40 Days to Change the Course of Autism
40 Straight Days of Autism Filming and Travel
A lot of things can happen in 40 days. For Noah, he was able to survive the Big One. Jesus was able to withstand the Temptation. For a guy like Matt Sullivan, he even survived Lent. Well, we thought we’d like to put our own mettle to the test.
So for us, it’s finally official: The United States of Autism movie will shoot for 40 straight days.
You could say it will be a bold statement on how to move forward with the autism movement. You could say it is a mammoth undertaking requiring unbelievable planning and precision. You could even say that the people behind this are absolutely crazy to drive almost 10,000 miles in 40 straight days while visiting 21 families, 2 members of Congress, 2 members of the autism movement that have had movies made about their life, and dozens of doctors, leaders, and therapists from around the nation.
The only thing you can’t say, is that we’re not going to make a difference.
Starting on June 24th and going until August 3rd, our crew will be traveling nearly 10,000 miles to capture the national story about autism. Pennsylvania. Illinois. Wisconsin. Iowa. Nebraska. Colorado. Utah. California. Oklahoma. Texas. Alabama. Florida. North Carolina. Virginia. DC. New Jersey. New York. Massachusetts.
The trip itself begins in Lancaster, PA with 3 days of shooting and then moves on out towards California. As you can imagine, there’s a lot to plan. Hotel bookings in almost 30 cities. Car rentals for over a month at a time. Shooting schedules with all the families. Scheduling 3-4 days off for the crew to decompress. When equipment needs to arrive and leave. Insurance. Public affairs offices for military families and City offices for any filming in major cities.
What is most important, however, is the end result. We’re talking about a film here that’s vision is unlike anything ever done for the autism movement. Members of nearly every inter-autism group co-existing in a relatively peaceful and positive manner. The focus is not on our divisions, but what binds us together in our challenges and triumphs. Ultimately, when the final credits roll, these families will represent what is the best in America, and our audiences will connect in a whole other dimension.
We’re planning to maintain this blog every day for those 40 days so you can follow us. Be sure to check back everyday for whatever pictures, words, and updates we can give you.
We’re not sure how the the final product will end up. We don’t know what challenges await. We’re not even sure of what clothes we’re going to wear. We’re only sure of one thing.
For 40 days, we’re going to give it everything we have, and we’re going to change the course of autism, forever. Won’t you come with us?
Free Stuff From Pepsi Arrives
Everyone loves free stuff, especially after winning a huge contest!
We patiently waited for a few weeks before calling. It only seemed right to give them the benefit of the doubt after they had graciously given us the first disbursement of our $50,000 in winnings from the Pepsi Refresh Everything contest. Yet, we still couldn’t help but be a little nervous. We had heard other winners we had allied with during the contest had received their kits. So, just as we thought about picking up the phone to our rep at Good, the package arrived.
Tearing open the box, the first thing we noticed was the attention to detail Pepsi had. The carrying case had a great Refresh Everything logo on the lower right hand corner and was of decent quality. Opening it up, we found all kinds of goodies. Go ahead and take a view of the gallery and find out for yourself!
