WATCH THE TRAILER
“The amount of subjectivity in this disease is mind-boggling.”
- Scott Santorella, Global Lyme Alliance
Of the 400,000 diagnosed cases last year, 85% of those will not be covered by insurance. We didn’t know that when we started two years ago. That’s made for a better film.
After running head-on into controversy, we took a big step back and asked leading Lyme researchers, scientists, and doctors what kind of film they didn’t want to see be made. After endless conversations, those doctors came on board. And from those relationships, I’m Not Crazy, I’m Sick was born.
MAKE A FILM FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, THEY SAID.
So we did. Our film does scientifically stand up against any argument against Lyme Disease, however it is not targeted at doctors. I’m Not Crazy, I’m Sick aims to engage and educate the general public who may not believe or know that Lyme Disease persists past normal antibiotic treatment. In other words, we’re making a film that engages normal people and helps them better understand their loved ones struggling with this hidden neuropsychiatric and multi-systemic disease.
NARRATION
Our narrator plays the role of the spirochete; the microscopic, spiral-shaped bacterium that passes through ticks and insects to wreak havoc on the immune system.
Our narration is the first-person account of a disease that wants to be known. By telling the viewer all about, well, itself, he happenstance introduces each segment of material, themes, and relays sometimes controversial or conflicted information with a soothing cloak of charm and internalized “kiss my ass” mentality.
At times, his words are thematic; other times, extremely scientific with a “smartest person in the room who is prone to boredom” vibe. Empathy is legitimate, but strategic. Statements are short with loaded payoff. After all, who knows more of how a bank was robbed than the robber itself? In the same way, our narrator is intimately familiar with the twists and turns that are his life story and scientific makeup.
Narration is off-camera and makes up approximately 10 minutes total in performance and run time. Narration is scripted with the option to additionally improvise to story. Visuals from the film will live in tandem according to each set of narrated segments.
TWO YEARS. THREE DIFFERENT FAMILIES.
Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the US and has wreaked havoc on millions of lives due to inadequate testing and heavy stigma. This is the story of how three families fight for survival and the specialists who have become advocates.
TEAM
From Executive Producers Kim Cleworth, Atty Cleworth, Nonny de la Peña, and Elena Delle Donne with Producers Jens Jacob and Jason Pamer, Director Elle Ginter, Director of Photography Clair Popkin, and VR Director Nonny De La Pena.
ELLE GINTER — DIRECTOR
Elle Ginter is a self-taught American filmmaker who balances visual precision and sharp narrative efficiency to create films that speak loudly with a whisper. Playing with memories and life changing moments of self-realisation, her work is deeply personal yet profoundly human. She has worked with a range of talent from pro athletes and celebrity musicians to survivors of fatal diseases and war crimes. In her films for Nike and USA Hockey she shines a spotlight on moments of historical social change that break stereotypes and rethink assumptions about female identity. Alongside this she has explored themes of mental health with the ALS Association and the determination of a war prisoner to bring former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré to justice for Human Rights Watch. Elle’s films have won a Silver at Kinsale Shark Awards, Gold Lion at Cannes, a Gold Clio, Golds in AICP’s Experiential and Purpose Driven Advertising categories, Gold, Silver and Bronze at the D&AD Awards, and Gold at One Show’s ADC awards. When she goes missing you can find her visiting her hometown of Boston, surfing somewhere around the world or running a desert marathon.
Producers Jens Jacob and Jason Pamer combined efforts back in 2016 to form Sypher Studios, producing and distributing the genre-breaking film, The Heart of Man, which has released theatrically in 30+ countries around the world. Sypher Studios is a full-service content studio that develops and distributes series and feature films that are in the “third lane”— the space where gritty stories can be told honestly.
Gritty & real. Honest & un-veneered.
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