Dear friends of Fixed,

It has certainly been an exciting fall for the world and for Fixed. After the exhilarating success of our Kickstarter campaign, we set to work on the next stages of the film.  We interviewed Milton Reynolds of Facing History and Ourselves about the history of the U.S. eugenic movement, and Sujatha Jesudason with Generations Ahead about prenatal screening technologies, sex selection and disability deselection, and filmed performance artist, writer and English and Disability Studies scholar Dominika Bednarska about how ableism is reproduced in society.  We also filmed a classroom debating the social value of prenatal screening technologies at the Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco; at the Abilities Expo in San Jose; and most recently with Fernanda Castelo, a test pilot for Ekso Bionics' new exoskeleton. Fernanda even got us out on the water a few weeks ago to film with the Bay Area Association for Disabled Sailors (see photos). Quite a blast!

   

Crew news: Two terrific new production assistants came on board for the fall. Karla Claudio Betancourt and Jackie Grieff have contributed their skills and enthusiasm to the project in a variety of ways from assisting with the last production shoots, designing the new Fixed t-shirt, poster, and button, to transcribing hours of new footage. Many thanks to you both for your hard work!

I also want to welcome back editor-extraordinaire Josh Peterson who edited the Fixed trailer last year and will now be helping me bring the rough cut and all of this great new footage together to craft the final film. Josh has been cutting documentaries for almost twenty years. He was nominated for a national Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Editing in 2009 for his work on Soldiers of Conscience. He also edited The Rape of Europa, which was nominated for an Emmy for Best Historical Programming and short-listed for a Best Documentary Academy Award. I'm very honored to work with Josh again. Be sure to check out his latest film, Blood Makes the Green Grass Grow, just released this fall.

Next steps: Fixed will be released this spring. We are wrapping up the last round of filming and will begin editing on January 23rd and then the final steps of post-production. In the meanwhile, please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments. Follow Fixed news by joining our Facebook page and our e-newsletter.

[A few Fixed fans after receiving their Kickstarter rewards in the mail]

A note to our Kickstarter supporters Posters and t-shirts were sent out last week. Please let us know if you still need to provide us with your mailing address.  Digital downloads will be sent electronically after the film is completed. DVDs and the "Professor Xavier Neural Enhancement" package (coffee, mug & DVD) will be sent approximately 1-2 months after the film is finished as we complete the special features. The teaching curriculum and companion DVD will take a few more months to complete after this. Thanks for your patience and for supporting Fixed! We couldn't make this film without YOU!

If you missed the Kickstarter campaign, we could certainly still use your support with the final stages of post-production.  Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. You can also order your own Fixed t-shirts, posters, and buttons, or pre-order DVDs here too!

Wishing you all the best. We look forward to sharing Fixed with you in 2012!

Warmly,

Regan Brashear, Producer/Director

[Regan filming a prenatal screening debate at Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco, Oct 2011]

[Jamie LeJeune, cinematographer, filming on the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS) sailboat]

After 37 days, the Fixed Kickstarter campaign has just come to a close. What an amazing journey it has been:  371 of you came together and raised a grand total of $29,138, which means we reached 116% of our goal! Incredible!

Your generosity will make all the difference in finishing the film and also gives us a great start for our curriculum development to facilitate classroom discussions about Fixed and related topics. 

Thank you all!

It has been so encouraging, thrilling and humbling to receive your support. You should have seen my face on Friday when we reached the $25K mark and donations just kept coming in. My jaw was on the ground...and pretty much has been since. :)

There are a whole host of reasons for why I think this film is important, but what has motivated me more than anything is my deep respect for the individuals you will meet in this film and the work they are each doing in the world. I am truly honored that they opened their lives to me and my camera and hope that this film will start a conversation that both honors their work and creates space for more to join. 

I'm equally touched that you all have chosen to become a part of the growing Fixed community. We are making this film happen together. 

How neat is that?!!!

