Just wanted to give those you at Daily Kos a first crack at being "Aspie Angel", (Aspie is a term used within the Asperger's community), or at least helping in spreading the word that there is a filmmaker soon looking for "Aspie Angels" - essentially not an investor, nor a donor, as the company will be set up as a social enterprise, much like Working Assets, for those familiar. That and asking for your specific guidance in presentation, which will be at www.rembrandtmachine.com towards the start of next month. For example between the difference between a donor or an investor, "Aspie Angels", who would actually "gift" the movie, legally speaking, and will receive an altruism statement annually (or quarterly if said Aspie Angel would prefer). The film's name is "One In A Million", and a trailer link (can't embed for some reason - if someone would in the comments that would be great) follows in the body.
A little background for those who have not read my diaries before, the film is called "One In A Million", and is about, in particular, my preschool age daughter, Lucy Jane, who has an autism spectrum disorder, Asperger's Syndrome (although some experts don't classify as such - truth is the only thing separating my daughter from a diagnosis of high function autism is when she first started speaking, that's it, not function, not anything else). That is why many parents of Asperger's children use HFA (high functioning autism) and AS (Asperger's Syndrome) interchangeably with other neurotypicals (those who do not have autism, also referred to as N/T) like my wife and myself. It is only with other parents within the autistic community where we make the distinction properly between the two.
http://www.youtube.com/...
For those of you who would prefer to see this without nasty You Tube compression, I will gladly email you an 8.5 MB version, or give you a link to the original HD version for you to download at your discretion. As a filmmaker, I hate You Tube, but what can you do? The version on my site will be much better, so just a little more patience and I won't have to use this You Tube link at all. Less of a blogger than a filmmaker, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Hope you enjoy the You Tube compressed version of the trailer nonetheless. Pardon this paragraph about the perfectionist in me, PLEASE.
At any rate I will now include all documents I am going to be including on the website, as transparency in the process. The overarching plan is to distribute not only online, but taking a cross country tour in tandem with Autism Awareness Month in 2009. I hope you enjoy, or can at least get through, the documents.
“One In A Million” Project Description
What is the film about?
“One In A Million” is about the filmmaker’s family - and their learning curve, transition to, and understanding of, their daughter, Lucy, and her autism spectrum disorder, specifically Asperger’s syndrome. While including some expert opinions, it is mostly about the day-to-day life out of one chapter of Lucy’s life – the transition, with expert guidance, over the course of the four-month period in the summer 2008. The film includes the impact felt by the parents, and archival footage to bring the current story into perspective.
What will it look like?
While there will be some sit-down static interviews, and footage of other parents and experts, it will mostly consist of run and gun documentary footage of Lucy, her parents, her relatives, her teachers, her therapists, and her classmates – and Lucy’s interaction with each of those different social environments. It will also include footage shot directly from Lucy’s perspective.
How will you do it?
The film will be shot on HD1080i/P-24F/P for 90% of the footage, using both the Canon XH-A1, and Canon HV20, with which Lucy will be using to shoot her own footage to add to the film. The remaining 10% of the film will come from archival 24P video footage, photos, and documents. The film will be deliverable not only in 1080P/24P High Definition, such as Blu-Ray disc, but any format sized below that as well, including SD-DVD, streaming, and iPod/iPhone video, as examples.
Where did the idea come from?
As parents of a pre school age daughter with a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, we noticed as stunning lack of available information on the subject. Therefore as a filmmaker, I am seeking to fill that void, to add one more voice to the tapestry of the discussion on autism spectrum disorders. My desire is also to add a counterbalance to those documentaries on the subject that seek to rely solely on shock value, and instead make a movie that focuses on hope.
Why should you be the one to make it?
I am an experienced professional documentarian, having shot behind the scenes, for two years, on Richard Linklater’s animated film of Philip K. Dick’s, “A Scanner Darkly”. At the same time, I filmed and animated my own feature length rotoscoped documentary “Doolittle Raiders”, about the events surrounding the 2004 election, including well before, and the aftermath. I also shot some footage for “The Matrix” box set. My plans for “One In A Million” are to shoot in beautiful HD, with great sound as well, and having a wall to wall soundtrack that will hopefully eliminate the need for a narration track, as I believe in immersive documentary storytelling.
Who will see it?
The first target audience will be those who are in our shoes, having a pre school daughter with Asperger’s, but little in the way of information to go on. Next expansion of that subset is the autism community at large; including parents, and those with autism spectrum disorders themselves. Next expansion is anyone with professional interest in the subject, including doctors, therapists, pharmaceutical companies, teachers at large - including professors, politicians, and activists. A further expansion is to the world community at large, it is an aim of mine to contribute to the tapestry of the larger discussion on autism spectrum disorders, and it is my intention to educate, entertain, and enlighten – in that order.
