Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/16/2026 – There is something wonderfully appropriate about a film called In Between being born from a place of uncertainty.
For Nicholas Molencupp, the writer, co-director, producer and star of the new queer romantic dramedy, the story began as a small creative experiment—something he thought might become a short film and a way to showcase himself as an actor.
Instead, it became something far more personal.
It became a two-year journey into his own psyche, his experiences with dating, body image, self-worth and the complicated process of learning to stop making yourself smaller for other people.
And ultimately, it became a feature film.
“I am the writer, co-director, producer, and star of the film,” Molencupp explained. “I originally wrote the film over the course of two years between 2023 and 2025.”
The first version was only about 17 pages long.
Molencupp showed it to a trusted friend in Los Angeles, a professional writer who asked a deceptively simple question: What made the story different?
“He said, ‘This is very cute. What do you want to do with it?’” Molencupp recalled. “And I said, ‘You know, maybe some short film festivals. I don’t know. I just wanted to make something for myself.’”
But his friend pushed further.
“He said, ‘What makes it different? Like, why should I care? Why should anyone care?’”
The advice was blunt: acknowledge that he had written something, throw it away, and start over.
So Molencupp did exactly that.
“I dwelled on that for several months, and then I said, ‘Okay, I’m ready to, like, try again. Here we go.’”
The new version grew from a short into a 30-page script. Eventually, Molencupp realized he wasn’t writing a short anymore.
“I said, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to turn this into a full feature film,’” he acknowledged.
He ultimately brought elements of his original short back into the new story and continued expanding it until In Between became a full-length feature. He completed the screenplay in January 2025, held a table read with friends in Atlanta, incorporated their feedback, and then decided to take the enormous leap from writing a movie to actually making one.
Perhaps the most striking part of Molencupp’s story is that the film’s emotional authenticity was not simply a creative decision.
It required him to become vulnerable.
“I originally was writing something to just create art for myself that I could showcase my acting abilities and be the leading man,” he said. “Like, at the end of the day, that’s what I originally started out for, on this journey.”
But the writing became something else.
“Then it turned into therapy, almost,” he realized.
Molencupp said writing the character forced him to examine his own upbringing and the experiences that helped shape him.
“I really delve into the deep parts of my psyche and just kind of my upbringing and why I am the way I am,” he said. “It took me so long to finish this because I had to actually see it through before I could write about it, right? I needed to know how Nick’s story ended.”
That meant doing the work outside the screenplay, too.
“I had to put in the work. I had to go to therapy. I had to learn about myself,” he said. “I had to really, in order to make this as authentic as possible, I had to put the work in myself.”
That vulnerability has become one of the defining characteristics of In Between. The film’s official materials describe it as a queer romantic dramedy centered on a man who has spent much of his dating life feeling caught between expectations, body types, and ideas about who he’s supposed to be.
But Molencupp says the story is ultimately much bigger than one man’s experience.
The film addresses difficult subjects, including depression and suicidal ideation, but Molencupp said those moments exist within a therapeutic framework, rather than simply being included for shock value.
And after one screening, he received a response he will never forget.
“A young gentleman came up to me, and he said, ‘The way you were feeling in that scene, I’ve felt that way for months, and I don’t know what to do,’” Molencupp recalled.
Then came the words that made the entire filmmaking journey worthwhile.
“‘Your film just gave me hope that it does get better. And like, thank you so much for putting this out into the world. Thank you for creating this art.’”
Molencupp was already emotional after the screening.
“And he just said that, and so like, I was crying,” he said. “It was already an emotional night, and then that just kind of made it all worth it.”
For Molencupp, that moment confirmed something he had hoped for throughout the entire process: that the story could reach people who might never see themselves reflected in a movie about a gay man’s dating life.
“This is a universal story,” he said. “Everyone feels this way in their life in some aspect.”
He has since heard from straight viewers and people from backgrounds very different from his own who nevertheless recognized themselves in the story.
“People said, you know, ‘I don’t identify with the cisgender white male lifestyle, but I saw my story and myself in you, and in that story,’” he said.
That universality may be one reason the film has already attracted attention from LGBTQ+ publications and critics, including Instinct, DNA Magazine, Queerty and Silver Screen Capture. Instinct called it “the gay rom-com we’ve been waiting for,” while Silver Screen Capture awarded the film an A-.
At the center of In Between is an idea that Molencupp clearly carries beyond the fictional character he created: the idea that people deserve to take up space exactly as they are.
“You’re allowed to love yourself for everything that you are and be unapologetic about it,” he advocated.
“It’s about not shrinking to make yourself smaller to be what people want you to be.”
That idea is particularly meaningful to Nick, the character.
The question becomes whether he will continue shrinking himself to fit someone else’s expectations—or finally accept himself and “live out loud.”
“For me, in my day-to-day real life, yeah, it’s just…about being unapologetically yourself, allowing yourself to be loved, and most importantly, loving yourself at the end of the day,” Molencupp said.
“And just being seen in that way.”
