A short while ago, I lost my cool. I pointed my finger at the sky and screamed, “I’ve fought this SMI fight long and hard and I’m exhausted. Universe, if you’ve got something to give this cause, show it to me. I’m no longer going out and beating your bushes!”
Maybe I should have lost my cool a long time ago. A mentor once told me, “When you’re trying to get something done, it doesn’t hurt to storm around and bang a few doors now and then.”
Maybe the Universe got my message. A few new prospects have appeared on the horizon.
This past weekend, film producer, Gail Freedman, was at my house filming an interview with me for her upcoming documentary, No One Cares About Crazy People. We spent Friday night, all day Saturday, and part of Sunday chatting away. Some of our chatter was personal. Most focused on how to raise funds for her film and how to make a dent in the SMI quagmire. Thank you, Gail, for your professionalism, for your commitment to the SMI cause, and for “getting it.”
Gail describes her film. “With a fusion of intimate storytelling and broad reportage, the documentary film, NO ONE CARES ABOUT CRAZY PEOPLE, will take us deep inside the chaos and crisis of severe mental illness in America. It derives, in part, from Ron Powers’ acclaimed book of the same name, a hybrid narrative of tragic family memoir and searing social history. We follow the stories of individuals and families grappling with schizophrenia, bipolar, and related disorders, all caught in the maelstrom of a disastrous system. The film also documents, for the first time, the genesis-in-progress of a national grassroots movement to radically reform our profoundly broken structures of care.”
If you’d like to help Gail with her film project, her company is Crazy People Productions, LLC. Her FaceBook page is “No One Cares About Crazy People.” You’ll find ways to contribute to the film there.
Gail left my home on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, I received an envelope in the mail from Florentine Films. Hmm? What could this be? I’d forgotten the name, but Florentine Films is Ken Burns productions. In December 2020, I wrote the following letter to him:
Dear Mr. Burns:
I enjoy and appreciate your documentaries. In a recent interview, I was moved to hear you say that your dad had a difficult life. That he possibly suffered from depression. I thought, maybe we have a common interest.
As a long-time grassroots leader in the serious mental illness (SMI) community, I find that our SMI voices are not reflected in most mental health/illness discussions/organizations. In 2019, I quarterbacked a grassroots effort to develop a plan to address SMI. More than 100 advocates — individuals, family members, mental health professionals, and journalists — from across the country took part in a fully transparent, online development of this plan. We are strategically working to get it in front of local, state, and US legislators.
Meanwhile, my book (enclosed), Tomorrow Was Yesterday — Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System — Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is, was released in November. The genesis of the book is described in the book’s introduction. The call to action is included in the book’s conclusion. The Grassroots Plan for SMI, a 15-point Extended List of SMI Needs, and a 25-point list of actions for individuals are also included.
Tomorrow Was Yesterday represents on-the-ground stories (65 mothers from 28 states). Not originally written for publication, these stories were garnered from online support groups from 2016 to 2020. They’re true, gripping, and raw. While some books show the how for mental health reform, this book shows the why.
I hope you have time to read our stories. I don’t know if they fit into your current projects. I’m not even sure what I’m asking from you. If you can’t use them, you might know someone who can. I look forward to your response.
Thank you for your thoughtful contributions to our culture and our society.
Dede Ranahan
The letter from Florentine Films was written on June 23, 2021, and postmarked 05 August 2021.
Dear Ms. Ranahan,
I hope you can overlook the delay it’s taken to reply to your kind letter. Since the start of Covid last year, much of our operation has been in a partial state of flux and we are just now getting caught up with some much overdue correspondence. Thank you so much for your patience.
Responding on behalf of Ken Burns, I wanted to let you know how much (he) appreciates your thinking of him and your thoughtful offer of resources toward his film on the mental health crisis. We will be sure to make your letter and book available to the film’s production team as a possible resource.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write and for thinking of us. We wish you the very best.
Sincerely,
Christopher Darling
Assistant to Ken Burns
I have no idea what will come from these latest events, but it does feel like the Universe is listening.
P.S. You can watch my new Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video for Tomorrow Was Yesterday here. Click on the link: