The Power of Two
Funds Needed for Completion: $ 120,000.00
Estimated Completion Date: 01/15/2011
Synopsis
The story of two twin sisters, their life long battle with Cystic Fibrosis, and their triumphant, respective journeys through the miracle of double lung transplantation.
"The Power of Two" is a feature-length, character-driven documentary with international implications about the importance of organ donation and transplantation, Cystic Fibrosis awareness and related health causes. Inspired by the unique story of Anabel and Isabel Stenzel, half-Japanese identical twins who have endured a life long battle with the fatal genetic disease Cystic Fibrosis, the film will offer a comprehensive portrait of their personal struggles and their survival through miraculous double lung transplants, and tell the compelling stories of others whose lives have been impacted by Cystic Fibrosis and/or organ transplantation.
Budget:
$ 120,000.00
Project's Financial Needs
Funds raised on ReelChanges.org will be spent expressly on costs associated with the first phase of production of "The Power Of Two" -- the 10 city, 25 day tour of Japan, documentary, and online production effort. It will be used to jump start long term fund raising efforts, to build a robust community website, and to deliver a series of fund raising trailers that can be used across a range of platforms.
Please help us raise $20,000 by the time we leave for Japan on October 1, and $120,000 by December 31, so we can complete this first phase in 2009 -- every dollar makes a difference!
Current stage of production
Production
Estimated Completion Date
01/15/2011
Background
Born in 1972 in California to Japanese and German immigrant parents, Isabel and Anabel Stenzel are identical twins who have struggled to pursue normal lives while suffering from Cystic Fibrosis - a lethal genetic respiratory and digestive disease. They live and thrive today in their mid-30s, working as authors and medical professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area, only because they received miraculous double lung transplants in recent years. Their memoir "The Power of Two: A Twin Triumph Over Cystic Fibrosis" was published in late 2007 by the University of Missouri Press and has captivated both readers and media across the United States.
In late September 2009, the Japanese version of the twins' memoir will be published as "Mirakuru Tsuinz!: Nanbyou wo norikoeta Futago no Kizuna" ("Miracle Twins! Twins Overcoming Illness Together") by Iwanami Shoten Publishing. To support the Japanese launch of the book, they will embark upon a speaking tour in October that will share their story and attitudes towards illness and organ transplantation with an industrialized nation that has the fewest organ transplants. With fewer than 100 deceased donor transplants having been performed in Japan since 1997, the promise that "Mirakuru Tsuinz!" can influence public conversation about organ transplantation in Japan has already excited Japanese transplant advocates, who are taking a lead role in planning the twins' tour.
Notably, Japanese law, a lack of transplantation infrastructure, and cultural attitudes impose major restrictions on organ donation; and, most of the 12,000 people on Japan's organ transplant list will die before receiving a transplant. The Diet (Japanese Parliament) recently changed the law to allow children under age 15 to give and receive organs, so public interest is likely to remain very high during the twins' October visit. Additionally, the twins' tour will promote awareness of Cystic Fibrosis and related health conditions, thus helping to improve the quality of life of many in Japan who go under diagnosed and under treated.
The twins have received many requests to speak, demonstrating that the Japanese public is eager to hear about the personal benefits of organ transplantation. The goal of the twins' speaking tour is to engage in open discussion that can influence public opinion and potentially change hearts and minds around key issues presented in their book. In addition, as discussed below, the Japanese tour provides an opportunity for the twins, as well as sponsors and community partners, to promote organ donation and transplantation, and Cystic Fibrosis awareness, to people around the world.
