Production is Complete!

Dear Friends,

I apologize for the lull in my blog activity, my last post was in June and it has been an action packed past 5 months, so let me update you. In June I began a documentary filmmaking class at UCLA that ran for 12 weeks, it was a wonderful experience and I met many talented documentarians. In July I got the much anticipated interview with David Spiegel up at Stanford. In August I flew to Montana for my third and final interview with Paul, one of the cancer patients I have been following since 2008. At the end of August I hopped on a plane to see Barbara Andersen at Ohio State to discuss her research with breast cancer patients. In September I spoke with Stephanie Matthews-Simonton at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas to capture the story of how the Simonton Cancer Center got started. At the end of September I flew up to San Francisco to interview Marty Rossman, as well as film my third and final interview with Leslie, another one of the patients I have been following for the past two and a half years. And somehow it is already November. With production seemingly finished I have been hard at work on post production, trying to organize, log and time-code all of the footage (we have about 80 hours). And unfortunately post-production is the most expensive part of this documentary so I am going to be starting a fundraising campaign in the next few weeks, and fight to the finish line!!

Thank you all for your interest and most of all for your support. I will be posting information on the fundraiser in the next few days so please keep checking in!

As I mentioned earlier we have about 80 hours of footage to create a 90 minute movie. That means the majority of this footage might never be seen, so I decided to broadcast little clips from interviews over the past 2 years. I am going to try and do this every week if possible. I am starting it off with Ed Gilbert's interview shot this past May in Texas. Enjoy.

We WON Members Choice for Citizens Alternative Media Proposal Contest!!!

We Won the Member's Choice Award!!!! I want to thank everyone who voted and showed their support. The prize for winning is $100 cash and a feature in their newsletter. It might not seem like a lot, but everything helps get us closer to our goal of completing the film and bringing it to as many people as we possibly can. Thank you for voting!!!

Summer Update

Happy first day of summer everyone! I thought today would be the perfect day for a summer update. So here is our status:
Production:
We are looking to finish all interviews by the beginning of fall 2010. Having the projected end so near is a very exciting thought since I have began work on this film in February of 2008. We have about 10 more interviews to get until we can call it a wrap.
Fundraising:
We are still trying to fundraiser, and we just applied to our first grant from CAMgrants - visit www.camgrants.org to check out our written proposal and a quick 2-minute teaser of the documentary. If any of you out there hear of exciting opportunities for grants or donations, please let us know.
Post Production:
Some more exciting news is that I just received my first little bit of "source footage" (footage taken of Dr. Simonton back in the day) from my Uncle Terry. It is an interview for the CBS morning show in 1992. It's pretty amazing and I am so thankful my Uncle retrieved it for me. If any of you out there following this blog have original footage of my Dad, or knows someone who might please contact me, this kind of footage will help this story come to life.

Well that is all for now, I hope you all have a wonderful summer!!!

Going back to where it all began

So I just got back from Texas where I was filming for two weeks. For those of you who might not know, Texas was the birthplace of the Simonton Cancer Center. I explored much of the giant state, visiting the very first retreat center in Fort Worth Texas, interviewing Dr. Simonton's very first colleagues and patients and discovering what a very special time this was for all involved in the work. Here are a few pictures from the trip, I hope you enjoy.

An old sign we saw on our drive from Dallas to Austin...

With Flint Sparks at his home in Austin

(Flint was one of the very first therapists ever trained by Dr. Simonton)

Chuck Holland in Justin, TX

With Jana Baird and Dottie Bishop

(Dottie has worked for the Simonton Cancer Center for about 40 years!)

From Left: Bill Swenson, Chuck Holland, Jane Hardwick

A big Shout Out to this amazing woman on my right, Jana Baird who dropped everything to make this trip possible, driving me all over Texas making sure I could make it to all of my interviews and opening up her home to me. Thank you JANA!!!! xoxox

All in All an extremely successful trip. About 70% of the way through production, hopefully we can wrap filming in the next 3-4 months!!!

Watch Our Most Recent Reel !!!!!

Watch some footage from the FUNDRAISER!!!

A Successful Fundraiser and Silent Auction

On March 27 The Simonton Documentary teamed up with the Simonton Cancer Center for a fundraiser that would benefit both the cancer counseling center and this independent documentary. The night was a huge success with over 100 guests in attendance and over $4,000 raised!

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who made the effort to come out and support us that night, I was deeply touched by all of the love. I would also like to thank all of the donors who contributed to the silent auction, your generosity has truly made a difference.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

The silent auction was a big hit, but fortunately enough for you not every item was taken home that night. So I have decided to put the wonderful items that remain on my website for you to bid on. Simply click here and you will be taken directly to the silent auction where you can start your bidding!

I will have these items up and open for bids until 5:00pm on June 1st. The highest bidder on that date will win the item. Every individual who particiaptes will receive an email if they are outbid at any point in time, giving you the option of raising your bid.

Please take a look at the website, and don't be afraid to email me with any questions you might have

simontondocumentary@gmail.com