Have you ever had the experience of being away on vacation, perhaps standing on the beach or lying in the woods, and thought "I wish I could just bottle this and take it with me"? There is a great commercial playing on TV these days by GE that shows a little boy carrying a bottle of "captured wind" to a family birthday celebration that is beautifully shot and is, apparently based on a fable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=563GHUCECBg.
Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to figure out how to "capture the wind" of our Lost in Woonsocket experience and share it in a much broader sense and I think I've found it. Last week, we started to put the plans together to start Lost and Found in America, Inc., a non-profit organization created to restore the basic values of our American society through media projects. Respect, dignity, integrity, humanity, to name just a few. We'll support those organizations that are dedicated to these issues such as Matthew 25 Center for Hope, Crossroads and Mobile Loaves and Fishes. We discovered a real sense of togetherness when we came together for the screening in Woonsocket (ok, I didn't really discover it, I really just experienced it for the first time, which moved me to action). When all was said and done, almost 1,200 people watched the movie, and Matthew 25 and Crossroads each made over $4,000 by splitting ticket sales, DVD sales and collections. This seems to be a great model for future endeavors.
More importantly, what I got about Normand was this amazing sense of accomplishment he was feeling and how dedicated he was/is to this "movement" of helping others overcome issues of addiction and homelessness. I wanted to be part of something that could give him a permanent outlet for that energy and I am set on creating a position in this new organization for Normand to be a speaker and go on tour, supporting others in their quest for restoring humanity in our world. If we could create something for kids to participate here as well, it would be really exciting. David Riordan is going to create a place on the new website for people to upload their stories - we're thinking about putting them out in a book ala "PostSecret". Very exciting! I am so pumped about this - if we make a difference in one person's life, it will have been worth it.
-B
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Great lines
From Joe the Barber in Lost in Woonsocket, after giving Normand a blessing ring that says "Love": "Remember to hold this when you think that no one loves you and remember that God loves you and I do, too."
Also from Joe, this time to Mark, who has fallen off the wagon and is on the way to yet another detox center: "Instead of picking up a bottle, pick up a phone and call someone who loves you."
There were countless more but these two are my favorites. There is a very thin line between success and failure and the difference is usually wrapped up in faith.
-Brian
Also from Joe, this time to Mark, who has fallen off the wagon and is on the way to yet another detox center: "Instead of picking up a bottle, pick up a phone and call someone who loves you."
There were countless more but these two are my favorites. There is a very thin line between success and failure and the difference is usually wrapped up in faith.
-Brian
Sunday, May 13, 2007
SRO Screening
Flew in today from our screening in Woonsocket and as I expected, I was deeply moved by the entire experience. First, the venue: The Stadium Theater, built in 1926, has been beautifully restored to its original gorgeous design and boasts a sound system that rivals the sound of any major movie theatre in the country. There are only 4 full-time staff members - the entire operation runs like a well-oiled machine with the help and support of about 200 volunteers. And what phenomenal folks they all are! Other companies could learn quite a few things from the customer service provided by the volunteers and staff in this fine Theater. But this is just one of the many incredible experiences from this weekend.
The coincidences: The story behind the story of Lost in Woonsocket includes many coincidences that kept pushing the momentum, even when odds were stacked against best intentions. The filmmakers turned off the freeway because they thought "Woonsocket" sounded like a cool name for a city. On the way to detox, the guys found Normand "by chance" in a parking lot after looking for him for several hours. The crew found a local barber on the way to detox who "happened" to be a recovering alcoholic himself, 27 years sober. And the list goes on.
And I got to experience it myself....Before the credits roll at the end of "LIW," the epilogue explains that Normand is over 12 months sober and that Mark had slipped and had been in and out of detox 5 times since the A&E series ended, and had returned to the streets. Pastor Brian Souza of the Matthew 25 Center of Hope had heard that Mark was intending to come to the screening and the consensus was that if he came, he would most likely have been drinking and would make a scene. Frankly, nobody knew where he was going through detox and if he was even going to show up at the screening at all. And then God winked. On Friday, our first full day in Woonsocket, our first order of business was to go to the theater and meet the delivery of the projection equipment. After waiting for several hours, we did what any normal group of people would do with some spare time on the east coast - we headed off for the local Dunkin' Donuts for some coffee and donuts. But, even though Woonsocket is a small town, it has one-way streets that don't run parallel and after 20 minutes, ironically, we found ourselves lost - Lost in Woonsocket! So we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts down the street from the Theater - not even the original store we had been in search of and as we came out of the store, who should we see standing out front? MARK! He had been in town only 20 minutes from detox and he was clean and committed to attending the show Saturday night. And he did! To a rousing standing ovation at the end of the screening.
The event: The screening started at 7:00 in front of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,100. The marketing campaign led by Alan Neville and his team at Crossroads resulted in several newspaper articles and local news pieces, leading to a successful sell-out. The crowd was anxious and abuzz, their expectations for a great show pushed to the limit when news leaked out that Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy was in attendance. Alan Neville and Pastor Brian introduced the evening and invited John onto the stage to welcome the crowd and kick off the show. The audience reacted warmly to the story, laughing and crying in all of the right places. At the end of the show, John came out on stage with Pastor Brian, Joe the Barber and the new local celebrity and focal point of the movie, Normand Cartier. The crowd gave Normand a standing ovation and another when he pointed out his family, standing from their front row seats. And still another when Mark was invited to join the crew up on stage.