Cameron Moir Found Himself in the Story, Too
Cameron Moir, who plays Beau, the romantic interest opposite Molencupp, came to the project after discovering Molencupp’s fundraising campaign.
The two share an agent, and Moir said it was the authenticity of Molencupp’s story that immediately caught his attention.
Molencupp had spoken publicly about feeling “in between,” and recognized something familiar in that experience.
“It was Nick’s story of feeling in between,” Moir said. “And that means physically, emotionally, mentally, which we can all relate to. And I related to that myself.”
He auditioned for the role and was eventually brought into the producing team as well.
“When I sat down at the coffee shop, as one does, and I was like, ‘Okay, this Nick has a voice, and that’s quite unique for first-time writers,’” Moir recalled.
“As an actor, I’ve read a lot of scripts. I’ve done a lot of TV shows and films, and I was like, I want to be part of this.”
Moir’s character, Beau, has his own struggle with identity and acceptance. He is attracted to men like Nick, but he is also concerned with fitting into a particular social image.
“He wants to bring Nick into his fold,” Moir explained. “But playing him, I could relate to that…wanting to be part of the cool crowd.”
That experience led Moir to a realization that extends beyond the film.
“I feel like I’ve done some of that, and…finding your people and finding good people is what I’ve learned later in my life,” he said. “That’s what I want to be around—good people who are supportive and nice people.”
The production grew into something much larger than Molencupp’s original vision.
The film ultimately involved 26 cast members and approximately 40 crew members.
And somewhere along the way, the group became a family.
“When we had our premiere back in Atlanta just over a week ago now, it was just so great to see all the cast and crew,” Moir said. “I feel like we’ve really created a family.”
Then he laughed.
“Me and Nick are like brothers now, you know. Sometimes we have little fights, but we love each other.”
Molencupp credits Moir with helping expand the project’s network and bringing key people into the production.
Among the producing team are Elle Army, Krystal Joy Brown, Christian DeMarais, Juli-Ann De Barros, Eric Cappuccio and senior executive producer Jay Manuel, known for America’s Next Top Model.
Moir’s connections helped open doors, but Molencupp says the project ultimately succeeded because people believed in the story.
“We did it in a year to the day,” Molencupp said.
The fundraising campaign launched September 26, 2025.
The world premiere took place exactly one year later, September 26, 2026, at Atlanta’s Out On Film festival.
“A year to the day,” Molencupp said.
Cameron Moir’s Hollywood Education—and a Name Change He Didn’t Ask For
Moir brings his own unusual Hollywood history to the project.
His first major film experience was a small role in Non-Stop with Liam Neeson, where he played a steward named Peter.
Or at least, he thought he did.
On the way to the premiere, Moir was talking with his publicist about the lack of publicity surrounding his role.
“She was like, ‘Well, it was kind of hard since you didn’t have a name,’” he recalled.
Moir’s response?
“Of course I have a name. My name is Peter in the film.”
Then came the discovery.
“She was like, ‘Well, it’s not on IMDb.’ And I was like, ‘Oh wow, they changed my name.’”
He laughed at the memory.
“So that was like a nice introduction to Hollywood.”
Moir eventually moved to Los Angeles, became a BAFTA LA newcomer and expanded into producing. His producing credits include Englishmen in LA and the LGBTQ short Class A, which was released through TLA Releasing. In Between represents his first time producing a feature film.
Now, the team is taking In Between on the festival circuit.
Molencupp says the goal is simple: get the film in front of as many people as possible.
“We’re just getting started in our festival run,” he said. “We have also submitted to some international festivals to just really just blast it out there.”
The film has already received international attention, including coverage from Australia’s DNA Magazine.
The next step is distribution.
“Using that momentum to get distribution and just get it out to the masses because that’s at the end of the day the goal,” Molencupp said.
“I think this is a really beautiful story that is universal and it really can obviously touch a lot of people, and so I just want to get it out there to as many people as I can.”
For all the seriousness surrounding In Between, neither Molencupp nor Moir is entirely defined by filmmaking.
Molencupp has a surprisingly competitive side: he is a game-show fan who competed on Scrambled Up last year—and won the grand prize.
“I’m a big fan of game shows,” he said. “And last year I competed on a game show called Scrambled Up, and I won the grand prize.”
Moir, meanwhile, has an entirely different creative outlet.
“I guess something interesting about me is–I’m a painter. I’m an artist,” he said.
“If I wasn’t acting, I would just like to be in a barn painting upstate, and that is still a dream of mine.”
He pointed to a painting hanging behind him during our interview.
“That is one of my paintings behind me, actually.”
The painting, it turns out, is just one more glimpse into the person behind the performer.
An artist through and through.
And perhaps that is ultimately what In Between is about—not simply romance, sexuality, body image or Hollywood, but the freedom to become fully visible.
To stop hiding.
To stop shrinking.
To find the people who see you.
And, finally, to see yourself.
In Between is currently on the festival circuit following its September 26 world premiere at Out On Film in Atlanta. Upcoming festival appearances and distribution announcements are being posted through the film’s official website and social media.
