LISTEN
to today's show featuring
to today's show featuring
Director/producer/writer Gail Freedman.
Director/producer/writer of the documentary, No One Cares, screening at Open Mind on March 1st.
No One Cares About Crazy People is a feature documentary film about the tragedy, crisis and chaos of severe mental illness in America – and a burgeoning national crusade to do something about it
Narrated by Bob Odenkirk
Original Music written & recorded by Jeff Tweedy
Watch the TRAILER
Inspired by Ron Powers’ acclaimed book of the same name, No One Cares About Crazy People is an intimate deep dive into the crisis and chaos of severe mental illness in America. A heartbreaking family memoir and searing social history, it is personal and immersive – but also tracks a burgeoning grassroots movement to reinvent our failed systems. Narrated by actor Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) with original music by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy.
With narration by actor Bob Odenkirk and original music by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, No One Cares About Crazy People goes deep inside the tragedy, chaos and crisis of severe mental illness in America. It was inspired by Ron Powers’ acclaimed book of the same name, a hybrid narrative of heartbreaking family memoir and searing social history. The film is intimate and immersive (filled with powerful verité scenes), but also tracks the emergence of a grassroots movement to reinvent our disastrous mental health “system.” It’s timely, poignant, powerful, intense – and also, ultimately, hopeful.
The documentary humanizes the face of mental illness with a small cast of memorable characters. Powers – a bestselling author & Pulitzer and Emmy award-winner – is father to two schizophrenic sons, the younger of whom, a musical prodigy, took his own life in the Vermont family basement a week before his 21st birthday. We also witness – in real time — the almost inconceivable story of Mark Rippee, floridly psychotic, blind and, for almost 16 years, unhoused on the streets of Vacaville, California, despite his sisters’ fierce advocacy. That advocacy is part of a burgeoning crusade, spearheaded by family members – people like Taun Hall, whose son Miles, a young black man, was shot and killed by police in 2019 outside his Walnut Creek, CA home, in the midst of a mental health emergency.
The roots of this national crisis trace back over half a century, and today we live with the legacy of all those failed policies. California has emerged as an epicenter of reform action. No One Cares follows that action for three+ years, as a series of bold but controversial initiatives make their way through the halls of power. Governor Gavin Newsom weighs in on why he’s embraced this political hot potato issue. COVID brought mental health challenges to public attention more than ever. But the sickest and neediest were just as desperate before, and their complex plight still receives scant notice. This film changes that.
About Gail Freedman, director/producer
Gail Freedman
Director & ProducerGail Freedman & Dina Potocki
at the NYC premiere of “HOT TO TROT”
A one-time aspiring concert pianist, Gail Freedman abandoned the stage for the screen many years ago, with brief stops in academia, government and health care along the way. It hasn’t exactly been a planned migration, but in 25 years as an award-winning filmmaker, she has produced, directed and written dozens of documentaries on a wide range of subjects, through her former company, Parrot Productions. She has also taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Among her films: Hot to Trot, an award-winning feature documentary inside the fascinating but little-known world of same-sex competitive ballroom dance – an idiosyncratic attack on bigotry, called “stirring and impressive, warm & involving, with unique heft & vitality” by the Los Angeles Times; and Making the 9/11 Memorial, a primetime special for The History Channel, which aired on the 10th anniversary of September 11th, when the Memorial opened.
Other notable films, among many, have included Breaking the Silence Barrier (cognitive disabilities); Where’s The Cure? (breast cancer activism);
Generation Rx (the opioid crisis); Lessons for the Future (public education);
Giving While Living (philanthropy); and A Forever Family (Annie E. Casey Foundation). Her creative output encompasses independent projects, as well as extensive work for PBS, network television, cable, syndication and the Internet, along with educational and non-profit films. She was also Executive Producer of the 13-part PBS series, World@Large with David Gergen, as well as producer of the indie feature (and world’s first hyper-linked movie), The Onyx Project, starring acclaimed actor David Strathairn. Early in her career, Gail worked at both CBS 60 Minutes and ABC 20/20.
https://noonecaresfilm.com
Inspired by Ron Powers’ acclaimed book of the same name, No One Cares About Crazy People is an intimate deep dive into the crisis and chaos of severe mental illness in America. A heartbreaking family memoir and searing social history, it is personal and immersive – but also tracks a burgeoning grassroots movement to reinvent our failed systems. Narrated by actor Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) with original music by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy.
With narration by actor Bob Odenkirk and original music by Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, No One Cares About Crazy People goes deep inside the tragedy, chaos and crisis of severe mental illness in America. It was inspired by Ron Powers’ acclaimed book of the same name, a hybrid narrative of heartbreaking family memoir and searing social history. The film is intimate and immersive (filled with powerful verité scenes), but also tracks the emergence of a grassroots movement to reinvent our disastrous mental health “system.” It’s timely, poignant, powerful, intense – and also, ultimately, hopeful.
The documentary humanizes the face of mental illness with a small cast of memorable characters. Powers – a bestselling author & Pulitzer and Emmy award-winner – is father to two schizophrenic sons, the younger of whom, a musical prodigy, took his own life in the Vermont family basement a week before his 21st birthday. We also witness – in real time — the almost inconceivable story of Mark Rippee, floridly psychotic, blind and, for almost 16 years, unhoused on the streets of Vacaville, California, despite his sisters’ fierce advocacy. That advocacy is part of a burgeoning crusade, spearheaded by family members – people like Taun Hall, whose son Miles, a young black man, was shot and killed by police in 2019 outside his Walnut Creek, CA home, in the midst of a mental health emergency.
The roots of this national crisis trace back over half a century, and today we live with the legacy of all those failed policies. California has emerged as an epicenter of reform action. No One Cares follows that action for three+ years, as a series of bold but controversial initiatives make their way through the halls of power. Governor Gavin Newsom weighs in on why he’s embraced this political hot potato issue. COVID brought mental health challenges to public attention more than ever. But the sickest and neediest were just as desperate before, and their complex plight still receives scant notice. This film changes that.
About Gail Freedman, director/producer
Gail Freedman
Director & ProducerGail Freedman & Dina Potocki
at the NYC premiere of “HOT TO TROT”
A one-time aspiring concert pianist, Gail Freedman abandoned the stage for the screen many years ago, with brief stops in academia, government and health care along the way. It hasn’t exactly been a planned migration, but in 25 years as an award-winning filmmaker, she has produced, directed and written dozens of documentaries on a wide range of subjects, through her former company, Parrot Productions. She has also taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Among her films: Hot to Trot, an award-winning feature documentary inside the fascinating but little-known world of same-sex competitive ballroom dance – an idiosyncratic attack on bigotry, called “stirring and impressive, warm & involving, with unique heft & vitality” by the Los Angeles Times; and Making the 9/11 Memorial, a primetime special for The History Channel, which aired on the 10th anniversary of September 11th, when the Memorial opened.
Other notable films, among many, have included Breaking the Silence Barrier (cognitive disabilities); Where’s The Cure? (breast cancer activism);
Generation Rx (the opioid crisis); Lessons for the Future (public education);
Giving While Living (philanthropy); and A Forever Family (Annie E. Casey Foundation). Her creative output encompasses independent projects, as well as extensive work for PBS, network television, cable, syndication and the Internet, along with educational and non-profit films. She was also Executive Producer of the 13-part PBS series, World@Large with David Gergen, as well as producer of the indie feature (and world’s first hyper-linked movie), The Onyx Project, starring acclaimed actor David Strathairn. Early in her career, Gail worked at both CBS 60 Minutes and ABC 20/20.
https://noonecaresfilm.com
