Unheard: The Ears of Meniere's Documentary
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It's invisible and unknown, chronic and incurable. It's Meniere’s (men-years) Disease, a debilitating vestibular (inner ear) disorder that significantly impairs daily living leaving its victims feeling isolated and abandoned.
With a mission to raise awareness and attract research funding, Unheard: The Ears of Meniere’s examines this devastating illness, giving voice to millions.
The documentary will bring Meniere’s into the public consciousness through personal testimonials from Meniere's Warriors (including author/tech evangelist Guy Kawasaki and famed painter Vincent van Gogh) along with creative camera work and sound design that will simulate its symptoms – violent spinning vertigo, excruciatingly loud tinnitus, distorted and dramatic hearing loss – so the audience directly experiences how physically debilitating the condition can be.
Additionally, medical experts Dr. Sujana Chandrasekhar (President of The American Otological Society Council) & Dr. Kevin Peng (The House Institute Foundation) will provide the most up-to-date information on the condition, current research and what still needs to be done.
This all-encompassing overview of Meniere’s will be an extremely intimate, informative and enlightening representation of a devastating medical condition that has remained unheard for far too long.
Awareness = Understanding & Empathy
Our producer-director is a veteran entertainment executive & one of the millions diagnosed with Meniere’s. We have completed two days of filming but need your help to keep the cameras rolling. Your donation will not only help us create an informative and entertaining documentary, but you’ll also help increase awareness of Meniere’s and attract funding for research to find better treatments and a cure.
If you would like to make a TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation please go to our Fiscal Sponsor page: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/the-ears-of-meniere-s
Additional information can be found at www.2ndchapterproductions.com / www.earsofmenieres.com.
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No incentives, goods or services will be provided in exchange for your solicited gift/donation.
Thank you so much for your consideration!
Synopsis:
The room spins violently. The earth disappears from under your feet. A horrific roaring sound fills your ears as painful pressure builds in your head. It comes out of nowhere, like a thief in the night stealing your health. Life changes forever. But how, why?
A startling secret, hiding in plain sight, Ménière’s Disease silently robs thousands of their hearing, balance and ability to maintain their social and professional lives, forcing them into a world of unjust compromise. You can’t see it, and they can’t explain it. This mystery syndrome has been affecting people for over a hundred and sixty years yet no one really knows anything about it.
Unheard: The Ears of Ménière’s documentary seeks to bring Menière’s into the public eye, exploring the enigmatic condition that has plagued painter Vincent van Gogh, astronaut Alan Shepard, and most recently, musician Huey Lewis and author Guy Kawasaki yet hasn’t fully reached the public consciousness.
The film pieces together the complicated puzzle of what is keeping people in the dark in matters of their own health. With creative and precise camera work, it pulls the audience inside the victims’ head, recreating the symptoms of this disease so they directly experience how it physically debilitates its victims.
Follow the personal journeys of those afflicted as they go on a complex investigation for answers and learn to empower themselves to reclaim balance in their lives while helping those around them understand what is going on inside their heads.
Team
Janine McGoldrick - Producer/Director
Janine is a veteran entertainment executive who developed tactical promotional campaigns for film, television and home entertainment. Most notably, as SVP at the independent film company Cohen Media Group (CMG), she led the awards campaign for the Academy Award® winning film The Salesman (Best Foreign Film, 2017). At CMG she worked closely with the CEO, Marketing, Distribution and Acquisitions teams to provide counsel on release schedules, festival campaigns and films targeted for procurement.
Previously, Janine worked at HBO supervising publicity for the Consumer Marketing, Global Licensing and Home Entertainment divisions. A gifted project manager, McGoldrick has worked with numerous studios including Universal Pictures, Artisan Entertainment, Lionsgate, BBC, Hart-Sharp, New Line and the NY International Children’s Film Festival, to help launch some of the most exciting releases in entertainment. She is a member of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmys) and NY Women in Film & Television.
Diagnosed with Ménière’s ten years ago, Janine’s is committed to developing a thoughtful and engaging documentary that will inform, entertain and inspire others.
Giovanna Aguilar – Consulting Producer
Giovanna Aguilar is a Bilingual (Spanish) award-winning multimedia creator and filmmaker who works on documentaries and narratives celebrating the human spirit's tenacity to triumph over adversity. She is developing EPIC Women In Sports, a docuseries she will direct in 2023.
Her producing credits include When We Were Shuttle, a PBS documentary exploring what the Shuttle Program meant to the exceptional men and women who worked behind the scenes to help make it fly, and When We Were Apollo (W3A), the Emmy® Award-winning Best Historical documentary exploring the enduring impact of the Apollo Space Program. She is a member of New York Women in Film & TV, served as the Public Relations Chair (2010-2011) of the New York Chapter of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), and is the current Vice President of the Cliffside Park Arts Association, NJ.
Adriana Serrato - Director of Photography
Adriana Serrato is a Director of Photography who has worked on feature films, documentaries, music videos and commercials ranging across multiple genres including Children of God, In the Light of the Moon, Murdered and Missing in Montana, and Represent Justice.
Her work has received recognition and excellence awards from the California Film Award, Ouchy Film Awards, Roma Cinema DOC and European Cinematography Award.
Organizer
Janine McGoldrick
Organizer
New York, NY