October, 2022
Good Afternoon;
I would like you to consider to become a donor to the documentary film MOVIE ABOUT ME. Your donation can make a monumental impact on the lives of millions of people around the globe. This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of a landmark movie from the outset. The professional filmmaking team has worked together on other successful projects and we invite you to be a part of this movie.
I am an Executive Producer on the Documentary and I look forward to joining forces in order to meet one of modern history’s most urgent calls for action.
We are fundraising $150,000 in this round to go towards shooting the opening scene in Incline Village, Nevada, developing the doc script, hiring an award-winning producer and amplifying promotion. The total budget of the picture from development through post-production is estimated at $1.2 Million. With the success of this phase, the content we create can be used to either raise the remainder of funds from donations or co-production investment.
As far as distribution, the road is wide open for this movie – this includes box office, television, streaming, other platforms both free and paid subscription. If we attain all of the funding through donations, large and small, then we will be able to chose how the movie is distributed and can even make it free to the public. If we accept an investment through an established co-production partner, then we will likely sell to a distributor. Either road allows us to enter the film festival / awards circuit.
Chesley Heymsfield, the Producer, Director and Lead Person has decades of experience in the entertainment industry as a producer for development, live action, post/VFX, distribution and talent management. In 2011, she founded the Louisiana International Film Festival (LIFF) and embarked upon building up the film industry within the state in partnership with the Governor’s Office, industry, NGO’s and other organizations. This provides a framework for which we may not only produce an acclaimed film that beautifully depicts the hardships of people, but that also elevates the illness to the status of national dialogue.
In addition to producing the movie, Chesley has already raised $25,000 towards the creation of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that will run as a parallel impact campaign to the movie. Both projects mutually benefiting the other. Documentary films often inspire impact campaigns, but they are typically produced further down the line as an afterthought. Because this topic is so important and timely, the PSA allows us to get a head start on the conversation and build early momentum. Chesley has put together a team and she/team are ready, willing and able to execute. There is a deadline within a month for us to raise this phase if we want to shoot before the mountain passes close during winter into Incline Village. This also nicely coincides with end of year donations. This movie is a great place to donate considering the magnitude of impact.
To get a sense of the overall topic and story…
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chesley friends who study post-viral illness started discussing the likelihood that the novel virus would join the long list of other viruses (HHV6, HSV, EBV, MERS, SARS) and traumas (war, famine, accidents) that can trigger the chronic illness Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or M.E. The co-director of the center, Ron Davis, PhD has a son who, with a severe form of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.), is bed-bound, unable to speak, walk or talk and is fed through a feeding tube with water being delivered directly to his heart. This illness is so underfunded that Dr. Davis, along with other parents of children who have this disease, pulled together the best scientists from around the world, including Nobel Laureates, to investigate the under researched and mysterious condition.
Now, scientists estimate that after having a COVID-19 infection, 43 million people in the United States are likely afflicted with the same long-term symptoms as M.E.; and an 8 million people permanently disabled. This is anticipated to cost the US economy up to $1 Trillion increased medical expenses and lost wages.
Often misinterpreted by physicians and misreported by the media as a new mysterious disease following pandemics or epidemics (MERS, SARS, COVID-19), M.E. has actually existed and been chronicled for centuries. However, little funding has flowed mostly due to a mischaracterization of the patients as ‘hysterical’, ‘obsessive’ or ‘women’.
Aptly referred to as, “The Disease of a Thousand Names”, the illness has failed to galvanize public support or even attain basic public awareness. Corporations have not come to the co-marketing rescue. Government funded research is 250% below what is commiserate with disease burden – even during a pandemic that is dramatically increasing prevalence of those who will die form the disease, become disabled or commit suicide. The majority of researchers who received funding from the NIH to study long-term effects from COVID-19 have no knowledge of M.E. Activists organized to inform these researchers and petition government officials for collaborative research. Insurance coverage, disability and social support are all lacking.
