Dark Comedy “Through the Wind Gate” Films Pilot Upstate

Wey-Gat, Dutch for “Wind Gate,” was the name early European settlers gave to the section of the Hudson River between Storm King Mountain and Breakneck Ridge. This picturesque northern entrance to the Hudson Highlands has inspired artists for centuries, from Hudson River School painters like Thomas Cole to contemporary novelists like T. C. Boyle.

Yet another artist entranced by the site’s splendor is filmmaker Julia Barrett-Mitchell. While watching the sun set over the river with a friend from the Beacon shoreline, they both wondered if they’d died and gone to heaven. And the idea for “Through the Wind Gate,” a dark comedy she’s developing for TV about a group of millennials transplanted from New York City to the Hudson Valley who slowly realize they have died and passed into the afterlife.

Barrett-Mitchell, 31, is a conservatory-trained actor who’s directed 18 music videos, and her work has appeared on NPR, Vevo, BBC, and Billboard. Mitchell has appeared on network television (“Law and Order,” “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens”) and starred in multiple independent films. 

A Brooklyn native, she relocated to Beacon during the pandemic. Knowing she was part of an almost-cliche exodus from Manhattan, “Through the Wind Gate,” satirizes millennial urban expats.

Inspired by the setting’s dramatic geography, Mitchell envisioned the area as a gateway to heaven, with the Hudson looming like the River Styx, itself a character in the show. The pilot opens on recently transplanted, progressive New York City couple Lilith and Daniel, who, in the safety of their new environment, experiment with an open relationship. While at a dinner party, they meet other newcomers and allow themselves to be seduced by a sexy and free-spirited queer couple.

At the end of the pilot, the ensemble discovers their lives have actually ended, and they must now reconcile that the trauma and tribulations they thought they’d overcome, actually killed them. But there’s a twist: Lilith is still alive—in a coma—and must reconcile with the fact that she could wake up at any second, leaving her husband behind. The arc of the series explores heaven, purgatory, and hell within a heightened version of the Hudson Valley. 

“Having these different realms coexist added delicious depth and allowed me to explore a broader range of themes that hopefully speak to more people,” Barrett-Mitchell says. “Some characters represent hell because they are suffering from an overpowering sense of shame and are struggling to overcome emotional trauma from their past life, while some represent heaven pursuing pleasure, breaking through limitations, and experiencing unbridled liberation, which looks different for each character,” Barrett-Mitchell says.

Filming for the pilot is underway in Beacon, Garrison, and Cold Spring, and will conclude in Newburgh in early June. Barrett-Mitchell is crowdfunding the costs of completing filming, which will likely total $30,000. “This is an open call for the Hudson Valley community to get involved and support the project,” Barrett-Mitchell says. Once production is completed, Barrett-Mitchell will take the 30-minute pilot on the festival circuit.

“Through the Wind Gate,” is being made with a largely local crew, including Newburgh filmmaker Emil Benjamin, cinematographer Boa Simon, and producer Seth Chitwood. The cast features Joel Marsh Garland, who played the bumbling Corrections Officer Scott O’Neill in “Orange Is the New Black,” and Connor Bond, a notable figure in the Beacon comedy scene. To follow the production, Barrett-Mitchell can be found
@juliabarrettmitchell. Contribute to finishing the project. 

This article appears in May 2023.