Marc Smolowitz, an Academy Award nominated documentary film, television, and new media producer, (Credits include: The Weather Underground '03; Trembling Before G-D '01), will be leading U.S. efforts to provide comprehensive, broadcast quality coverage of all aspects of the twins' Japanese tour, which is slated to include 10 cities over 25 days. He and his crew will record the twins as they travel throughout Japan as dynamic spokeswomen for the causes of organ transplantation and Cystic Fibrosis awareness, among others. Scheduled events will include press conferences, meetings with elected officials, speaking engagements with medical professionals, academics, patients, families, and caregivers, and appearances at high profile charity concerts and sporting events, including the Green Ribbon Festival and Japan Transplant Games in which the twins will compete as athletes. In order to encourage open and transformative public conversation, every effort will be made to connect with those waiting for transplants, transplant recipients, and donor families around the country who will be invited to participate in documentary-style coverage opportunities.
The Japan tour, and the documentary and online production effort related to the tour, is the first phase of a multi-phase project that will result in an increasingly robust online interactive web community in 2010 and the production of a feature-length, broadcast documentary with a targeted premiere date of January 2011.
Timeline
Current Status: Development/Pre-Production/Production (concurrently)
Fall 2009: 25 days of shooting in Japan; post production on Japan content; fundraising focusing on year end giving and events with major donors; continued expansion of advisory board and non-profit community partnerships.
Winter 2010: Multiple days of shooting in Los Angeles; relevant Bay Area shooting; continued fundraising.
Spring 2010: Various location shoots requiring travel, including visits with the donor families that helped Ana/Isa, visits with experts for key interviews; coverage of CTDN annual ceremony honoring organ donors from the past year; continued fundraising.
Summer 2010: Coverage at Donate Life Film Festival (Hollywood); coverage at U.S. Transplant games. Begin active post-production.
Fall 2010: Final stretch of post-production; feedback screenings; completion; launch television pre-sales.
World Premier Target Date: January 2011
Treatment
The Miracle of Breath: Imagine what it would be like to move through a typical day in your life. You get up, you go to work, and perform the key functions at your job. You come home, prepare your meals, pay the bills, and do your household chores diligently. In your free time, you visit with friends, you go to the gym, and perhaps you even volunteer in your community from time to time. You're a very well rounded person living in the early 21st century.
Now, imagine doing all of that every day while not being able to breathe!
For most healthy people, breathing is something we can take for granted, and it is something we do all the time, automatically, without giving it a second thought. In "The Power of Two," the assumptions most of us have around breath will be challenged from the opening shot.
Key visuals and auditory motifs that drive the story will place the power of breath and miracle of breathing at the center of the film. So much so, breath itself will emerge as a trope that also stands out like a character in the final piece. And, the film's pacing and overall editing will call out with regularity the importance of breath as something that we all should pay attention to, especially as a way of identifying with key characters in the film.
Meet Ana & Isa: Anabel Stenzel & Isabel Stenzel Byrnes are the center piece characters of "The Power of Two," in part, because of their successful memoir but more over because of their unmatched zest for life in the face of chronic illness. As such, we will get to know them intimately and follow them in a number of ordinary and extraordinary settings:
- 65+ combined medications: Over the years, Ana and Isa have been forced to manage a rigorous regimen of medications, both before and after their respective lung transplants. One sequence in the film will show them preparing their current medications as they pack for extensive traveling opportunities. This sequence will make the powerful point of how difficult it is to remember the names of each medication, how dizzying it is to keep track of what each medication is for, how much knowledge medication management requires, and how many pharmaceutical companies are involved as stake holders in their ongoing care and survival.
- Doctor visits and time spent in hospitals: In 2009, both Ana and Isa are post-double lung transplantation and continue to have a rigorous schedule of treatments, doctor visits, and time spent in hospitals. We will follow them to various doctors, and we will also follow them as they visit other people in their lives who have undergone similar treatments and transplantation. These sequences will show them as active participants in their own care, one another's care, and the care of others in the community.
- Retreat facilitators and mentors: Over the years, Ana and Isa have been key organizers and facilitators of an annual retreat in Menlo Park, California for people living with Cystic Fibrosis. Designed to empower people living with the disease, the retreat will show how those with Cystic Fibrosis struggle throughout their lives to overcome isolation. We will see Ana and Isa in action at this retreat and similar settings whereby others from every age group look to them for mentorship, insight, guidance, inspiration, and leadership.
