We have recieved a great deal of interest from individuals who want to continue to spread the word in support of the film, as well as those who missed the last party but would like to join us in this amazing project.
So here is Phase 2, lets keep sharing the message of true health with everyone.
What if everything you know about your health was bought and paid for?
Our healthcare crisis is not what you've been led to believe...
It’s not the HMOs, or insurance, or Obamacare, or the lack of individual accountability.
It’s bigger than all of that. It’s the country’s biggest monopoly, the most dangerous monopoly, and they’re gunning for you.
They’ve surrounded you with lies and half-truths.
They’ve convinced you that the road to health runs through a doctor’s office.
They’ve tried to wipe out the chiropractic profession, and nearly succeeded.
They are the medical monopoly. And they are about to be busted.
It begins here with a simple question:
You know what the doctor tells you, but who’s telling your doctor what to say?
It's the most important documentary project of 2012, and you can have a part in it.
![Filming Gold Medalist Freestyle snowboarder Torah Bright. Terrific!]()
Filming Gold Medalist Freestyle snowboarder Torah Bright. Terrific!
We started filming in December of 2011 with a plan for a 20 day shoot and a budget of $500,000. We've completed 80+ interviews, shot from the Iditarod in Alaska to Hawaii, from the beaches of California to ground zero in NYC. Chicago, Dallas, Victoria, BC, Napa, Florida, New Orleans, Detroit, Denver, Houston, Austin, Kansas City, and on and on. Our story has led us on a fascinating journey across the entire country. This epic film is evolving to be the most important, most eagerly awaited documentary of 2012. (On a personal note, my last documentary was short-listed for an Academy Award. This project is grander on every level.)
![Filming MS patient, James Saccomano, with 2 oncologists, an MD, a DC, and a master chef at Kathy Ireland's beautiful home in Honolulu.]()
Filming MS patient, James Saccomano, with 2 oncologists, an MD, a DC, and a master chef at Kathy Ireland's beautiful home in Honolulu.
We've filmed MD's, PhD's, DC's, alternative health providers, lawyers, NBA Hall of Famers, NFL champions, numerous Olympic Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists, Pharmaceutical whistle blowers, and most importantly patients families who lost and regained their health (and freedoms) under shocking circumstances.
![Filming Olympian and World Cup skier Steven Nyman at Sundance Ski Resort.]()
Filming Olympian and World Cup skier Steven Nyman at Sundance Ski Resort.
The NYC-based production is on schedule for a September theatrical release in 5 cities.
Our shooting schedule expanded from 20 days to 60+ days. We're now concurrently filming, digitizing, transcribing and editing. Although our shooting days tripled, our budget only increased from $500,000 to $775,000.
Any additional money not used for filming will be used to promote the theatrical release in September.
![This amazing story has pulled us across the entire US, including Alaska! The 2012 Iditarod Sled Dog Race is a surprise highlight that emerges in an unexpected twist.]()
This amazing story has pulled us across the entire US, including Alaska! The 2012 Iditarod Sled Dog Race is a surprise highlight that emerges in an unexpected twist.
A note from Jeff Hays:
There has been a crop of new health/food documentaries in the last few years. Some of them have been great. (Food, Inc., Under our Skin, and many others.) All of them have helped move this topic into conversation, and collectively they're helping generate an emerging chorus. (By the way, it's mothers that will be leading this change. Our health care will change because of the collective power of the mothers in this country.)
With Medical, Inc. (working title-likely to change) we're attempting set a new standard in this genre, to raise the bar and raise the level of discussion. We're excited to see who follows us, who else will add to the conversation, with humor, talent, story, and heart.
As we filmed, we talked about the metaphor of "a small door into a large room." It's a big story, but it's only meaningful on a person by person, story by story basis. It's only when we follow our subjects: athletes, mothers, discouraged MD's, marginalized Chiropractors, profoundly successful healers, and even patients that have been sent home to die, that we see the real story emerge.
They are the small door into the large room.
We're now 75% done with our filming. I'm delighted to report that "we've got it." You start out, knowing there is a story, but will it be entertaining, compelling? Will it have enough energy to pull someone out of their life for 2 hours in a dark room? In other words, is it a movie? So we start with belief, with hope.
Day after day, we've gone to our hotel room shocked. Stunned at what we've been able to capture, amazed at how the film is unfolding in front of us. In other words, yes-it's a movie! But it's unlike any I've ever been associated with. It's had a life of its own. At some point we realized our job was to pay attention and just follow the trail where it was leading us.
For me, this is like the next iteration of what happened in the 60's. Suddenly musicians knew their role was more than just playing music, their music had become more than entertainment-it became important. Music went from dance bands and entertainment, to defining a new culture and toppling a powerful, deeply intrenched political structure.
Today, suddenly breakout documentaries, some barely funded, are being seen, discussed and considered. Once again, our culture's need for change finds a creative window.
My last documentary was short-listed for an Academy Award. I only point this out to say that I'm not naive, I have a history of combining story and talent. That being said, I have never worked on a project with this quality of director, this quality of producers, and this profound of subject. Bobby's masterful eye, and unflinching Leica lenses have captured a story that is likely to ignite a debate that is dry tender, just begging to breakout. We're tapping into and redirecting a conversation that is currently rudderless. (Before we fight over who pays for heath care, we might want to look at "what is health care?" It turns out the entities most responsible for directing the "who pays" conversation are the recipients of the money!)
Our initial vision was lofty. What we've captured so far expands that vision to a level that I just haven't experienced before. At one point Bobby said to me, "eventually all great movies tell you how they want to be made." Never has that been more true than on this project.
I can't wait for you to see what we're making; it's the most timely and important project I've ever been involved with. If you're reading this, then you're being invited to join us.
Please do.
Jeff Hays
April/May 2012