There is no FDA approved diagnostic test, treatment or cure.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) first recognized the disease in 1984 when there was a flu-like outbreak in Incline Village, Nevada. A woman returned from a trip to China and shortly thereafter in the small mountain town, 200 predominantly women and girls became sick and failed to fully recover. In the report from the CDC they claimed it was, “Hysterical menopausal women” and named it the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Once the media got wind of the report, they dubbed it the pejorative ‘Yuppie Flu’. Though the CDC later attempted a self-correction, the door to significant research funding has remained shut.
Illness names are often termed after the geographic location of an outbreak, like Chronic Lyme Disease, or the instigating factor, like Chronic Epstein-Barr. Here are a few other names:
⦁ Akureyri Disease
⦁ Combat Fatigue (WWII)
⦁ Benign Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
⦁ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
⦁ Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome
⦁ Chronic Infectious Mononucleosis
⦁ Epidemic Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
⦁ Epidemic Neuromyasthenia
⦁ Iceland Disease
⦁ Myalgic Encephalitis
⦁ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
⦁ Myalgic Encephalopathy
⦁ Post-viral Fatigue Syndrome
⦁ Raphe Nucleus Encephalopathy
⦁ Royal Free Disease
⦁ Tapanui Flu
⦁ Soldier’s Heart (Civil War)
MOVIE ABOUT ME applies a uniquely modern storytelling lens to one of the most complex human health disasters of all time. We look through a clarifying prism and identify the easiest path to accomplish long overdue change. Our team sets out to identify and petition for the one elusive universal name.
In our opening scene, we venture to Incline Village, Nevada and speak with some of the original patients, doctors and city officials uncovering fascinating stories. This is where we, together with residents, envision launching a campaign to rename the illness. To create one name to unify us all.
Our big team includes Chesley, other patients with this illness, top scientists, academics, government officials, editors, cinematographers, producers and our NGO partners, like: Open Medicine Foundation (OMF), SolveME, ME Action. Together, we have an unstoppable team that fortifies the movie with excitement, adventure, credibility and authenticity.
MOVIE ABOUT ME steps off the curb in California and ventures on a road-trip across the continental United States in search of the ideal name for this illness. Working with Madison Avenue experts, Silicon Valley sharks, Palo Alto scientists, Hollywood celebrities, Washington DC insiders and your everyday people across the country, we dive into
the history, mystery and scandal of the illness as we petition for the selection and acceptance of one universal name.
Documentary films play a critical role in American discourse. Voices alone are important, but together can be immensely impactful. MOVIE ABOUT ME can create a sea change not only in the way that we medically approach M.E., but in the way that we treat those who suffer from all chronic illness. Compassion will be at the forefront of our message.
We welcome you to join our movie about ME family. Help us show solidarity with all of the people suffering in silence around the globe.
All funds are donated through our fiscal agent, the Louisiana International Film Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Upon your contribution, we are happy to discuss with you how you would like to have your name credited. Any invitations to future screenings or events will also be shared.
Your funds will be put to good work.
Here’s a link for more info:
password: movieaboutme
Direct donate link:
https://www.movieaboutme.com/donate
Chesley Heymsfield
Producer
Cell: (917) 622.8800
PS – For further reading, please see articles:
“Exploring the Link Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and COVID-19” – GOOP
Solve ME – white paper on prevalence + economic impact by state
“Confronting Our Next National Health Disaster – Long-Haul Covid” – New England Journal of Medicine
“To solve the mystery of Long COVID, researchers look to an older disease” – WBUR
“Long COVID Shouldn’t Have Taken Us by Surprise” – Infection Control Today
“Have We Been Thinking About Long-Haul Coronavirus All Wrong?” – Time Magazine
“Post-COVID Fatigue, Exercise Intolerance Signal ME/CFS” – Medscape
PSS – Our partner organizations:
Blog of Intellectual Capital 