How will they see it?
The film will be toured across the country, and screened in 1080P / Dolby Digital, at non-theatrical locations (coffeehouses, bars, rooftops, art galleries, larger conference rooms, etc.) in conjunction with Autism Awareness Month, April 2009 - before, through, and after the month - with the intention of covering much of the continental United States, in person. The film will also be sold online, in a variety of formats, including DVD, downloadable/streaming, and eventually on Blu-Ray Disc. Merchandise (T-Shirts, Bumper Stickers, Posters) will also be sold online as well. At each of the tour locations, viewers will be able to securely order, on-demand, DVD copies of the film, and/or tour merchandise, via online sales available at the site.
How will you finance it?
It will be financed through a combination of in-kind donations, mostly from my own company, Rembrandt Machine, in the way of gear, donation of payment for time spent, and most of all, through the financial kindness of “Aspie Angels” – those who with their money are making it possible for this powerful message to reach it’s full potential. So far “Aspie Angels” have raised $30K for the film. At minimum, $50K more is needed to push it through to completion, including advertising, marketing, and overall distribution.
Why should I fund it?
You should consider being an “Aspie Angel” if you support the notion of spreading the message about autism spectrum disorders, through a film about a pre-school girl with Asperger’s Syndrome – which aims to educate, entertain, and enlighten. If these are goals you agree with, then you fit the profile of an “Aspie Angel”. Any level of financial participation makes you eligible to be an “Aspie Angel” – from small gifts, to large gifts, to monthly subscriptions.
How will the funds be used?
The funds will be used in three ways – the largest amount of funds will be used toward the cash needs for distribution ($38,500); followed by an overall 10% completion contingency fund for the film ($9,326); and the remainder of the 50K will be used towards some of the cash needs of post production ($2,174). These funds ($50K) guarantee completion of, and nationwide, and subsequent and concurrent worldwide, exposure of the film, both through the tour, and online.
“One In A Million” Treatment
The studies have led the network news, stating the fact that one in 150 children are diagnosed with autism. This is a startling fact taken at it’s face, and as a parent, shortly after counting fingers and toes, you quickly turn your concerns to less visible worries about your newly born child. With Asperger’s syndrome, it takes a while before you can notice. The milestones are reached. Height and weight are average. She starts to walk and talk on time. Then one day you notice that your child is running in circles for hours, clockwise only, on end. You get out the video camera, because it’s darn near the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. A few days later, your friends notice the running in circles, they think it’s cute too. Oddly enough, the direction of her running is always clockwise in pattern. A joke is made about “What would happen if we took her to South America? Would she turn around and run counterclockwise?”. She never feels pain when she bumps into walls. She’s a kid, and that’s just what kids do, you think to yourself. As her speech develops, you notice that she refers to herself only in third person, you might even make up a name for it, “Bob-Dole-itis”. Only when she starts preschool do you start to question some of these things.
For my wife and I, our first parent teacher conference with Lucy’s teachers caught us unaware. Her teacher told us she never played with the other kids. She never looked her in the eye. All of her language was quotes from television shows she had seen, or from conversations months’ prior. She suggested “early intervention”, and speech classes. In other words, her teachers did everything they could legally, except specifically tell us the exact words that they thought Lucy had autism - words that under the current law, teachers are not allowed to utter - the reasons for which we plan to explore. Had it not been for Jen’s mother, Doris, a retired special needs teacher and administrator, who was able to translate exactly what Lucy’s teachers were saying, we might not have understood - although we did have our own suspicions. That said, even with the years of close work with special needs children under her belt, Doris did not believe there was anything to Lucy possibly being autistic - Lucy is an empathetic child, and the baseline child on the autism spectrum supposedly has no empathy. Lucy was not autistic; she said, no way - no how. These words did not offer much in the way of comfort, as the more we learned abut autism, the more signs we noticed Lucy had.
Lucy’s pediatrician confirmed Doris’ position, he did not feel Lucy was autistic - she was too
happy, too giving; however out of diligence he suggested we take Lucy to a pediatric neurologist for a second opinion. The appointment we made was for early 2007, as the pediatric neurologist was booked two months out. We put our fears in the back of head, and as I imagine many parents would do if put in the similar situation, tried to forget about our concerns - operated as though our pediatrician’s diagnosis was the correct one, even though self-admittedly he didn’t have much in the way of expertise in autism - as I have recently found out, it’s not something they teach in medical school.
