Wednesday, April 30, 2008

OTL in the News

Our first grant -- from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities -- has made the Council's latest e-newsletter. Here's a link to the news. They used one of our photos, too. Thanks again to the Council for helping to bring our story to the screen.

-- Wayne

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A haunting and breathless voice from over the ages...

As we move forward here, I am working on the scripts for the voices in OTL. As readers of this blog know, one is of Barbara Bowie, the young woman who was at Wallum Lake more than a half century ago. Jessica SaintJean, one of our great interns, has transcribed all of Barbara's letters (no easy task, I can assure you). Jessica was as moved as I am, again, as I go over Barbara's words in depth. Jessica wrote to me: "Some of them were absolutely heartbreaking." And it's true.

Here is the full, un-edited text of one of Barbara's letters, to a relative, written on June 18, 1949, less than a year before she died, having never gone home from the sanatorium. In this short note, one gets a sense of this young woman, her cares and concerns, and a haunting prescience of what her fate would be. In putting this film together, I am constantly struck by the strange workings of life, that this woman who I never met, who died before I was born, and who surely never imagined anyone would be preserving her memory -- and, dare we say, bring her to life -- would somehow connect to me. It gives one pause, doesn't it...



Dear Lorraine,

Don’t drop, for Heaven’s sake. I’m really writing you a letter, my dear sister. It won’t be too long, but at least you know I’m thinking of you!

The other night, when the priest came, I didn’t realize he’d be so long. I kept wondering what time it was, and I didn’t dare look at my watch. There’s so much to being anointed. Hope I never need it again until I’m ready to kick the bucket – and I hope that won’t be for years and years.

I just finished writing my darling a long love letter. I hope he appreciates them. What a time I have trying to write what I mean. It’s a wonder my letters to him don’t burn the post office beyond repair! That’s a joke, son.

You’ll know before you get this, but mom was here today with Nana Bowie, Pop, Rita and Nana Horton. I was sleeping like a log when they got here, so I had no lipstick on, my hair wasn’t combed, well, I was a complete wreck. You know Nana Bowie. I looked uncomfortable, so she lifted my head, and fixed my pillows. I felt like an invalid, honestly. She wouldn’t let me move. But I did, after. I love her, she’s so darn sweet.

Father Holland was in to se me today. He’s grand. He’ll certainly go to Heaven when he dies.

Gosh – I’m getting writer’s cramp. Listen! You’d better answer this. I hope you’ll forgive me for all the mistakes, can’t help it. I’m getting old, I guess. Write soon.

Lots of Love,
Babs

PS Next letter I write will be more interesting with some news in it. I hope!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Fruit and Frustration

Sorry for the delay in this post, but sometimes my real job -- strike, that, my paying job -- and my family need me. I spent a day on the research trail last week and met with a heaping of frustration and dollop of fruit.

I tracked down the daughter of Everett, the man we were hunting because his girlfriend was a patient at Wallum Lake in the late 1940s. Unfortunately, the daughter thought we were running some kind of identity theft scheme and hung up on me. I may still write her a letter. But our main goal was finding a photograph of Everett, which we succeeded in, anyways. While reviewing the material from Everett's girlfriend, Wayne discovered a previously unlocated photo.

The fruit came while tying up the loose ends of the story of Patient Number One, George Sprague Barrows.

Several weeks ago, my three-year-old son, Oliver, and I went hiking along the wooded roads of central Rhode Island, looking for a cemetery -- which my son persisted in calling a wegetarium -- God only knows why. This cemetery is the final resting place for George's mother, who died giving birth to him, and his brother, who died of tuberculosis several years before him. Oliver and I got chased by a dog and found some good hiking sticks, but we didn't get to the cemetery. The trip wasn't a complete loss, though. Using our field recon and aerial photos on the Web, I figured out where the cemetery is -- on private land posted against trespassing.

Last week, I contacted the landowner, who agreed to let me check out the cemetery and to let us film there, if needed.

From a genealogist's standpoint, the cemetery was a goldmine, holding four generations of George's family. It also yielded a few crumbs that may end up in the movie or in the DVD bonus material, including a touching poem on George's mother's headstone and nice shots of the cemetery itself. George's ancestors buried there also allowed me to trace his genealogy back some distance on his mother's side.

