The objective of this project, which includes the documentary video and interactive website, is to investigate the world of chronic illness using lupus as a model. It will provide access to information on complementary medicine, coping strategies such as art therapy and acting, and an understanding of what it means to live and cope with a chronic disease.

Living with a chronic illness offers many challenges and opportunities. The Chinese pictogram for challenge portrays crisis and opportunity. And Chinese medicine and other Asian healing traditions offer hope for diminishing the compounding damage of an autoimmune disease and its pharmaceutical treatments. Two documentary series - Bill Moyers' Healing And the Mind and the Institute of Noetic Sciences' The Heart of Healing educated the public about 8 years ago on the potential that lies within "unconventional" modalities. Since 1993, the NCCAM budget has steadily risen from $2 million to $68.7 million in 2000. This funding increase reflects the public's growing demand for information that is based on rigorous scientific research funded through NCCAM.

Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medical traditions attempt to balance and strengthen the natural constitution of the body. They are predicated on a different view of the body than western medicine, one that is imbued with vital energy called chi or prana. Their lifestyle practices that can include herbs, nutrition, movement, and meditation, serve to augment the healing powers of the body, not simply eliminate symptoms. In the documentary, we will follow one person exploring Ayurvedic medicine and another exploring a Chinese medicine self-care practice of Qigong.

Qigong is an ancient form of Chinese medicine that uses breath, meditation, movement and cultivating the flow of chi. According to Chinese medicine, chi is an energy that flows through the body. When chi is out of balance or blocked, disease results. Though not sufficiently recognized by the majority of western physicians, numerous research studies under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health document beneficial effects of Qigong, Acupuncture, and Tai Chi Chuan, all of which emphasize balancing chi.

Yet how can we bring balance when a dark cloud of emotional, physical and financial stress hovers over someone living with a chronic illness? And, how does someone who is unable to work afford CAM? And if they can afford it, where does someone begin with integrating CAM and western medicine? These are some of the other issues that will be addressed in the documentary through the experiences of the 6 people being documented, and the community-at-large through postings on the website.

Additionally, the focus of the stories will be on universal themes for someone living with a chronic illness: caretakers, coping, healing methods, and the personal stamina it takes to wake every day and face an uncertainty. The documentary will follow 6 people on their healing journey into complementary, holistic and spiritual healing. Ms. Raymond, the producer of the documentary, will be the thread that weaves together the other five people, and will also demonstrate her healing practices on camera as well. The cities to be visited in the documentary are New York, Tucson,
Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.

While on the road, a "video" diary of each segment will be sent to the editors in New York to post short
streaming vignettes on the website. Prior to leaving on production, the public will be invited to ask questions
to the documentary's participants. A selection of questions will be chosen, and the answers will be posted using video streaming, copy and audio clips during the 27 days of shooting.

Ms. Raymond represents someone who is living well with lupus, and is currently practicing complementary healing practices only. Her current repertoire includes: Chinese medicine, meditation, Kundalini Yoga, chanting and nutrition. The film will open with her being fire-cupped by a Chinese acupuncturist. The documentary's intentions will be established: a journey into the multi-faceted world of chronic illness- a world filled with unforeseen changes-both miraculous and chaotic.

In Tucson, Arizona, the crew will document Michelle and her three children from October 3-6, 2000. This segment focuses on children as caretakers and how the family copes with being on welfare. Michelle's exploration into complementary medicine, the use of Chinese herbs, and drawing will be documented.

Next the production team will fly to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit with Cindy and Walt living on the outskirts of the Las Vegas strip. Here we will focus on a husband and wife who have the challenges of patient and caretaker in a marriage. They are finally sleeping in the same bed again after three years of Cindy staying in a hospital bed that was placed in their bedroom. Although Walt says his faith waivers, Cindy says that's one of the gifts that keep her alive. The crew will be documenting them from October 8 -11, 2000.

Los Angeles follows Las Vegas from October 13-14, where we will document Libby taking her acting class. Libby and Diane, her mother, make the pilgrimage up to Los Angeles from San Diego once a week for her class. In Malibu, we will attend a Hollywood celebrity fundraising event for lupus research. During the Malibu event our project's website will be up to create awareness within this community of people who could provide major support for lupus awareness and Stories of Lupus video will be distributed in gift bags with a one-sheet project overview of For Life: More Stories of Lupus.

The crew will next drive to Costa Mesa, in Orange County south of Los Angeles, to be with Brian, his family and church from October 15-18. The focus will be on family, exercise and nutrition. Life is different for Brian since his kidney transplant. And, we'll see how he must adapt with the chronic nature of a kidney transplant, being a father, and the genetic predisposition of lupus-his mother, Maddy has been experiencing some lupus symptoms this past year.

Next, we will visit Sharon, an African-American professor who is undergoing a major life transition following her recent kidney transplant. Unsure of whether she can continue teaching at the University of California, San Diego because of her wavering health, she is investigating a career as a writer. We will also spend time with her partner and adult children who live nearby to support their mother as she forges her new life.

