The countdown to the premiere

​The countdown to the world premiere has begun and seeing it all come together is so exciting. There is no better place to first show the film than in the beautiful screening room at the Portland Art Museum. I hope that if you are in Portland on May 11, you will consider coming to one of the screenings that day. 3 pm matinee tickets ARE ONLY AVAILABLE ONLINE (no tickets will be available at the door), so go to http://bit.ly/2nPWqtO to purchase yours!! Tickets for the 7pm screening are available at the door OR online at http://bit.ly/2n5x2Du. After the premiere, the film is playing on May 14 at the Nice International Film Festival. It is nominated for Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Documentary Director and the Science and Education Award.

One of the most touching parts of the film for me, as we finish up, is to watch the names of all of you scroll up the screen as a reminder and a thank you of your contribution to the film. It moves by to the song "Oregon (I can't go home)." Most people from Oregon will remember this song by the group Black Hawk County who wrote the song to help an Oregon woman come home from a Turkish prison. The members of Black Hawk county will be attending the 3:00pm screening. Say hello to them if that is the screening you will attend. I am providing an upload of an MP3 of Michael Bacon's arrangement of the song as a thank you, and to whet your desire to see the film: click here.

Speaking of Michael Bacon, and the music for the film, it has been an amazing collaboration. When we first started talking about which instruments I liked, I told him cello and guitar. He plays them both, and many more in the band he has with his brother, The Bacon Brothers. Then I told him I would like some bassoon in there. He looked at me quizzically and said, "Interesting... a bassoon is not typically used for documentaries." My motivation was not necessarily musical. My life-long friend from Portland, Susan Shepperd, is the parent of a talented third-year Kovner Fellow at Juilliard. Forever wanting to be a matchmaker in this profession, I thought it would be fun for Blair to get some studio recording time. Her contributions to the music and therefore the film were magical. And Michael was delighted with her skill.

Blair Shepperd in the studio recording tracks for the score of "That Way Madness Lies…"

Composer Michael Bacon cueing up the film to record Blair's contribution.

Director Sandra Luckow records narration for this personal and emotional film.

​Michael, Sandra and Michael's lovely wife Betsy celebrated the completion of the music at one of Sandra's favorite restaurants in her neighborhood, The Pandering Pig. Leave it to Michael to ask for a discount since his last name is a pork product. The owner was utterly confused.

So the final mix of all the sound in the film is April 27th and the online will be on the 29th and 30th. In the meantime I have a team of lawyers working on errors and omissions insurance. Think of it like malpractice insurance for a producer. I have taken every step to minimize risk but when you are dealing with mental illness, it can be maddeningly unpredictable. 

I am so looking forward to personally thanking many of you in Portland on May 11th. After the film was profiled on Pete Earley's blog, I have received so many messages from people who have had a similar experience. I hope the film will be a call to action and change.