In New York City, there are thousands of untold stories of parents who’ve fought to preserve their families, but ultimately lost their children.
NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE is a short film written using the real-life experiences of parents who’ve had negative encounters with the NY Child Protective Services.
*NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE is fiscally sponsored by The Film Collaborative, a 501(c)3 organization. ALL donations are tax-deductible.
We’re creating a SHORT FILM called –
The story takes a hard look at the moment when parents are forced to say goodbye to their children and the disproportionate impact parent/child separation has on communities of color. Bureaucracy, driven by bias related to poverty and skin color, must be called what it is – institutional racism.
The gap between what people know about the problem and what remains unseen is enormous. This is why we’re making our film.
Working with survivors, legal advocates, and drama therapists, we’ve created a Drama Therapy workshop for parents dealing with child separation trauma.
* Drama therapy is the use of drama/theatre processes to achieve the therapeutic goals of symptom relief, emotional and physical integration, and personal growth. It’s ideal for people dealing with the inevitable stress and shame of parent/child separation.
Our goal is to include real parents in the background cast of the finished film and to first offer them a chance to be heard in a safe, sharing workshop environment.
We’ve already conducted a trial workshop and the results were life-changing.
We’re hoping to raise $25,000 for the workshop and film via people who’d like to make a difference. Your support will help keep the workshop running after principal photography has ended so that other families can take part.
Every penny donated is guaranteed to warm your heart by double.
If you’d like to see some of the success we’ve had thus far, please see the attached video. We’re doing good things for good people and we’d love to include you.
Thanks for your kind consideration and for just being you.
* In accordance with IRS regulations, The Film Collaborative (TFC) issues tax receipts for all donations of $250 and over. Kickstarter and credit card processing fees are deducted before TFC receives the funds. TFC issues tax receipts on the amount they receive.
I was fortunate to be chosen as a Sundance Labs Fellow where I developed a feature film script called THE SUGARHILL EXPRESS. Inspired by true events that took place in NYC in 2011, the story is about a mother who steals her children from child protective services in order to protect them from foster care abuse. I began researching the subject of parent/child separation and I’ve since discovered there are thousands of stories of families who have had negative encounters with the Family Court System nationwide.
Consulting with lawyers, advocates, social workers, and parents, I created a short film to illustrate a simple truth – that all families are unique and should have every opportunity to stay together if they wish to do so.
I believe social justice is an active verb, so I’m building actionable initiatives directly into my filmmaking process.
I’ll say it again. A film can be more than a story. It can be a new beginning.
Short films are always risky, passionate endeavors but we have such goodwill coming from so many sectors at this point we are determined to do good things for good people.