Tarah's Digital Voice

I'm extremely proud to announce the launch of the site, Choices in Recovery, and documentary, Living with Schizophrenia: A Call for Hope and Recovery, both of which we produced for Janssen Pharmaceuticals here at Anthem. I commend our creative team on their fine work, creating a robust, well-designed resource for support and information on Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective and Bipolar Disorder.

I was most heavily involved with the development and production of the documentary, which was directed by the talented Emily Abt (IMDB; site). It was an honor and an inspiration to have the opportunity to tell the stories of three people that are living with schizophrenia. Aside from facing this mental health challenge with courage and strength, they were all impressively accomplished and genuinely pleasant people. Pair that with the expertise of our experts and it wasn't too difficult to make an important, engaging film.

Once in a while, a project comes along that feels truly meaningful and helpful to a community; this is one that I will cherish and hold in high esteem for a long time. Special thanks to our clients at Janssen, Emily, the team here at Anthem and NBTV Studios - this was truly a team effort.

Please take the time to check out the site and watch the documentary. These stories deserve to be heard.

 

I am immensely proud of this documentary, which I helped to concept and oversaw the creative effort, from start to finish, for Eisai Pharmaceuticals. Eisai came to us, at Real Branding, with an unbranded, advocacy effort, aimed at raising awareness and support for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It's not common, but its impact is deep and devastating, often resulting in hundreds of seizures in a single day. This condition can cause developmental, physical and other disorders, as well, usually requiring a nearly full time commitment from parents of children that are affected.

However, despite these hardships and challenges, the stories of small victories and hope are astounding. Therefore, our approach was to capture several such stories from real people; families that have been living with LGS, for some time, that have managed to gain a level of control over the seizures, allowing them to find joy in the type of everyday accomplishments that most of us take for granted.

This was an intense, but incredibly rewarding project, during which I had the benefit of meeting wonderful people that granted us access to their homes, experiences and expertise. By doing so, they furnished us with the content we needed to create a film that we hope will help to spread the awareness and support that is deeply needed for this condition. 

I encourage you to take a half hour and watch this film. It is tough, at times, but it is also energizing and inspiring. I only wish I could have used all of the great footage that we got, as this could easily have made a feature film. If you happen to work at a TV network or would otherwise like to broadcast this film, please contact me; I would be more than happy to help make that happen. 

I commend Eisai for supporting this endeavor. It is unlike anything they, or most pharmaceutical companies, have done before and we are proud to be their partner. Let's hope it helps the people and families living with LGS to live better lives, even if just a little bit.

I also have to deeply thank our production partner, NBTV Studios, who, as always, went far above and beyond to help us turn an ambitious idea into a beautiful reality.

For more information about LGS, please visit LivingWithLGS.com and LGSFoundation.org

 

CREDITS

Featuring

Mother
Denae Ayers

Daughter
Heather Ayers

Father
Jim Nigro

Son
James Nigro

Neurologists
Tracy A. Glauser, M.D.
John M. Pellock, M.D.

Social Worker
Patricia Gibson

President of LGS Foundation
Christina SanInocencio

 

Also Appearing

Heather’s Father
Robert Ayers

Heather’s Sister
Victoria Ayers

Heather’s Sister
Brittany Carlton

Heather’s Sister
Sarah Carlton

Occupational Therapist
Candace Anderson

Jim Nigro’s Fiancée
Mandy Ayars

James’s Sister
Rebecca Nigro

Patient #1’s Mother
Deborah Pryor

Patient #1
Heather Pryor

Patient #2's Mother
Kathy Rosel

Patient #2
Candace Rosel

Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Cornelia Gonsalves

 

PRODUCTION

Director
Jeff Kennedy

Creative Director & Story Producer
Tarah Feinberg

 

Produced by Real Branding LLC

Managing Director, NY
Alan Feldenkris

Executive Creative Director
Brian Brown

Account Manager
Thomas Padula

 

Production Services Provided by NBTV Studios

Executive Producer
Brant Kantor

Executive Producer
Nick Buzzell

Production Supervisor
Nicole Schoonover

Travel Coordinator
Eirene Mirones

Director of Photography
Jeff Kim

1st Assistant Camera
Kenny Thompson

Gaffer
Yusuke Naito

Sound
Mike Silvestri

Hair/Makeup
Christina Turino

Technical Supervisor & Post
Mike Buzzell

Editor
Josh Miller

Additional Editor
Dave Gutt

Assistant Editors
Logan Seaman
Chase Finn

Composer
John Plenge

Production Assistants
Alex Blakenev
Ryan Evans
Logan Seaman

 

Special Thanks to Caring Hands Pediatric Therapy, Winston-Salem, NC

Developed by Eisai Inc. in cooperation with the LGS Foundation

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a severe form of epilepsy that affects a number if children and adults, but is very unknown, even within the neurological community. Last year, I was fortunate to lead the creative efforts on a branded series of stories about real people living with the condition, and their families, for Banzel, a pharmaceutical that helps to reduce seizures. Their parent company, Eisai, came to us at Real Branding this year, to produce a longer form documentary about LGS fir the advocacy and affected community. I feel incredibly honored to be a part of such meaningful work and to, hopefully, help to raise awareness and support for this difficult obstacle. The film will be up on LivingWithLGS.com on 11/18. Please watch it and let me know what you think. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of the event, my team and the families (our stars) that were able to attend.