I want to give a HUGE shout out to everyone on Team FIXED. I'm so grateful for these amazing rock stars: one of my oldest and dearest pals, brilliant writer and social media strategist, Cielo Lutino, who shared her editorial prowess and worked tirelessly on media outreach; my sweetheart, Dave Graham-Squire, who offered up his union phone-banking skills and knack for spreadsheets to create an awesome phone-banking machine and who has been absolutely wonderful through this incredibly intense month; the fabulously talented Fixed production assistant, Jessica Fuh, who helped with the research for all of the rewards, created the captions for the trailer and who has spent a better part of the summer hunting down archival footage rights for the film; my Making Change Media partner & dear friend, Jamie LeJeune, who spent many hours helping me shoot and edit the trailer; my dear friend, Dominika Bednarska, who really went above and beyond for the film talking it up with many colleagues in the larger disability studies community; my fabulous friends, Kevin & Jody Christensen, who incorporated Fixed fundraising into their party in early August; my dear friend, Tiffany Worthington, for organizing a wonderful Fixed FUNraising party in Santa Cruz; my incredibly supportive father and stepmother, Jerry Brashear and Pam Newton, for their brainstorming and editorial assistance and their encouragement of me through the entire 4+ years of this project, and to the rest of TEAM FIXED(!) who volunteered their time and services to help make this campaign a rockin' success: Max Bell Alper, Jen Angel, Scottee Angel, Emily Beitiks, Corbin Brashear, Tracey Brieger, Liz Butler, Mia Duquet, Alexa Hall, Nathaniel Klein, Scott LaMorte, Manjula Martin, Florencia Marchetti, Alexis Mazon, Austin Putnam, Doug Pet, Emma Rubin, Steph St. Clair, John St. Louis, and G-rant Wilson. 

Now YOU are all a part of Team FIXED!  :) 

So what's next? 

First, I need to take a few days off and heal my body. One of my reasons for my interest in disability issues is because I deal with fibromyalgia and chronic pain. (Hidden disabilities = another subject which begs more public awareness).  Living on the computer around the clock for these last 6 weeks has taken a toll. So I need to take a few days offline and rest my paws. I'm also mentioning this because it has been killing me that I haven't been able to write you all individually yet to thank you for your support! I want to very much, and will do so, but I ask for your patience and understanding here. Apparently, it takes a long time to write 371 thank you letters! :)

Then we jump into action on several fronts: shooting a few more interviews, coordinating all the archival footage, and diving into the final round of editing, sound mixing, etc... We are shooting to have the film finished by the end of this year or early 2012. 

A word on rewards: the packages that include the DVD will be mailed when the film is completed. Please be patient. Believe me, I'm as eager to see this film done and out in the world as you are! We will be working on achieving this final goal as efficiently as possible. The posters and T-shirts will be sent in October. I will be sending out surveys soon to ask you for all the pertinent details, mailing addresses, the exact name you would like in the film credits, etc. So please stay tuned. 

If you know anyone who would still like to donate to the Fixed, we can receive tax-deductible donations through our fiscal sponsor, the International Documentary Association @ http://documentary.org/fsp/3309. 

I hope that you will all stay in touch as the film progresses into these final stages and heads out into the world. Please join our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter. 

With much love and gratitude, 

Regan

Dear friends, 



The thrill of reaching our goal of $25K on Friday has still not worn off. We can't thank you enough. 



Just a quick note now to say that we have 48 hours left on Kickstarter and could use this opportunity to make some serious headway towards our budget for curriculum development. 



Imagine a high school class grappling with the complexities of brain-computer interfaces, drug doping in sports, computer chips that mimic the human brain, synthetic organ transplants  or a conversation about "ableism" for the first time. 



Help us get Fixed into classrooms — from high schools and colleges to medical schools and bioethics programs — so younger generations will be more equipped to navigate a rapidly changing world. Every penny donated from this point forward will go towards creating teaching materials to pair with the film. 



Please continue spreading the word! Donations can be made until 9 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 31st (that's 6 a.m. for you West Coasters!).



Many thanks, 


Regan & Team FIXED

http://kck.st/fixedthemovie

At 1:12pm yesterday, our 310th backer, Peter Brieger, brought us past the $25K mark! WE DID IT!

Our deepest, most heartfelt thanks to every one of you. We are overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of support. When we started this campaign, we didn't know if we would make it. We believed in the importance of this film but weren't sure enough other people would agree with us. Yet 300+ people came together to say, yes, we need more conversation about the ethical, social and philosophical issues surrounding human enhancement technologies, differing perceptions of disability, and what it means to be human.

Just yesterday the BBC and NPR ran stories about Oscar Pistorius and his journey to athletic stardom—but not without a swirl of controversy. Does the double amputee have an advantage or doesn't he? What do we really mean by disability? Is his story following the old “super crip” narrative, or is he part of a movement that’s redefining what’s  “normal”?

These are the kinds of questions Fixed addresses, and while our goal of $25k will go a long way toward finishing the film, there's still 4 days to make more magic happen.

What other wizardry is there? In our push to expand the conversation, we want to develop curriculum to reach students at the high school and college levels, as well as in medical schools and bioethics programs. The added dollars will allow us to devote more resources towards that goal.

If you haven't yet contributed, donations can be made right up to the cutoff time of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, August 31.  And, please, let's make the most of these last few days by continuing to spread the word!

Thank you again. We are ecstatic!

With love and gratitude,

Regan & Team FIXED

PS: Here's a message from core team members: Regan Brashear, Cielo Lutino, Dave Graham-Squire & Jessica Fuh