It turns out that Patient Number One was a descendant of Rhode Islander Number One: George was a great-great-great-great-great-great grandson of Roger Williams.

-Paul Parker

Press Forward

Just sent our latest press release, reporting our progress. You can read it here first:

P.O. Box 6461
Providence, Rhode Island, 02940
www.midway-pictures.com
(401) 568-9107


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



PROVIDENCE, R.I. _ With principal photography winding down, the filmmakers behind the feature-length documentary ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place are completing their trailer and moving into post-production. The New England premiere has been set for Feb. 13, 2009, at the Stadium theater in Woonsocket, R.I.

ON THE LAKE tells the story of the tuberculosis epidemic of the late 1800s through the 1950s, when effective antibiotic treatments were developed. Known as The White Plague, TB was the nation’s number-one killer of the time – as feared as AIDS, ebola and bird flu would be in a later era.

“It's a powerful story and I'm excited to bring it to the screen,” said director David Bettencourt, whose last major film, YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park, won critical acclaim, enjoyed a long run in regional theaters, and was broadcast on PBS.

This is a national – indeed, international – story that has never been told in a documentary film like this. Before effective drugs, victims of TB (easily spread through a cough or a sneeze) were sent to sanatoria, where fresh air, rest and healthy food were the only hopes for cure. Many patients died -- but many others recovered, if only after years of hospitalization, and some went on to marry fellow patients they had met while in a sanatorium. Many stayed on at the hospital as nurses and assistants, and raised their children there. The filmmakers will tell these universal stories of romance, love and family – the element of human triumph arising from tragic circumstances.

“This is an important story about a scary and terrible time in our country’s history,” said Bettencourt. “But through it all, people found love and happiness and laughter.”

Principal shooting took place at three locations: Saranac Lake, New York, America’s foremost sanatoria center; in and around Denver, Colorado, another leading center; and Wallum Lake, Rhode Island, site of an historic sanatorium (that still exists as a chronic-disease hospital, Zambarano). Additional shooting took place in North Carolina, Massachusetts and Baltimore.

“What began with our first shoot in November as a look only at Wallum Lake soon became a national and then a global story with significant public-health relevance today,” said producer G. Wayne Miller. “But the heart of the film remains the stories of love and happiness that we found everywhere. We expect that this will be a deeply emotionally charged experience for our audiences.”

The filmmakers have received unprecedented access to previously unseen archives of still photos, home movies, letters and other documents kept by institutions and former patients and their relatives who are featured in the film. Through The National Library of Medicine and other sources, the filmmakers have also obtained copies of government and professional footage, dating back to the late 1920s, and some of it never before seen.

ON THE LAKE will close with a look at the re-emergence of TB as an international public-health crisis today. Two of the world’s leading TB experts have gone on camera for the hour-long movie.

For more information, to follow progress on the official blog, or to view the trailer when it is completed later this month, visit www.onthelakemovie.com

–– 30 ––

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Just One More...

Shoot, that is, at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, of one of the world's leading TB experts. We'll do it in a day, down and back on Amtrak's Acela express, without doubt the best and most enjoyable passage up and down the Northeast Corridor. But we are already into post-production on OTL. Trailer soon. Roll-out plan soon. Venue and ticket infro soon. Life, and the movie, are good. Very good. As Dave keeps saying, we are putting our heart and soul in this -- it's not one you can miss.

-- Wayne

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Badin Inn

I shot and cut a little video for Badin Inn. It was the least I could do for Andy & Martha, who I first met at a croquet match and barbecue in Pascoag, Rhode Island 15 or so years ago. The inn they've got down (up? over?) in North Carolina is really special, a place to play golf or relax, or both.


Monday, April 14, 2008

In the Lake?





No, not yet, that will be the end-of-summer celebration, when the entire crew and cast of OTL will immerse ourselves in the cool waters of Wallum to mark our approach to final cut. Beer and barbecue will follow back at Midway North...

