About this project

 The Film

"Healing Waters" is the uplifting story of the resilient and inspirational recovering active duty military service members and veterans of Project Healing Waters. The film will provide an inside look at the organizations roots, profile the founder, participants and volunteers as well as document its astonishing growth and powerful results in transforming the hearts and lives of some of our Nations Finest.

Three years ago I was filming a television show in Virginia and attended a Project Healing Waters outing on the Rose River. That was the first time I saw these incredible soldiers taking part in this innovative program. I was fascinated as I watched these wounded warriors, some of which had just returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, some of them veterans of Viet Nam, as they made their way into the water on crutches, carried by volunteers, and even in wheelchairs to fish the Rose. There were amputees and many bearing the scars and the trauma of roadside IEDs using improvised devices to hold fly rods in place and even a young Sergeant who had lost his arm using his teeth to retrieve the line. I witnessed the positive change in their mood and demeanor as they lost themselves in Mother Nature. I was both moved and inspired...

                           "Healing Waters" will be the first official documentary film of the group, which has been profiled on ESPN and CNN. We are currently in pre-production on the film and coordinating with the staff of Project Healing Waters to begin filming their classes and outings early this summer. I will spend the next year traveling to VA hospitals and clinics across the US where more than 100 chapters of the project have taken root to record the compelling stories of the participants and volunteers and the impact Project Healing Waters has had on them.

Our goal is to complete the film by the end of next summer to meet the submission deadline for the Sundance Film Festival.  

Project Healing Waters

Project Healing Waters was founded in 2005 at Walter Reed Medical Center by US Navy Captain Retired Ed Nicholson and assists in the physical and emotional therapy of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying classes and outings. It has experienced unprecedented growth and success over the last five years because of its profound effect on the participants and their well being. As one wounded Iraq War veteran put it, "Project Healing Waters saved my life...it saved me...it brought me back from a very deep and dark place..."

What is the money for?

Let me begin by saying that I have not or will not take money from Project Healing Waters to produce this film...and the awesome Project Healing Waters backer incentives I am offering will be purchased from them by me.

                   The money I raise on Kickstarter will go directly toward production costs on the film. I am an experienced outdoor television producer who knows how to operate on a tight budget. The funds will cover necessary travel and hotels to film interviews and outings at VA Hospitals across the United States (I am no Prima Donna...if there are couches to crash on or meals to share so I can cut costs then I am there). Additional costs will include but not be limited to production assistance from camera and sound men, lighting, music licenses, post production work including film editing, sound, and color correction, film prints and dvds...I have a deep respect for this group and I aim to produce a quality film.

All shipping and handling for backer incentives is included.

All airfares, lodging, food and ground transportation costs are the responsibility of the backer for all incentives.

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON’T REACH OUR GOAL

If we don't raise our goal, we don't get anything.  Donors pledge the amounts, but don't actually pay until the goal is reached and the funding deadline has passed.  We want to avoid this so please spread the word.  Everything helps!