- Patient experts and advocates: As dynamic spokeswomen for Cystic Fibrosis awareness and faces of successful double lung transplantation, Ana and Isa are often asked to speak publicly on panels at key conferences and events around the country. Time and again, they step up as both patient advocates and experts who are willing to go the extra distance it often takes to educate politicians, the media, and the medical establishment. We will see them in these settings, posing the tough questions that help to change stigma and move public conversation forward.
- Amazing athletes: At their current stage of life, Ana and Isa are both very athletic, which is a blessing to anyone who is post-transplant. Notably, they are swimmers and bicyclists, and they manage to compete in a number of sports related settings along side other transplantation survivors. Throughout the film, we will see them and others in these triumphant settings, such as Green Ribbon Festivals, the Bike for Breath, and both the U.S. and Japan Transplant Games.
- Life in Los Angeles: One of the most compelling aspects of their published memoir is the sections recalling their childhoods and teenage years. In the film, we will travel with Ana and Isa back to Los Angeles to visit the people and places from their past that help bring some of their most defining memories to life. This section will include interviews with family, past doctors, and close friends who also have all been impacted by illness. Old photographs, home movies and a range of found/archival footage from the 1970s and 1980s will help set the tone for their personal history and chronology before leaving for college.
The Power of Two goes to Japan: In October 2009, Ana and Isa will travel to Japan for a substantial speaking tour in conjunction with the release of their memoir in their mother's home country. Known widely for its low rate of organ donation and transplantation, coverage of the tour in Japan will emerge as a focal point in a documentary that seeks to open up a worldwide conversation about the benefits of transplantation. To date, tremendous international resources, partnerships and talent have been put into place to help unleash the impact this tour can have on the Japanese public, its politicians, and the medical establishment. As such, the Japan section of the documentary will likely serve as a story telling vehicle and chronological anchor throughout the finished film.
For example, the film will likely open as we depart for this important, landmark trip. And, gradually, the documentary will unfold using highlights from our 25 day experience as key narrative and chronological touch points for the story. Similar to our approach on "The Power of Two" website, it is our intention is to use Geo-spatial mapping, rich media and data visualization to locate where we are on our journey throughout this beautiful and complex country. Imagine the look and feel of Google maps and Doppler radar following us we board planes, trains and automobiles for each new city and destination.
A key story telling component of the tour will be highlighting the tour as a vehicle for cross cultural dialogue and international diplomacy. Every effort will be made to position Ana and Isa as bi-racial, bi-cultural, and bi-lingual ambassadors who are uniquely positioned to engage with the Japanese on culturally sensitive subjects like illness, when it is appropriate to prolong life and postpone death, not to mention organ donation.
Organ Donation & Transplantation - A U.S. Perspective: Based on their incredible networks in the Cystic Fibrosis and organ transplantation communities, Ana and Isa will help provide access to medical experts and policy advocates who are national players in these fields. These key leadership figures will be featured throughout the documentary to help educate viewers about the benefits of transplantation and the importance of signing up with the online donor registry in your state.
One Legacy / Donate Life Hollywood: A number of Hollywood celebrities and high level professionals in the entertainment industry are involved with One Legacy, an organ procurement organization based in Los Angeles, and Donate Life Hollywood, which hosts an annual film festival to raise money and awareness for transplantation issues. The film will take viewers on a walk down the "red carpet" of this star-studded event and will include various interviews with key celebrities who support the causes being raised by the documentary.
Transplantation-In-Action: One of the most important goals of this film will be to normalize how we perceive people who are waiting for organ transplants and those who have undergone transplantation. As such, several sub-characters will be invited to participate in the documentary who are within the period of several months before, during and after an organ transplant. With close proximity to key individuals who inform the transplantation process, these sections will illuminate the powerful role that 21st century medicine currently plays in the survival of Ana, Isa and others like them around the world.