Months passed, and the appointment finally arrived. We had our list of symptoms prepared, and questions narrowed. The diagnosis process was observational, with the neurologist asking us to tell him why we were concerned that Lucy might have an autism spectrum disorder. Within an hour or so, he validated our concerns - he diagnosed her with Asperger’s Syndrome - the same learning disorder that we had learned about online, and of the known Autism Spectrum Disorders, most sounded like Lucy. Jen was crushed, and I was, oddly enough, relieved. It made sense of some of the questions we had. That feeling of relief was short lived however, based on the naive feeling of, if they have a name for it, they must know how to treat it. His suggested course of treatment - keep her in school, and sign her up for speech classes. That was it? That was all he could offer us? We had read of other treatment options - removing wheat and dairy from the diet, applied behavior therapy, and the fact that this disorder can be treated - maximizing the quality of life for those on the autism spectrum. Somehow speech and school just didn’t sound like enough, and we were sure of one thing, we didn’t want her labeled as autistic through the school system - something she would carry through her entire school years.
This feeling of not knowing what to do was only compounded by lack of available information that had to do with raising a preschooler girl with Asperger’s - most of the available information is aimed at older children, and boys at that, with their symptoms being actually quite different that of girls. To put it bluntly, we felt we were up a creek without a paddle, knowing that if our intention was to help Lucy as best we possibly could as parents, we were going to have to forge our own trail. It is this feeling that I want to address with this film - what to do, and not to do after the diagnosis. A diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder in a child is hard on a marriage - up to 80% of parents of autistic children get divorced. Our particular situation is compounded by the mental illnesses my wife and I contend with, myself with bipolar disorder, my wife with depression. Taken individually, these three disorders each pose a significant challenge to a household. Together, it poses a balancing act that only a tight wire artist would dare embark upon. As a filmmaker, it makes for a set of characters that not even your best screenwriters could fathom. Sometimes there are topics that you pick as a documentarian, and then there are topics that pick you.
PROSPECTUS: What can an Aspie Angel expect as their return?
- A film about a rarely heard topic in autism, a preschool girl with Aperger’s, will get completed, and be shown to the much of the continental United States in person, and worldwide online & via DVD, and eventually Blu-Ray, with their name in credits at the end. 20% of the post manufacturing or other costs, post minimal sales threshold, proceeds from the film will go directly to the autism education group, Autism One, whom you can explore further at www.autismone.org.
- In addition to helping this group, your contribution will be towards expanding the dialogue further on autism, and Asperger’s specifically, to people who may not be as aware of the day to day life of a person, especially a child, with an ASD.
- Annually, an altruism statement will be provided, showing how much has been gifted to Autism One through the film and it’s merchandise as a collective, and by you personally. It will also include an accurate projection of how many people have seen the film, including totals of how much merchandise sold – a numerical value demonstrating the reach of the film.
- The gift from the film of 20% to Autism One, including DVD’s, merchandise, downloads, and ticket sales, will begin immediately upon proceed collection of funds from the film, and the gift shall be totaled after manufacturing costs, and dependent upon meeting a certain threshold of sales per month (for example with DVD’s – 5).
- For example, an Aspie Angel putting $10,000 towards the film shall expect that a DVD sale of $15 shall yield, granted at least five DVD’s are sold that month, and after manufacturing cost ($5 per DVD sold) shall yield a collective Aspie Angel gift of $2 towards Autism One.
- Personally, that Aspie Angel will have contributed 20 cents from the sale of that one DVD. Doesn’t sound like much, but if 500 discs are sold, that’s $100, from that Aspie Angel alone, and collectively $1000 from all Aspie Angels.
- The remainder from the example sale will go back to the film companies, in order to continue advertising and marketing the film, and paying salaries towards a skeleton staff, who may be needed to carry out the duties and furthering of the message and reach of the film.
- An Aspie Angel’s gift shall be non-tax deductible, nor will it be refundable, or given with any form of expectation of financial gain/loss, or return of the original gift. This is not an investment, in the legal sense of the word, it is rather, a gift towards a film, “One In A Million”, that aims to educate, entertain, and enlighten. An Aspie Angel will have dividends that will be measurable by the amount donated to Autism One, and the reach of the message of the film.
A detailed PDF budget is available for anyone to take a look at if they care to, just didn't want to post it here, because all the formatting gets lost. For those either interested in seeing the higher quality SD or HD video version, or taking a look at the detailed budget (which will be available at the website), or perhaps being an early "Aspie Angel" (I have raised 30K from "Aspie Angels" already), please contact me at todd at rembrandtmachine dot com, and if you would prefer to speak in person, I will be glad to call you, so contact me by email, leave your number, and I will return your call whenever you would like me to. Thanks so much for reading through this - any errors you see, or changes you would make, please do not hesitate to point them out to me. I'd rather have errors with ya'll than when the site goes live. As this film gets closer and closer to completion, already being immersed in production, I cannot tell you how rewarding it is.