Help my brother David become a Movie Star!

Follow our journey of making the film on Instagram @DavidMovieStar

I'm Luke Johnson, and I love someone with Down syndrome. Ten years ago, I promised my younger brother David that I would make him a Movie Star. With your help, we're going to make David's dreams come true by making a feature length movie about him.

Please watch the video to meet David and get the full vision of what we're setting out to create. Thank you so much for your help, and David and I love you!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi there!

My name is Luke Johnson, and I love someone with Down syndrome, and I’m making this video for him. This is my very handsome younger brother David.

David is one of my best friends, and he loves making people laugh.

Here we are singing the Full House theme song together.

One thing that David and I both loved growing up was making funny videos together. We would spend hours and hours filming anything that would make us laugh. Even with our humble beginnings, David would always tell me that one day he was going to be a famous movie star. Making funny videos actually led me to a career in film and television, where I’ve been producing and directing for the last decade. While I have been able to feature David in a segment of a TV show, I promised him ten years ago that one day I would help him become a movie star.

That’s why I’m reaching out to you today. It’s time to make David’s wish come true and make him a star. With your help, we’re going to make a feature length movie starring David as the lead actor. For years I tried to figure out the right story to tell with David, but one day I realized that our life is basically a buddy comedy already, so I should just pull from our real-life experiences.

When we were younger, we went on a family vacation to the beach, where David met a girl named Naria. There was definitely a special connection with Naria, and they became instant friends. In true David fashion, he let her and the rest of us know that he was going to marry Naria. Unfortunately, in the commotion of traveling, we lost Naria’s information and David wasn’t able to stay connected to her like he had hoped. He did however keep a framed picture of her on his dresser for many years after that. He would show it off and let everyone know that Naria was supposed to be his wife and that he was gonna find a way to marry her.

That’s the jumping off point of our movie. This is a fictional story about the two of us setting out on a road trip to find Naria so that David can reconnect with his long lost friend and propose to marry her. It’s a dramatic comedy in the vein of Little Miss Sunshine, that will be full of heart but will have lots of laughs as well. Of course, there will be obstacles along the way that make it difficult for the two brothers to reach their destination.

One of those obstacles will be me. In my real life, I struggled with substance abuse for several years. And while many people helped me on my path to sobriety, David was always a constant light in my life. He loved me unconditionally and would wrap me up in big hugs regardless of the poor choices I was making. While he didn’t fully understand the struggle I was going through, he could certainly sense what I needed most, and he was always there for me.

In the movie, I will be on the road to recovery. And though my selfishness will sometimes get in the way, just like in my real life, I will have to discover how to hold onto those things that matter most. That’s the theme of this movie - How necessary it is to fight for those important relationships in your life. We all have relationships that are worth fighting for, and I hope this movie can be a reminder that it is always worth the effort.

Making a feature film is hard work and expensive. Because our crew will be donating much of their time and their talent, we can make this film if we can raise at least 200k. If you’re able to donate, David and I would be forever grateful. If everyone who loves David pitched in $100 each, we would reach our goal in no time because that guy is popular! If you know someone who loves someone with Down syndrome, please share this video with them. If you know someone who might be interested in helping us with a larger donation, we would love to reach them.

There have been some excellent strides made in entertainment featuring people with Down syndrome, but it’s important to continue shining a spotlight on these wonderful individuals so that everyone can know what we know - that loving someone with Down syndrome brings joy to your heart, and a smile to your face, and they make the world a better place.

Please click the link to donate, and thank you so much for helping my little brother David star in his very own movie.