Last Rights: Facing End-of-Life Choices

Images

Website

http://www.LastRightsFilm.org

Topics

Health: Disease/treatment
Human Rights: Civil Rights
Information & Media: Freedom of Expression
Politics: Civil Society, Ethics & Value Systems

Project Geography

US: Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon
International: North America

Identity Niches

Senior/Aging

Budget

Raised to date: $100,000.00
Estimate to complete: $100,000.00
Total Estimated Budget: $200,000.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 05/26/2009

Status

Distribution

Media Type

Video

Project End Use

TV

Key Personnel

Karen Cantor
Producer / Director

Karen Cantor who grew up in Mt. Vernon, NY, received her BA cum laude from Goucher College and an MBA from Wake Forest University. Ms. Cantor’s eclectic background combines both her pursuit of the arts and business acumen. She has not only served as marketing director and consultant for high-tech firms but has also taught photography and entrepreneurship at American University. Her work as an award-winning photographer evolved into producingaudio-visuals for the corporate world prior to making documentary films.

As a founding principal of Singing Wolf Documentaries, Inc., Karen Cantor is committed to creating productions of high esthetic value with underlying moral dilemmas with the intent of contributing to the debate of relevant issues and encouraging compassion, tolerance, and civic engagement. Ms. Cantor, who made her first film after she became a grandmother, co-produced and co-directed The Danish Solution, a documentary about the 1943 rescue of the Danish Jews. This award-winning film,shown in festivals throughout the world, continues to be broadcast on PBS stations as well as overseas. Please visit: WWW.TheDanishSolution.org.

Chris Gavin
Co-Producer/Editor
Chris Gavin has worked in thebroadcast television industry for more than 15 years. His credits includeABC News, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, The Voice ofAmerica, ESPN, Paramount TV, HBO and MTV. He was an essential team member inTime Warner Cable's launch of its homepage NY1.com in New York City.  Morerecently, he has produced and edited several documentaries on various musiciansincluding the O.A.R. and Carbon Leaf.

Harold Stephan
Composer

HaroldStephán, a songwriter,record producer, programmer and arranger, has recently written and producedmusic licensed to the hit MTV show Camp Jim, Disney’s popular teen show In AHeartbeat, MTV’s Undressed, ESPN2 Xtreme Games and CBS TV. Film scoring credits include thedocumentary The DanishSolution. Asa writer for Garfish Music, he has scored commercials for Adidas,Chrysler, Burger King, Ocean Spray, Spaghettios and Huggies. Working withAmelia Gewirtz, he has written and recorded two full length albums for theirband, Amelia’s Dream. His current record project is withproducer George Gesner for Blue NovemberRecords’recording artist Frederik Doci.  

Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)

The outreach plan is being developed in conjunction with Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB). The initial components are the Web Site and Study Guide accompanied with continued submissions to film festivals.

WEB SITE. www.LastRightsFilm.org,the website that that accompanied the film in all its production phases, will be given a new look and greatly expanded. This sophisticated site will include interview clips, film trailer, credit list, the study guide, references to other sites, a blog, and an order screen to purchase copies of the film.

STUDY GUIDE. These discussion points will assure that discussions following screening of the film can be directed to look at various issues relevant to the complicated topic of end-of-life choices.

FILM FESTIVALS. Screening films at film festivals offers the opportunity to raise awareness of Last Rights. A plethora of film festivals exist, with several being particularly appropriate. These include some of the bigger, more prestigious festivals such as SilverDocs as well as festivals dedicated to medical issues such as The International Health & Medical Media Awards. The intention is to enter at least 30 different, relevant film festivals.

SUPPORT OF ABOVE. Entering film festivals requires sending in DVDs and providing post cards and posters. These three items require both graphic design and production.

Following these first steps, the iterative approach will continue generating buzz with broadcast, panel discussions to accompany broadcast, community/organizational outreach, and a public relations campaign. In addition DVDs will be available on the website as well as through a distributor specializing in reaching universities, medical schools,and libraries.

PBS BROADCAST. Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) intends to broadcast “Last Rights” in early 2010 and then serve as the presenting station to PBS. This will happen as a national feed or through the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA). Director of Programming and Information, Gayle Loeber, stated that NETA would like to work with MPB to offer Last Rights to individual PBS stations. She suggested this would work best through Stations Relations Professionals approaching individual stations.

PANEL DISCUSSION. Accompanying broadcast, experts representing divergent streams of thinking will discuss the issues presented in the film. This panel will include religious representatives, physicians (pro and con aid-in-dying), hospice spokes people,ethics advisors, legal scholars, etc. Characters and experts appearing in the film could well be part of this group. It is critical to keep the panel both diversified and at a manageable number of participants. A well-known moderator will be a practiced professional. A Mississippi panel will accompany the initial broadcast in that state. When broadcast nationally, the panel will be drawn from experts across the country.

DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH STRATEGY. Developing a working relationship with organizations whose mission is allied with that of the film’s is a critical component of outreach. The process, as described by Robert West from Working Films proceeds as follows: To develop a strategy for community outreach, organizations are contacted whose missions are allied with those of the film. Executives from these organizations are then invited to screen the film. Then, day-long meetings are held with all those interested to fine-tune how the film will be used to help meet the organizations’ missions. The resulting strategy is then applied to marketing Last Rights.

DVDs. Distributing Last Rights requires an inventory of DVDs that are attractively packaged.

PREMIER. This gala event could be held at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. The new auditorium facility would be an appealing venue to screen the film and host the Panel Discussion.

DISTRIBUTION TO UNIVERSITIES, MEDICAL SCHOOLS, AND LIBRARIES. Two distributors – Fanlight and Filmakers Library – have asked to include “Last Rights” in their offerings. The intent of the producer is to grant non-exclusive rights to one of these respected organizations.

INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. DVDs could be sold on the website, created on demand through Amazon’s Create Space program, or viewed online on a pay-per-view website such as SNAG films.

PUBLIC RELATIONS. A publicity campaign will incorporate the above-mentioned venues along with a targeted media strategy aimed primarily (but not exclusively) at the baby boomer generation. In addition to the above activities, the producer intends to actively promote the film through radio and television appearances/interviews. Bob Edwards, radio host with an interview program on both XM/Sirius Radio and NPR, has invited the producer to participate in just such an interview. Christopher Springmann, host of BodyLanguage, a one-hour weekly program for Public Radio that covers themes of diversity and convergence in the fields of health care and lifestyle, has suggested screening Last Rights and then following it with a discussion with Dr. Scott Nelson, another person from the film, and the producer/director. This discussion would then be broadcast.

Funders

Location