This was Dave and me on the lake (and posing by an old truck) in Badin, North Carolina, where we spent last night and much of today as guests of our good friends Martha and Andy Kinnecom, who own the spectacular Badin Inn Golf Resort & Club. Dave will blog more soon, but trust me, this is a little piece of heaven. I will definitely be returning soon with Yolanda. We may even golf. Golf? No, that's no errant line. The Badin course is awesome.

I digress.

Dave and I came to North Carolina to interview a man now in his 60s who was a young boy at Wallum Lake in the early 1950s, one of the first to receive new drug treatments of the time that at long last cured TB patients and spelled the end of the sanatorium era. We mentioned him in an earlier blog (look for the photo of the kid-on-his-back with the bulb-nose Shriners' clown) and his story summary, by phone and email, compelled us to fly south to get him on camera. He did not disappoint. He talked for over half an hour about his time at WL, and this interview, supplemented by his still photos and film footage, just puts OTL further over the top. A great trip, all-in-all. Dave and I also came up with another idea for a project that we really love, and if it passes our new one-month rule (i.e., we still like it in a month), we'll be moving forward.

OK, midnight nears and I am back in glorious Pascoag, Rhode Island, in the same happy little town as Wallum Lake, just a few miles up the road, how weird is fate that I wound up here. It's time to sign off, from my home in the fresh air and the woods not on -- but very near -- the lake.

-- Wayne

Friday, April 11, 2008

Dr. Michael Iseman

Denver, Colorado--After our interview, Dr. Michael Iseman, a renowned expert on multi-drug-resistant TB, tells us about the X-rays behind him. We were nearly all packed up when he started to talk about each one...fortunately, I just kept rolling.

--David

The Poster


Our brilliant Art Director, Ryan Arruda, has designed a fabulous movie poster. Here's the latest version. We'll soon be sending it around, look for it in a place frequented by you!

-- Wayne

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE SET!!!


Save the date: Friday, February 13, 2009, at 8 p.m. That's when ON THE LAKE will have its New England premiere at the Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Center in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This magnificently restored 1920s theater was the scene for the sold-out 2007 premiere of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL. Just as with YMBTT, a question-and-answer period will follow OTL's New England premiere. Check back soon for ticket information, and meanwhile, for a treat, visit the Stadium web site. This is one of the finest venues anywhere...

-- Wayne

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Idaho Springs



Idaho Springs, population 1,800 or so, a mining town that has fallen upon hard times. But it has this hardware store. And some geo-thermal caves with naturally hot mineral spring water you can bathe in for 20 bucks. I'm still haunted by the image of the naked fat man standing in the cave after I opened the wrong door....

But that was yesterday. Today was amazing. Terrific interviews, wonderful people, lots of great information, great photographs, and even some sanatorium film from the 1930s. Not to mention delicious vegetarian quesadillas at the National Jewish Hospital's cafeteria, a moment of silence at the Columbine memorial, an explanation of X-rays featuring diseased lungs, and an absolutely fantastic Italian meal with our new friend, Mike McPhee.

It doesn't get any better than this. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I can't wait for you to see this film.

--David

The Columbine Memorial



Regular readers of this blog know how we like to chronicle our film here, and Dave and I sometimes mix it up with some fun. We had one of our best days shooting today in months as we near the end of production, but we took some time in early evening to visit the memorial to the 13 students who were killed nine years ago this April in America's worst high school shooting. We briefly visited the outside of Columbine High School, where the shooting took place, then walked to the top of a nearby knoll where the memorial is located. The sun was heading down over the distant Rockies, but there was still plenty of light. A bit chilly. A bit of wind. We walked through the memorial, which reminded us of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, on a smaller scale. Beautifully designed. A teenage couple pictured here was visiting, too; they talked in hushed tones. Dave and I shot some film -- me, stills, he, motion-picture -- and we read the inscriptions, and the remembrances, and were deeply moved. We didn't speak much then, not until we were back in the car. We do not comprehend what happened here, but the emotions we felt -- sadness, reverence, mystification, something spiritual -- connected us to something bigger. I have a gallery of special places I have visited in my life that I will never forget, and this so properly joins it. The other still is Dave, with my shadow next to his.

-- Wayne

Monday, April 7, 2008

The Wrong Everett


Alas, the photo we found of Everett Westgate is the wrong Everett Westgate.

