Beyond the Chair - Help reqeusted

[faxman75]

In the campground at Coachella 2008 a very outgoing guy happened upon our Camp All Alone group. He rolled right up and introduced himself to us and we chatted a bit about the fest and who we were seeing that day. His name is Drew Shelley. Less than a year later on facebook he sent out a link that contained a trailer for a movie about an incredible journey he was going to embark on. The trailer was awesome and inspiring, a film about him going on a backpacking adventure despite having muscular dystrophy and being in a wheel chair, and this wasn't just a little trip, take a look and see what he was capable of and where he went. The plan was to get the film edited and ready for Sundance this year but if you read the letter below you will see it didn't happen but they still would like to try and get the trailer shown. So if anyone knows of any way to help make this happen. Contact them directly.

Here's a trailer for the film.



Here's a link to the website for the movie.

http://btcmovie.com/btcultimate/phase1/index.html

Here's the letter.

http://btcmovie.com/OpenLetter.html

Dusty Duprel

10532 Greenford dr.
San Diego, Ca, 92126
December, 24th, 2009

An open letter to whom it may concern,

Let me begin by saying that this letter is about a promise I made to a friend, a promise I need help keeping. I am not asking for money, or anything material. I only ask for the time it will take to read this letter. The promise of which I am referring to is the one I made to Drew Shelley nearly one year ago. Drew is an individual living with Muscular Dystrophy, a disease that takes his body away from him by completely deteriorating his muscles. In the three short years of our friendship, I have witnessed his body waste away to the point that he can no longer walk without assistance. The amazing thing about Drew is that in spite of all the odds stacked against him, he is filled with contagious optimism, hope, and strength of spirit.

In 2007 Drew informed me that he would quit his engineering job to travel the world as a backpacker. Simply stated, his journey seemed impossible. At that time, despite having the ability to walk a few steps unaided, Drew only weighed 90 lbs and was already reliant on a power wheelchair for the majority of his daily activities. Even an everyday task as simple as getting out of bed was a great struggle for him. I could not begin to imagine him surviving in the jungles of Cambodia or navigating the swarming streets of India. Despite all the implausibility, for some reason, I knew Drew would find a way to do it.

As fate would have it, my talented girlfriend Rachel and I were film students at San Diego State University, and we could not pass up the opportunity to tell this amazing story. So we joined Drew as documentarians on a worldwide journey that would forever change the three of us. Today, a little over two years have passed, and we have completed an amazing and inspiring documentary of Drew’s adventure entitled: “Beyond The Chair.”

Now, back to the promise I made. In December of 2008, Rachel and I graduated film school. We initially planned to get jobs while editing the documentary in our spare time. When we began talking about our goals for completing the film’s edit, Rachel and I briefly mentioned submitting it to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Drew’s face lit up, he was ecstatic at the prospect of going to Park City; and to our surprise he already seemed to know everything about the festival.

We quickly realized why he became so excited; time was running short for Drew. With his body slipping away, he wanted nothing more than to still have some form of the ability to walk if he were to present his film at Sundance. The large amount of footage we had from the trip made the 2010 submission deadline seem unrealistic, but waiting any longer would be at the expense of Drew’s health. That’s when we made the promise to submit to the 2010 festival. We feel everything about this documentary has what it takes to be a Sundance film, but the question at the time was could we complete editing by the submission deadline?

With no money, no place to live, and a film that required our full-time attention, Rachel and I gave up working in LA to moved to the South Dakota farm I grew up on. The point being, it would take everything we could give to do this for Drew.

Eventually only 3 days remained before the final deadline. We found ourselves editing in a hotel room near the Sundance office. Our plan was to work until the last possible second and then literally run a DVD of the film to the Sundance office to beat the deadline. Being idealistic and overly optimistic caused us to fight against the reality of the situation, which was that we were a couple months, not days, away from finishing the film. The hardest part of working on the documentary was watching Drew fight back the tears swelling up in his eyes when I told him that the film was too incomplete to be accepted.

Now to the point of this letter, Drew had his heart set on being a part of Sundance and sharing his story. We let him down. So, we would humbly ask for help from whoever can find a way to still make Drew a part of Sundance in a very small capacity. He would never ask or desire that our documentary play over the other deserving films accepted, and we would not ask that either. What we do ask is that within the weeklong festivities, someone could find atwo-minute slot to present the documentary trailer: and by presenting it, help us give Drew the moment he deserves.This letter isn’t about pity; it’s about celebrating his accomplishments.