Sharon will be one of the two participants we will track using a specific complementary practice for three months. In the past she studied with Qigong Master Fu Wei Zhong. A Qigong master is one who has dedicated his or her life to this practice and may also be a practitioner of Chinese medicine. Qigong masters are also known for their abilities to emit or send healing chi to their students. The two will re-unite for Qigong practice that Sharon will do daily for the subsequent three months. In January 2001 we will return to evaluate the results of her regular Qigong practice. Sharon will be documented from October 20-23, 2000 and for three days in January 2001.

The final destination is the home of Libby and her mom Diane. Libby and Diane will be documented from October 24-27, 2000 and for three days in January 2001. The focus here is on a teen who is challenged by a chronic life-threatening illness and the choices she and her mother make to nurture both of their healing and coping processes-Diane has recently been diagnosed with asthma.

Libby will be the second participant undergoing complementary medicine. We are in discussion with Dr. Soram Kahlsa, a Western trained MD in Los Angeles who also practices Acupuncture and Homeopathy. Libby has agreed to diligently follow the practices and treatments for three months. Her complementary care will coincide with her conventional care by rheumatologist Daniel Wallace, MD, who happens to share patients with Dr. Kahlsa.

Two distinct paths of complementary medicine have been purposefully chosen. The segment with Libby represents complementary medicine by a trained physician while that with Sharon represents self-empowerment through a daily healing practice of Qigong.

The Website

The goal of the website is to serve as an interactive location to support people with chronic illness; a place where people can post their rituals for healing, and a forum where caregivers can find solace. It will be a hub for people to discover the different paths to health and well-being -an empowering journey. The intention is to cross-pollinate information that can assist people in coping, healing and thriving while living with lupus or a chronic illness.

There are numerous health information, lupus and chronic illness websites. However, what isn't widely available is how to approach complementary and holistic healing for such illnesses, particularly in conjunction with Western medicine. For Life: More Stories of Lupus' website will offer links to those sites and provide original information on complementary healing for people who suffer from chronic illness. It will also serve as a place to build community through video clips taken from the documentary and online communication between people via message postings. If someone newly diagnosed with lupus needs information on the disease, they can easily find a link to the Lupus Foundation of America or the Arthritis Foundation which offers the "Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Self Help" course. In addition, since many Internet websites cover vast generalized areas on healing and wellness, specific links will be made within these sites to streamline the research process. The project's website will list books on healing and nutrition as well as organizations that focus on personal empowerment like the National Alliance for Qigong and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine {NCCAM}.

Discussions are in progress with the SLE Foundation to promote a national advertising campaign that they developed with D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles called "Get in the Loop." A section will be developed on ways to "Get in the Loop" through events like the fundraiser in Los Angeles, volunteer opportunities, or contributing to organizations like the Alliance for Lupus Research spearheaded by Robert Wood Johnson IV.

The developer of our site is iXL, a leading Internet services company, provides strategy consulting and comprehensive information technology solutions to Fortune 1000 companies and other corporations {www.iXL.com}. The New York office, one of twenty based around the world, is creating and will launch the project's highly interactive website by mid-September 2000.

Marketing, Fundraising, Distribution and Community Building
With iXL, Ms. Raymond is negotiating to partner the website with AOL, Yahoo RealNetworks, Digital Cities, and Alta Vista. She is establishing marketing and public relations strategies with the national offices of the Lupus Foundation of America and the Arthritis Foundation. Strategic planning is also being conducted with local offices of these organizations in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Tucson. The marketing and public relations plans will augment the documentary and website and further the awareness and demand for Stories of Lupus.

National Broadcast Television
The following channels are being targeted for broadcast: POV for PBS, HBO {Cinemax} and Lifetime.

National Video Distribution
Distribution companies that will be approached include: UC Berkeley, Films for Humanities and Sciences, Filmmakers Library, and Direct Cinema. In addition, For Life: More Stories of Lupus could be packaged and distributed together with Stories of Lupus- adding value to both documentaries.

National Marketing
The documentary will be marketed through organizations which currently use Stories of Lupus, such as the Lupus Foundation of America and the Arthritis Foundation, as well as women's organizations, organizations educating patients with chronic illness, hospitals, universities, colleges, public libraries and online resources.

Fundraising and Community Building
To raise funds for the documentary and website as well as make a contribution to the local lupus communities in the visited cities, Ms. Raymond will coordinate "Docu-Thons™." Based on the model of a Walk-A-Thon (pledging a certain amount of money per mile walked), people can pledge a dollar amount for each city visited, or support any member of the project, contribute to "on the road" expenses or the website maintenance. Someone can make a $10/day pledge for four days in Las Vegas. A local corporation in each of the five cites will be asked to match the net revenue of the Docu-Thon™. Fifty percent of the proceeds will be given to the local lupus chapters; and, 50% will benefit the documentary. A "e-philanthropy" component to the website will enable people to pledge online with a credit card or send a check to make donations. This unusual fundraising approach gives the five cities an opportunity to raise funds, and potentially receive media coverage. The Docu-Thon™ will be hosted through the local chapters in New York, Tucson, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego in addition to being on the project's website.

Timeline
For Life: More Stories of Lupus started pre-production in July 2000 to prepare for shooting in October 2000. The goal is to begin post-production in November 2000. Follow-up interviews of the two people engaging in complementary healing practices will be conducted in January 2001. Editing will begin in late January 2001. The documentary is targeted for completion by May 2001. The release date will be determined with television distribution partners.

www.morestoriesoflupus.com
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