Pack it Up, Gang! We're Heading North!!

Finally, after two postponements and fearing another one last night just minutes before we were scheduled to start our company conference call, all was quiet. I waited for a text message, the ring tone, anything that would signal that we would not be able to hold this meeting. Tick...tick...tick....at 7:28 PM, I dialed into the conference line. "BING," Rich rang in. "BING," Tom rang in. "BING," Jesse rang in. "Hot damn," I said. "We're having this meeting!"

And a good meeting it was. No, that's not correct. It was a great meeting. Here was the agenda (in brief):

1. There were two levels of the project to decide on; do we produce a complete 46 minutes pilot or do we cut down on the work and money, to produce an extended trailer (a trailer is like the "preview" you see on television or in movie theaters. Those are usually 2-3 minutes; we were looking at 6-10 minutes.

2. Based on the answer to #1, how much money will we need to raise to not just to the job, but to to the best possible production we can?

3. Were we going to agree to use crowdfunding to underwrite the project and if so, which one?

I had been thinking about these questions a great deal. It's not like they are unique, they are not. It's like lining up dominoes in a fancy shape then knocking them all down. But if only one domino is out of place by just a fraction of an inch, the knockdown is knocked out! Even though we are equal partners, I take my role as the president very seriously. Listen, we're not a huge, multi-million dollar production company; we are three snot-nosed, belly-crawling  nozzle jockeys and a videographer who chased police and fire scanners. 

So, I've always played the "parent" in the company, watching over what we decide on and do so that my three partners who, unlike me, still work full-time. Me? I've been classified disabled since 1992 and have only worked part-time as my aching back would let me. Not so with my partners. My biggest concern is protecting them from any personal financial strife. I was an argument that they shot holes through in the first fifteen minutes of the meeting. So here are our decisions:

1. We are going ahead and produce the entire first pilot episode of our new show that is scheduled to be shot with the cooperation and participation of the great men and women of the Philadelphia Fire Department. Bear in mind that with both Tom's and Jesse's experience, they showed us that for relatively the same time and money to shoot the trailer, the pilot would not take much more, so we decided to go with the pilot. (Here's a lesson in TV Physics - writers and producers want a lot. They usually don't get everything they want. (Even though we are determined to shoot in Philly, all the "t's" have to be crossed and the "i's" have to be dotted.) To help facilitate this, we have a meeting next week with the Greater Philadelphia Office for Film & Television to start the "hose rolling out."

2. We are definitely moving ahead to raise funds through crowdfunding. We believe that, after all the research we have done over the last three week, we have chosen the best crowdfunding platform that's primary work has always been in film and video. I will not be exact, but we have set a significant six-figure sum for our budget. And combining these two facets, every donation will receive a "charm," a gift appropriate to the level of the contribution. Additionally, we will be looking for commercial participation was well. Thus, if you work in the fire-rescue commercial industry, you may want to see what possibilities there might be with your employer. 

In summary, we're taking the production to the next level. However...this is not to say that we are going to drop our efforts in Los Angeles to market the show to networks and studios. That will continue to go forward, full speed ahead.

There is still a great deal of work to be done, so we have no dates as of yet. All of that will come in due time. What's next? YOU! YES, YOU! No, we're not asking you for a penny (wink..wink, yet!). But we do need your help. We need you to start talking up the project. Tell your friends and family about it, your parents, siblings, grandparents and neighbors! 

We have had test groups of people read both the synopsis (summary) and the script, some involved in fire-rescue, most, not. And every single response has been, "Wow! What a story! I couldn't put it down until I read the whole thing!" Share that with them. Get them as excited about the project as you are.

I want to make one point regarding the fundraising that I mentioned in a previous post within the past couple of weeks. In the U.S., there are approximately 1.2 million members of the fire service, career, volunteer and on-call. That doesn't count the fire-rescue members across southern Canada. It also does not account for members of law enforcement and EMS. Now, add in spouses, family and friends.

Now, if every one of those people donates but $1.00 to the effort (I know, "What kind of a crummy gift will they give me for a buck?") we could raise much more than we would ever need. However that is not going to happen. Even with all the wishing in the world.

