GOOD SCREENING, GREAT WRITE-UP

A crowd of some 75 people braced cold rainy weather to attend the second test screening of ON THE LAKE last evening at Harvard College in Cambridge, an event organized by our outreach coordinator, Katherine Miller (kudos, Kate!). We had several members of cast and crew in attendance, along with special guests Barbara Parkos and Gale Perkins, former TB patients who are in the film. It was awesome to watch them watch the film for the first time. They, like the audience, were moved.

And in the next morning's Harvard Crimson, we got a very nice write-up, check it out.

Dave and I took questions after -- that's us at the front of Harvard Hall 201 -- and we enjoyed the discussion. Got some good tips, too, from that discussion and the questionnaires as we move in on a final cut.

Here's a sampling:

"Overall, really, really good!" A woman in the 25 to 36 year-old group.

"So emotional. So moving." A woman in the 65-plus group.

Needs "more emphasis on global aspect of TB, relation to HIV, MDR/XDR-TB." A woman in the 18 - 24 group.

"You need to focus a lot more on global TB." A man, in the 18-24 group.

Indeed, the last two respondents hit on the major area where the film needs work -- and Dave and I are aggressively moving on that.

Thanks to all who came, and for all the great input. Third and last screening is a private viewing before an audience of some 200 people on Dec. 3... if you feel compelled to attend, send an email through the link at Eagle Peak Media, our production company and maybe we can sneak you in... next big date after that is the Feb. 13th premiere.

-- Wayne

2nd TEST SCREENING -- FREE and ALL WELCOME!

November 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. _ The second of three scheduled test screenings of ON THE LAKE: Life and Love in a Distant Place, a documentary movie about the tuberculosis epidemic in America in the 1900s and globally today, will be held will be at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, at Harvard Hall, Harvard College.

Filmmakers David Bettencourt and G. Wayne Miller will speak at the showing of ON THE LAKE, which is scheduled for PBS broadcast in March 2009. This showing is free and open to the public. The movie will premiere at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket, R.I., on Feb. 13.

ON THE LAKE is the first production from Eagle Peak Media, a multi-media company founded in May by Bettencourt, the award-winning director of YOU MUST BE THIS TALL: The Story of Rocky Point Park, and Miller, journalist and author of seven books. Two more Eagle Peak documentaries are in pre-production.

The first test screening of ON THE LAKE was held last month in Pittsburgh, before an audience of nearly 100 people. The final test screening will be before a private audience on Dec. 3.

While less of a public health issue in America today than in the early 1900s, when much of the film is set, it remains epidemic on the planet. Tuberculosis is the number-two infectious disease killer globally today, according to the World Health Organization, with nearly two million deaths and nine million new cases in 2006, the last year for which data is available. The only disease with a higher worldwide mortality is HIV/AIDS.

Audience reaction from the Pittsburgh screening suggests that the filmmakers have succeeded in bringing powerful emotion and personal stories to the screen.

''Our aim was not to produce a 'disease-of-the-week' movie, but rather a compelling narrative of real people,'' Miller said. ''Against this tragic backdrop, against the many deaths, we found love stories and stories of triumph.''

Harvard Hall is located at the main entrance to Harvard Yard, which is in the center of Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass.

For more information about the movie, visit the movie site.

SECOND TEST SCREENING SET FOR CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

We will show ON THE LAKE for the second time publicly at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 13, in Harvard Hall 201 at Harvard College. The hall, one of the college's finest old buildings, is right in Harvard Yard, near the Main Gate. The showing, part of Harvard's Global Health Week awareness program, is free and open to the public.

See earlier blogs for reports from the first test screening, in Pittsburgh on Oct. 16.

-- Wayne

Successful test screening

Dave and I just touched down from Pittsburgh, where yesterday we staged out first screening of OTL. Almost 100 people came, a nice crowd, and after the film, we took questions for almost an hour. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. The audience -- mostly people in their 20s and 30s, but several older -- connected to the emotions, the stories, the images and the music. This was primarily a medical crowd, and some of these people wanted more on the TB epidemic today; Dave and I told them that this is the last unfinished part of the movie and we are addressing that (in negotiations, for example, to use some of the most powerful photographs of TB victims today that we have ever seen). But overall, we could not be more pleased. Dozens of people filled out our questionnaires. Here's a sampling:

"Great insight into the TB experience. When you hear about a disease, you naturally think of cases as statistics & not people. This really made me re-think that concept." A woman, in the 18 - 24 year-old group.

"I like that you bring TB to the personal level." A man, in the 25 - 36 year-old group.

"I enjoyed the film! Great job!" Woman, 25 - 36.

"The people recording their memories were very powerful -- the woman who had her ears pierced was very poignant." Woman, 51 - 65.

Our next test screening is at Harvard College, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13. If you'd like to attend, stay tuned for final details.

-- Wayne

Ready for Pittsburgh!

It's 2:18 in the morning and Harry and I have just finished editing. This, of course, is a good thing, considering the fact that our first test screening is Thursday afternoon at the Graduate School of Public Health in Pittsburgh.

More to come...

---David

First Nationwide Radio Publicity!

Although the main topic was my book KING OF HEARTS, I discussed ON THE LAKE this morning during the hour-long appearance I made on Heart Health, a Sirius Satellite program that airs from New York City. The hosts, Dr. Greg Ribakove and Dr. Charles Schwartz, two of the world's top heart surgeons, liked the description so much that they invited us to screen the film down there. We're arranging it, probably for March. Thanks to Charlie and to Greg, who I met five years ago during a talk I gave in New York. See you in Manhattan...

-- Wayne

Publicity Already for our Outreach

In advance of our first big-screen showing of the movie next week in Pittsburgh, the city's major newspaper, The Post Gazette, today published notice. Further evidence that our outreach program will indeed raise public awareness of the global TB epidemic.

Here's the blurb:
• The Student Public Health Epidemic Response Effort at the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh is sponsoring a viewing of "On the Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place," a documentary on the 1900 tuberculosis epidemic, from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 16 in room G-24 in the Cathedral of Learning on Pitt's main campus, Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard, Oakland. A panel discussion moderated by GSPH professor Samuel Stebbins follows. Call 412-491-2062.

Here's the link to the Post-Gazette story.