiler has first-hand experience of.

“I was always of the mind that there’s no way I could have an eating disorder because I don’t do ballet or I’m not blonde or I’m not Natalie Portman in Black Swan. I’m this loud, hairy Jew and messy and feminist, all of these things that you don’t normally associate with somebody that has an eating disorder. That’s really why I feel like I was the last to know.”

Kahnweiler could be counted as part of the current vanguard of young female creatives (along with Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City and Issa Rae of Awkward Black Girl), who all got their creative endeavours noticed by using advances in technology to reach their audience directly. This online revolution has allowed them to bypass the usual gatekeepers to making a series, which in turn means more opportunities for thinking outside the box and getting more nuanced, complex characters.

“I’m so grateful to be in this culture now where you can be shooting stuff and you don’t have to wait for a bunch of white dudes to give you a million dollars,” says Kahnweiler. “It’s an exciting time. It really is the best time ever to be a woman artist creating things.”The Skinny has already solidified a fan base, just from the teaser clip. The Kickstarter campaign raised $12,153 for a $10,000 goal to help create the series, with the funds being used to cut the pilot.

The filmmaker has even found an influential ally in Jill Soloway, the creator of Golden Globe-winning television series Transparent and co-creator of Wifey, a video network for women. “I’ve known her for a few years, she’s been a huge mentor and supporter,” says Kahnweiler. The Skinny got the Soloway seal of approval and is set to premiere later this year on Wifey. The small-screen heavyweight also gave Kahnweiler some sage advice. “She always says, ‘Nobody is going to tell you that you’re a director’. Nobody wants to give me the reins to direct, it’s about giving myself permission to do that. Without the internet, I don’t think it would be possible.”

Another big name who’s come on board for the project is showbiz veteran, Illeana Douglas. Kahnweiler is such a big fan that when she heard Douglas’s distinctive voice getting in touch she thought it was a prank. Douglas is both an actor in and producer on the series. “She was like, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to come on as a producer.’ I was a little bit worried, but we went and got coffee and she gave me all these notes. I was like, ‘Holy s–t, this bitch knows what’s up.’ It’s like playing with a tennis pro, you’ve got to step your game up.”

For Kahnweiler, one of the thorniest aspects of creating The Skinny has been balancing the comedic tone with the heavier subject matter of bulimia, but it’s a tension that she doesn’t shy away from. “Being in this guerrilla filmmaking world, when I decide to do a project it’s from a place of need, simply because it’s so hard to make stuff. Eating disorders are everywhere and nowhere. I just think about growing up and how sick I was for so long and how important it is to create images of women and how we process our experiences. For me, this was a story that I felt needed to be told, because it’s not just my story.”