As we toil over the final edits with the film, we are also managing other projects that come with any feature-length film. One of the more creative and fun projects involves putting music to this documentary; in other words, creating a film score. Last year, I wondered how the heck we could pull a rabbit out of a hat and create this artful marriage. Well, it looks like we pulled out a giant rabbit (cuddly, not scary), maybe even more.

 

I’m no magician, but I am tenacious and never afraid to ask for help (qualities I learned from my sales career, but also by being nearly dead in 2005-2006). Last year, I spent many hours contacting organizations soliciting donations or resources to support the film. I failed miserably getting donations, but I was fortunate to find professionals in music and film who have helped me now in these final stages of film production. I feel lucky to have met smart and experienced people that provided gentle guidance and referrals along the way, so I want to thank Alison at the Berklee College of Music, and Howard at CDIA. Thank you both, for helping with this unusual film, which will be seen all around the world.

Via the Berklee introductions, I met two wonderful folks from Brazil, both of whom are musicians. Luiz (who has the longest name in the world) is a musician and lawyer and his wife Vivian a musician and a composer. Vivian has a solid background as a musician, but also has a rich international and multilingual experience which will be helpful given the target international audiences.

Vivian will take into account a wide range of creative inputs to create an entire film score: the desired instruments (from around the world), the complex nature of the film, the suffering and drama of the patients in the film, emotions to amplify, adding depth or clarity by using sounds…so much more! Luckily, she knows what she’s doing and you can see and hear some of her compositions on her web site.

We are ambitious about our film score goals. How so? First, the film scoring will include some unusual instrumentation, both live and synthesized instruments; even voice. For music lovers, listen to this piece on YouTube. As a reference, this is setting the bar pretty high for Vivian, but I believe her score will be on par with the range, mastery and dimension of sounds you’ll hear. Second, we will offer a short version of the film score in a free song download, a 4-6 minute piece in MP3 format.

I sign off with gratitude to those who gave – and will give – to help complete this important piece of video journalism. It will touch the hearts and minds of so many people around the world.

Peace and good health to all of you in 2012.