FILMMAKING

When Julia was born, she was diagnosed with a rare condition called Myotonic Distrophy. The prognosis was grim and the doctors determined she would have merely months to live.  Miraculously, Julia beat the odds and survived.  Heeding medical advice, her parents Marcelo and Milene had Julia placed in a medical facility for round-the-clock medical care.  However, after two years in the facility, she was still not eating, talking, or moving at all.  In a drastic leap of faith, Marcelo and Milene took their daughter home and enrolled her in a hippotherapy program at Special Strides. This highly effective physical and occupational therapy uses the physical and dynamic support of horses for monumental and exceedingly rapid results.  Her parents hoped that this would be the key to bringing their precious Julia to life.

Special Strides is a non-profit organization in Monroe, NJ and a client of JAB Films for over a decade.  I've witnessed first hand how their brilliant therapeutic approach massively  improves lives in ways many medical professionals initially deem impossible.  After so many years of creating 5-minute or so highlight shorts, I was yearning to capture one of their many miraculous stories in a longer form.  I felt it was important to highlight the clinical science behind the effectiveness of hippotherapy, a vital component missing from our previous films. When Julia and her family came to the farm, the executive directors called me and said "This is it!"

Already knowing the ins and outs of the farm and hippotherapy itself, I was able to focus my attentions on sweet Julia and her family. It was humbling listening to her parents, as they spoke about the agony of making life altering medical decisions for their newborn and fighting for her life all the while navigating a medical system that didn't even speak their first language.  Sitting across from them I could feel their warmth and how their love for their daughter was larger than life.

Watching Julia's progress and her personality evolve was an absolute gift, but watching her parents watch her was a beyond heartening experience that struck me on a deep level.

Which is also why on the final day of shooting, Julia had us all in tears.

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This film was featured at the Woodstock International Film Festival,

New Hope Film Festival, & Equus International Film Festival and

received multiple Hope awards as well as an award for Best Editing.