We sold over 150 DVDs, collecting several hundred dollars for Crossroads and Matthew 25 Center for Hope. Those sales, along with ticket sales and donations, helped make this a tremendous fundraising effort as well as a true community event. Overall, it was a magical night! Thank you, Woonsocket family, for kicking off this humanitarian movement with your generosity, love and support. I couldn't have predicted this kind of experience when we started this adventure 3.5 years ago.
The coincidences: The story behind the story of Lost in Woonsocket includes many coincidences that kept pushing the momentum, even when odds were stacked against best intentions. The filmmakers turned off the freeway because they thought "Woonsocket" sounded like a cool name for a city. On the way to detox, the guys found Normand "by chance" in a parking lot after looking for him for several hours. The crew found a local barber on the way to detox who "happened" to be a recovering alcoholic himself, 27 years sober. And the list goes on.
And I got to experience it myself....Before the credits roll at the end of "LIW," the epilogue explains that Normand is over 12 months sober and that Mark had slipped and had been in and out of detox 5 times since the A&E series ended, and had returned to the streets. Pastor Brian Souza of the Matthew 25 Center of Hope had heard that Mark was intending to come to the screening and the consensus was that if he came, he would most likely have been drinking and would make a scene. Frankly, nobody knew where he was going through detox and if he was even going to show up at the screening at all. And then God winked. On Friday, our first full day in Woonsocket, our first order of business was to go to the theater and meet the delivery of the projection equipment. After waiting for several hours, we did what any normal group of people would do with some spare time on the east coast - we headed off for the local Dunkin' Donuts for some coffee and donuts. But, even though Woonsocket is a small town, it has one-way streets that don't run parallel and after 20 minutes, ironically, we found ourselves lost - Lost in Woonsocket! So we stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts down the street from the Theater - not even the original store we had been in search of and as we came out of the store, who should we see standing out front? MARK! He had been in town only 20 minutes from detox and he was clean and committed to attending the show Saturday night. And he did! To a rousing standing ovation at the end of the screening.
The event: The screening started at 7:00 in front of a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,100. The marketing campaign led by Alan Neville and his team at Crossroads resulted in several newspaper articles and local news pieces, leading to a successful sell-out. The crowd was anxious and abuzz, their expectations for a great show pushed to the limit when news leaked out that Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy was in attendance. Alan Neville and Pastor Brian introduced the evening and invited John onto the stage to welcome the crowd and kick off the show. The audience reacted warmly to the story, laughing and crying in all of the right places. At the end of the show, John came out on stage with Pastor Brian, Joe the Barber and the new local celebrity and focal point of the movie, Normand Cartier. The crowd gave Normand a standing ovation and another when he pointed out his family, standing from their front row seats. And still another when Mark was invited to join the crew up on stage.
We sold over 150 DVDs, collecting several hundred dollars for Crossroads and Matthew 25 Center for Hope. Those sales, along with ticket sales and donations, helped make this a tremendous fundraising effort as well as a true community event. Overall, it was a magical night! Thank you, Woonsocket family, for kicking off this humanitarian movement with your generosity, love and support. I couldn't have predicted this kind of experience when we started this adventure 3.5 years ago.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Lost in Woonsocket revisited
On the front page of today's Providence Journal, the daily newspaper in Rhode Island, is an article on the upcoming screening of Lost in Woonsocket on May 12. An excerpt:
The great thing about spirituality and transformation is its viral nature - natural viral expansion, not like the impersonal electronic kind that Internet 2.0 propagates, but more traditional and community-oriented and personal, with real tears, real hugs and real connection.
I am flying to Rhode Island next week to attend the screening with the expectation that I will get to experience this transformation first-hand and I am convinced that the world will be improved ever so slightly by this gathering. I have a feeling that Woonsocket will never be the same again. I already know that I won't be.
If we all did one thing to try to make this world a better place, it would, by the very attempt, become one. Isn't that the kind of world we want to leave to our children and grandchildren?
-Brian
Our story starts in a tent in the woods of Woonsocket.
Here, Normand Cartier lives -- homeless, alcoholic and disconnected from his
family.
Fast forward two years. The story gets better.
Cartier's on a plane. He's flying to Texas, California, Florida and Iowa. He's attending film festivals and speaking to crowds that invariably rise to their feet, fight back tears, and applaud -- not necessarily for what Cartier says, but for what he does: simply show up.
The great thing about spirituality and transformation is its viral nature - natural viral expansion, not like the impersonal electronic kind that Internet 2.0 propagates, but more traditional and community-oriented and personal, with real tears, real hugs and real connection.
I am flying to Rhode Island next week to attend the screening with the expectation that I will get to experience this transformation first-hand and I am convinced that the world will be improved ever so slightly by this gathering. I have a feeling that Woonsocket will never be the same again. I already know that I won't be.
If we all did one thing to try to make this world a better place, it would, by the very attempt, become one. Isn't that the kind of world we want to leave to our children and grandchildren?
-Brian
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