The right Everett is something of a mystery. We know when he was born and when he died. We know where he lived when he was two years old. We have some of his Army records. But we don't know where he died, which would lead us to an obituary, which would lead us to children or other surviving family members.

We're not without leads, though. His older brother's obituary mentions a sister, who would be about 90 now. And we can check the city vital records where we think he was born. I plan to get to that this week, so we may have more to report.

-Paul Parker

Sunday, April 6, 2008

An amazing couple share their story


Finished our first full day of our Colorado shoot with two hours with Cecilia and Ray Dones, who met as young TB patients almost 50 years ago in Denver. Cecilia, whose family was originally from Wyoming (and Mexico), and Ray, also of Mexican descent by way of Texas, fell in love at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, which opened in 1899 as the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives. The parents of four children and grandparents of nine, the Dones have been married for 48 years! They had great photos and were wonderful on camera -- not to mention gracious hosts on our visit to their home. We have another full day tomorrow, but had we flown here only to get the Dones into our film, it would have been more than worth it. That's me on the left, the Dones in the middle, and Dave on the right. Jeff Toste, now our second-unit director, took the shot. After we wrapped, we drove to Idaho Springs, in the Rockies, a town that... well, I'll let Dave tell it when he blogs...

-- Wayne

Traveling to Denver



More details on the trip to follow, of course, but here's a quick rundown on getting out here to the Mile High City.
We left PVD at 2:05 aboard a relatively empty Southwest 737, arriving in Baltimore about an hour later. After a quick bite to eat, we boarded another 737. Four hours later, we touched down in Denver.

A tram-type shuttle thing took us to the baggage claim. And it has a little jingle when the doors open and close, like a strum or two of a steel guitar. Perfect. I wish that sound accompanied everything I did.

Finally, a rental car, a Ford Explorer. A 20-minute drive, we checked into the hotel, where we found Vinny Pazienza circa 1990 fighting on ESPN 2 and the clocks giving us the time in Eastern Standard. Was this some kind of strange time warp?

At the bar, we drank Coors Light (we're in the Rocky Mountains, duh) and met a very nice bartender named Caitlin who went to school in Providence and had TB as a baby. Bizarre coincidences abound so far. More to come.

---David Bettencourt

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Another promotion


As we head off today for our Colorado shoot, a full schedule of interviews and gathering more great stories, we have another announcement: Dave and I have named Denver Post columnist Mike McPhee as ON THE LAKE'S Associate Producer, Colorado. Mike has done an awesome job with us on the Denver/Colorado sections of the film, and will join us over the next few days. Mike is the real deal: He was part of a Post team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for coverage of the Columbine High School shootings, and a team that was a finalist for another Pulitzer in 2007. With Projo colleague Paul Parker and me also part of a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer, seems like we have some serious common ground...

-- Wayne

One promotion


In recognition of his extraordinary help in tracking down patient No. 1, among other work, Dave and I have decided to name Paul Parker Associate Producer, Research. Here's how Paul describes himself:

Paul Edward Parker is an investigative reporter at The Providence Journal, where he has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In his spare time, he builds swing sets in the back yard and totes a toddler to the tops of New England mountains. With what's left after that, he cooks supper, washes laundry and picks up pieces of Mr. Potato Head. As he's drifting off to sleep, he grabs his laptop and bangs out a few sentences in his unpublished mystery novel series featuring investigative reporter Jerry Sullivan. Somewhere in that chaos, he finds time for another passion: genealogical and archival research. Parker, 44, was born in New Haven, Conn., and grew up in the suburb of Wallingford. He attended public schools before going to the University of Connecticut, where he eventually majored in journalism. He lives with his wife and two sons in Pawtucket, R.I.

-- Wayne

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

On The Trail Of Everett


One of our patients, Barbara, wrote in her letters about her boyfriend, Everett. (Hear Alex read from one of the letters that mentions Everett.) We have enough information from Barbara and her family to figure out who Everett was, this despite the fact that two men with the same name were born a couple of years apart in the same general area. The picture here is of one of those Everetts, but I still have to determine whether it is the right Everett.

-Paul Parker