by Janelle Moncada
Every year, about 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI, also referred to as the “silent epidemic,” affects individuals who have acquired brain injury from a sudden blow to the head or by an object that violently pierced the skull and entered the brain.
Local three-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker David Brown hopes to shed some light on this complex injury by hosting a fundraising event on Sunday, Feb. 15, at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center. Brown says that he hopes to raise enough money to help complete his documentary, Going the Distance: Journeys of Recovery.
The doc follows the lives of four TBI survivors, who reveal their personal stories of “devastation, heroism and hope.” These four individuals take the audience on a journey that chronicles each invidiaul’s road to recovery–starting from the day of their accidents to their days of learning how to walk, talk and live again.
Joining Brown is acclaimed comedian, Michael Pritchard, who will be emceeing the event with two TBI survivors: Grace Dammann and September Williams.
“This extraordinary and inspiring documentary,” Pritchard says, “[it] needs to be completed and widely distributed.”
The nearly-completed doc has screened at seven TBI conventions throughout the U.S. Brown hopes to raise $30,000 to finish his film, which he has been working on for six years. All proceeds will help pay for the costs of “music and archival licensing, color correction, sound mixing and mastering.”
Brown asks for a $25 minimum donation at the screening. The fundraising screening will take place Sunday, Feb. 15, from 4:30-6:30pm at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center’s Kurland Lounge. To RSVP, contact David Brown at 415/468-7469. And for more information on the documentary, visit its official website, www.goingthedistance.info/index.html.
