I just spent the last weekend shooting the first scenes for a documentary project called "My New Birthday". Prior to coming out to Orlando to film, I went through all the normal motions. What cameras do I pack? Do I have releases? Batteries? Plane tickets etc… You have the point. What I didn't prepare for was how difficult it would be to film someone going through something I have gone through. MNB follows the story of Ashley Jade and her battle with Aplastic Anemia. Her first treatment seems to have failed and now the family must decide what to do next. She has been fighting the disease that kills her bone marrow for two years and she is ready to move to transplant. Of course, that comes with its own risks. I know…because I've been there. Nearly two years ago I received a bone marrow transplant for Aplastic Anemia. Thank God I'm well and back to health and able to tell her story. However, I didn't think about how hard it would be to turn that camera on while Ashley was going through some personal intimate problems. How hard it would be to turn the camera on when Tina, Ashley's mom, was getting choked up over the possibility of losing her oldest child. I almost felt wrong doing it…but then I remembered why I was there. Ashley wants her story told so that the world will see what AA survivors battle. What the families go through…and God willing how a donor she has never met will save her life. It is a story that must be told…and I have the unique ability as a survivor myself, to tell it.   

Wow… What a dashing young man that is! So full of confidence and obviously, the jewel of his Grandmother's eye. Well…it wasn't always that way. I was a bit of a trouble maker as a kid but I was also quickly course corrected by that fine lady in the picture. She helped mold me into who I am today. I believe you must reflect on where you came from to really know who you are, where you are going, and why you want to get there. At Story. Told. Productions, I take that same mentality to production. Why are we making this? What led us here? Where do we want to go with it? 

Much of where STP (not the band…the production company) is going, is our latest documentary film, "My New Birthday".  I will cover a patient battling a rare blood disorder who is heading towards a bone marrow transplant. You will also hear the donor's perspective and how two complete strangers change each others lives forever. It's a story I'm passionate about…because I've lived it. 

I put the old picture of my Grandmother's store above the blog because she was an entrepreneur. She held a variety of businesses but regardless of what her business was, it was the people and her customers who came first. That is my approach. Tell the story about the person and let the person dictate the story telling. 

Thanks again for reading. The My New Birthday website will be up soon so you can keep up with the latest on the film. Please stay tuned here for whatever comes to mind at Story. Told. Productions.

-Ken R.