For Nick, From Dad (Leo Damore documentary)

UPDATE - 7/19/22: We're excited to announce the premiere of our film, For Nick, From Dad, on August 6th, 2022, at the Madison Art Cinemas in Madison, Connecticut! We would love to see you there! We are currently submitting to festivals and pursuing other avenues to make the film available to the public. Additionally, we're still accepting donations to help pay for the remaining licensing expenses for archival video. Thank you again for your continued support!

Please follow the film's Instagram account @ fornick_fromdad_film and send us a message if you'd like to attend the premiere!

About the Film:

On the night of October 2, 1995 a policeman came to my door. Less than a month after my 10th birthday, my father, Leo Damore, had taken his own life. Although his death was ruled a suicide, the story isn’t that simple. After over twenty years of lingering questions and whispers from old friends and family, I decided to finally search for answers. Our film follows my journey to revisit this difficult chapter in my life, scouring the clues Leo left in his daily journaling and audio recordings to better understand the father I never got to know. This is a story about discovery and mining through pain to find meaning. At its core, this film is about family and the role we play when we finally decide to search for the truth. 

Who was Leo Damore?

Leo was a New York Times best-selling investigative journalist who published several books on the Kennedy Family and Cape Cod. Leo’s most successful work, Senatorial Privilege , exposed the truth behind Ted Kennedy’s ill-fated episode in 1969 on Chappaquiddick Island off Martha’s Vineyard, which left a woman dead and a car accident unreported for 10 hours. Leo was able to gain the confidence of Joe Gargan, Ted’s cousin and eye-witness to the twisted events of that evening. Leo further convinced Gargan to go on the record, breaking his silence on the infamous incident and the cover-up that followed.  

After the nationwide success of Senatorial Privilege, Leo decided to tackle a more ambitious subject: Mary Pinchot Meyer’s murder in Washington DC. She was an artist and socialite, but more importantly, a secret lover and muse of John F. Kennedy. Less than a year after JFK’s assassination, Mary was murdered on a towpath while on a jog. The man arrested for her murder was eventually acquitted. Leo worked tirelessly on this case and recounted his findings in his unpublished book, titled Burden of Guilt. Leo believed he had solved the case and located the murderer. Before Leo could finish his book, he experienced a rapid personality shift and fell into a deep depression coupled with crippling paranoia, which eventually culminated in suicide. After his passing, many questions remained unanswered. 

Nearly 25 years after his death, I am peeling back the layers to tell the story that has never been told: Leo’s story. Rumors swirled for years that he was “interfered with”. Maybe he got too close and knew too much. Maybe he had been poisoned. Or maybe it was something entirely different. I’ve spent decades trying to piece this together and our documentary aims to make sense of this tangled web. 

The Leo Damore Doc Project Accomplishments and Goals:

When I decided to follow the story of my father and find answers, I turned to my friend of almost 30 years and filmmaker, Matt Cascella (Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “Long Shot”, Critic’s Choice Awards and The Atlantic Selects’ “The Unconditional”, ESPN Films and Sundance Film Festival selection, “I Am Yup’ik”). Starting in the Summer of 2017, we started investigating, researching, and filming, with the assistance of our Director of Photography, Corey Gegner (feature documentary “Fatherhood”, digital short “Inside Jim Gaffigan”, commercial work with VICE, Marriott, Estee Lauder, Samsung, among others). Over the past three years, we have spoken to several persons of interest, discovered previously lost documents, photos, and videos, and made substantial steps in telling Leo’s story. We just need your help to take this project over the finish line. 

We wrapped filming for the project in July 2020 and are in the post-production process. All funding received will assist in the finishing touches of the film. 

Expected Expenses:

We work within a tight budget and all expenses thus far have been out of pocket. Here is a brief accounting of how funds raised will be allocated:

- Archival Producer Allocations 

- Licensing of Archival Footage and Photos

- Music (Composer or Music House)

- Color Correction

- Sound Mix

- Film Festival and Web Submissions

- Travel Expenses

- Tape Transfers (Digitization) 

- Project Artwork