So, let's just try our best. It's not even time yet to ask for money, but you know what? Enthusiasm is FREE! Pass it along!

In the mean time, let's MAKE SURE EVERY ONE GOES HOME AND #STAYSAFE

Steve

What About Now?

All too often as we glide through life, we hear about this unfortunate circumstance or that one and quite quickly, it disappears from our thoughts. Why? Usually it is due to the fact that whatever it was, had no bearing on the observer. So why bother, right? Wrong!

For our regular readers and followers on Twitter know, we take the concept of firefighter health very, very seriously. It's a subject that were are very passionate about. Why? That's a valid question and it's also a tough one to answer. 

Your author has been disabled since 1992 when I work up one morning with, what I thought was a run-of-the-mill backache. After seeing several doctors, I finally had an MRI and found out that I had a herniated disc at L4-L5. The question of how was more difficult to answer. I had been out of active service with a fire department since 1985. I was in a relatively sedentary job and was not required to move or life heavy objects. Today, 23 years later and after five back surgeries, too many injections to count and having a medication pump surgically implanted, the consensus of my doctors is that the underlying injury occurred in June 1978 when one leg fell through the floor of a house being used for fire training. At the time of that fall, I blew out my left knee, but I had no idea about my back. However, that was an on-the-fireground accident that could happen to anyone. So, no - my passion does not come from that occurrence. 

Even though I have been out of the fire service since 1985, it has and always will, have a role in my life. And I read Firehouse Magazine every month.And each month, the first column I read is the list of LODD's. A recent report regarding the LODD's in 2014 indicates that nearly fifty-percent (50%) of firefighter LODD's are caused my preventable health conditions. PREVENTABLE!!! No, I did not know any of these firefighters in any way, nor did I know any active firefighter with serious health risks...until this past week.

One of my neighbors is a career firefighter for a department about an hour north of where we live. He's a real nice guy, loves what he does and was working to put his "20" in, with just a couple of more years to go. However, my friend, whom we'll refer to as "Tom," is a big man, both height-wise and weight-wise. So each time I'd see him outside and wave or stop in to chat for a few, I never said a word to him, but inside, my guts were churning. Before me stands a guy who loves what he does, is good at it, but not taking care of himself with the same passion he uses to fight fire.

Two weeks ago I got a cal from his wife to come over to help them with a computer problem. I saw Tom's car in the driveway and assumed he was on an off-day. When I got inside, he's walking all bent over and I asked what happened. He said he threw his back out on a call a few days before, but he wasn't that concerned as the next Monday, he was going to have knee replacement surgery. I fixed the computer, wished them both good luck and told him I'd check in on Monday night or Tuesday morning to see how the surgery went. 

Early Tuesday morning, I get a call from his wife and I asked her how the surgery went. She said, "It didn't!" She then explained to me that when he went for his pre-op clearance, the doctor observing his EKG saw traces he was not happy with and scheduled him to undergo a supervised stress test that Monday (the day before her phone call) with a pair of cardiologists. Tom was upset, but more about missing the knee surgery than anything else.

He underwent the stress test and suddenly, the doctors told him to stop. They sat him down and helped him through the recovery phase. The doctor came over to him and asked, "Tom you're a firefighter, aren't you?"
"Yes, sir," he answered with the pride he had in his work.
"Not anymore, you're not!" the doctor said. "You're firefighting days are over."

Stunned by the news, Tom asked for an explanation. The doctor told him that his cardiac output was in the mid-30% range, where normal for someone his age should be in the 60's. There was evidence of ischemic damage, most likely caused by a silent MI. Finally, they were concerned about the condition of part of the septum.

That was that. Of course, as I said to his wife, the good thing is that these conditions were caught in advance of a non-survivable incident. He had an angiogram on Tuesday and came through it well. Moreover, he is beginning a course of medication and lifestyle change to get him healthy again. No doubt, it's going to be a long, slow road. None of us gain a great deal of weight overnight and we are not going to lose it that way either.

So, when's a good time for YOU to take stock of your personal medication condition?
WHAT ABOUT NOW?