Meeting the Families of Organ Donors: Every year, the California Transplant Donor Network (CTDN), Northern California's organ procurement organization, hosts a substantial ceremony that launches an annual publication honoring those who have died and given their organs to save the life of another. To help put a face on this incredible gift of life, we hope to record the next major CTDN event, slated for April 24th, 2010. We will also profile the two people who died tragically and wound up being the reason that both Ana and Isa were able to receive their donated lungs. In one important sequence, we will interview their families and explore the complex emotions they likely feel years afterwards.
U.S. Transplant Games, 2010 - Madison, Wisconsin: We are planning to end a year of comprehensive production with coverage of the U.S. Transplant Games, slated to unfold from July 30, 2010 - August 4, 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin. Both Ana and Isa will be competing there, and their triumphant return to this event will be a highlight of the final documentary.
Motion Graphics and Animation as a unifying motif: At this early stage, it is our intention to use motion graphics and animation to tie together various, different sequences of the final film. Imagine the powerful image of an animated figure pulling his or her lungs outside of his or her body and passing them to another sick person whose life depends on receiving them. This passing over of organs from one person to another will be one of the main visuals that we hope viewers take away from watching "The Power of Two." We want viewers to watch the film, recall the visuals, and be inspired to become organ donors in their own communities.
Target Audience
The first target audience of "The Power of Two" will be reached primarily through international television outlets (public, terrestrial, cable and satellite.) As a bi-lingual, broadcast work (English/Japanese), the goal is to distribute the finished film widely across English language territories and in Japan, focusing on launch efforts at A-list international film festivals and top documentary showcases around the world. Every effort will be made to screen the documentary theatrically and educationally to key stakeholders around the nation and world.
The second target audience of "The Power of Two" will be reached through the Internet and multi-media. As such, a substantial web-based story telling strategy will be implemented throughout production in order to build awareness, engage partners, attract supporters, and make the content relevant across a range of distribution channels.
Notably, the finished film and website will be used in partnership with key organizations that are interested in activating a broad campaign around the importance of Cystic Fibrosis awareness, related health causes, and organ donation as a key decision we all need to address while alive and well, so thousands of people like Ana and Isa can be offered the gift of life.
Production Personnel
The Power of Two is a film by Marc Smolowitz & Andrew Byrnes.
For more information about the production team, our international advisory board, and the Japan tour planning team, go to www.ThePowerOfTwoMovie.com/the-team.
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International Advisory Board
(as of September 8, 2009)
• Charles Baker - Media & Technology Executive
• Wanda Bershen - WB Arts Consulting; Faculty, Baruch College
• Adam Dornbusch - Film Acquisitions and Marketing, Tribeca Enterprises
• Elliott Greenberger - Communications Manager, See3
• David Evan Harris - Executive Director, Global Lives Project
• Mike Honda - Congressman, Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
• Tomoaki Kato, M.D. - Assistant Professor of Surgery, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Marcia Katz, M.D. - Associate Professor of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine
• Chris Kelley, Division President, National Kidney Foundation
• Susanna McColley, M.D. - Head, Pulmonary Medicine & Director, Cystic Fibrosis Center, Children's Memorial Hospital (Chicago); Associate professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine
• Jillian Misrack - Director, Community Impact, Full Circle Fund
• Thomas Mone - Chief Executive Officer & Executive Vice President, OneLegacy
• Michikita Ohkubo - President, Japan Transplant Recipients Organization
• Cathy Olmo - Acting Supervisor, Community Affairs, California Transplant Donor Network
• Bruce Reitz, M.D. - Norman E. Shumway Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine
• J.T. Rhodes - President, Board of Directors, Transplant Recipients International Organization
• Tenaya Wallace - Campaign Director, Donate Life Hollywood
• Beth Iams Wellman - Fellow, Committee on International Relations; Co-Producer, "In The Family"
• Jeffrey Wine, Ph.D. - Professor of Psychology, Human Biology, Neurosciences and Pediatrics, and Director, Cystic Fibrosis Research Laboratory, Stanford University
• Kyoko Yoshida - Executive Director, U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network (CTN), Inc.
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