To show that we are genuine, Rachel and myself will not even attend Sundance as spectators, if someone could make this happen for Drew. My birthday is on the final day of Sundance; this would be my birthday wish. If this letter touches you, please share it with others by reposting it. You can visit our site www.btcmovie.com and click on the “Letter” tab to share this letter by facebook, twitter, or e-mail. Some people may be in a position to publish this in a blog, magazine, or newspaper, please do so. If we all share this story in any way, the more people we will reach. And the more people we reach, the better the chance we have of finding someone who can help Drew. In a very big way, when you share his story, that person is you.

Thank you,

Dusty Duprel, Rachel Pandza, and everyone who has been touched by Drew.

Dusty@btcmovie.com, 619.985.8847

[hawkingvsreeve]

Huh. I might contact this guy and see if they want to screen it at the museum.

I'll be looking into this. Thank you for posting this, Mark.

[faxman75]

You're welcome Brandon. Thank you. I would love to hear an update if something comes together too!

[TomAz]

quelle politesse!

[Somewhat Damaged]

tl;dr

[hawkingvsreeve]

Oh, Rick.

[caco0283]

I just sent over the letter and trailer to one of my friends that is a programmer for Sundance...best I can do for now

[Monklish]

Muscular dystrophy? Sounds like it sucks.

[bug on your lip]

Muscular dystrophy? Sounds like it sucks.

They could still be Japanese game show contestants though

[Monklish]

There's nothing I hate more than touching stories about people overcoming adversity.

[J~$$$$]

Pushing him down a stairwell and watch him climb out would be entertaining.

[J~$$$$]

If the stairs were greased.

[hawkingvsreeve]

Muscular dystrophy? Sounds like it sucks.

It does.

[faxman75]

bump...

They have completed some opening animation.

http://www.facebook.com/#/video/vide...2768943&ref=mf

[Geno_g]

Wow, that was touching, looks like a good film, I would love to see the whole thing...

[Devin the Dude]

definitely interested in seeing this if it ever comes to light. unfortunately there's nothing i can do to help. but inspirational nonetheless.

[faxman75]

They are making quite a bit of progress. From the bits of status updates on facebook I have seen they have found an editor and they are going forward with completing the film.

In order to do so they still need funding so they have started to take pre-orders for 1000copies of the DVD. So basically by paying up front you get a lot of bonus content, the DVD a week before everyone else and a chance to win tickets to the premier and much much more.

Here's all the deatails. I have already signed up. I'm very excited they are going forward with this project and can't wait to see it and show it to others.

http://www.btcmovie.com/btcultimate/...pre_order.html

[faxman75]

Andrew is a featured USD Alum.

http://www.sandiego.edu/alumni/alumn...rew-shelley-03

[Bosco]

I remember this guy. I believe I saw him the monday morning after the festival taking down his tent. I wish I had an excuse why I didn't help him.... but I don't. I guess I'm a bad person...

Good for him, he's accomplished some amazing stuff.

[lostsoul86]

i remember this guy at the camp site he was really cool

[faxman75]

Here is an awesome story about Drew and the movie from "New Mobility" magazine!

http://www.newmobility.com/articleViewIE.cfm?id=11619

Here's a blurb from the end of the article that made me happy. He's planning another incredible adventure.

As for Shelley, the experience has reawakened his own wanderlust. "I want to do another trip, an overland expedition — build up my van, make it four-wheel drive and head down to Belize and Costa Rica, maybe down to South America," he says. "That's definitely in the works.

"Whether it will be another movie, I don't know yet."

[J~$$$$]

"New Mobility" magazine? *snickers*

[J~$$$$]

This dude is totally getting his thunder stolen by the other palsey trying to get votes for his own show via oprah. Guess what his show is about.....

[J~$$$$]

I predict a cripple fight.

[OnlyNonStranger]

[faxman75]

Beyond The Chair: All of our facebook fans are invited to a private screening of 90 minute rough cut of Beyond The Chair. Please come out and help support this story! The screening will be Monday October, 25th at the Pearl in San Diego. Doors open at 6:00p.m. screening at 7:15. Free to attend. Donations are welcome but not mandatory. Please remember every dollar helps!