A Thousand More

A family is determined to give their disabled son a whole and vital life. In the midst of a great burden, one small child – with a seemingly endless supply of love – is the blessing that holds a family together.

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As a toddler, Philly Mayer was healthy and happy. A chubby baby, he was quick to laugh and eager to get up on his own feet.

And then, before his first birthday, Philly suddenly stopped walking. His motor skills began to deteriorate.

After a slew of tests and endless emotional upheaval, doctors diagnosed Philly with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that occurs in an estimated 1 out of every 6,000 births and leaves the spine underdeveloped. His parents were told that he would not live past seven.

A Thousand More is the story of one family's determination to give their son a whole and vital life. In the midst of a great burden, one small child – with a seemingly endless supply of love – can be the blessing that holds a family together.

A Thousand More is a product of the MediaStorm Storytelling Workshop, where participants work alongside MediaStorm staff to create an intimate, character-driven documentary in just one week. Learn more about upcoming MediaStorm workshops and online training at https://www.mediastorm.com/training/online-training.

Published: August 25th, 2011

Credits

MediaStorm

A film by

Piotr Malecki

Photography & Video

Kristina Budelis

Interview , Photography & Video

Jeff Rhode

Photography & Video

Rick Gershon | MediaStorm

Director of Photography

Eric Maierson | MediaStorm

Editor & Producer

Leandro Badalotti | MediaStorm

Associate Producer

Jacky Myint | MediaStorm

Graphics

Brian Storm | MediaStorm

Director & Executive Producer

Special Thanks

The Mayer family would like to thank all doctors in research and patient care for making the future a brighter place for Philly and other children with SMA. Thanks be to God for his love and continued blessings on Philly.

Testimonials

Kristina Budelis, Photography, Video, and Interview

Before the workshop, I was looking forward to hearing the MediaStorm producers talk about multimedia -- about both the nature and strength of the medium, and also their storytelling techniques. And they delivered, often with inspiring clarity, occasionally with thoughtful uncertainty. After the first day, I was able to better understand and articulate the power of multimedia, and how to harness it. But as soon as we began shooting, we were all focused on telling our subject's story. Storytelling, though, was gracefully linked with discussions of technique and process, and that's the best thing about this workshop. During the week, you are product-motivated but with so many MediaStorm producers working alongside the talented participants, you're bound to learn a lot as you (especially with teammates and teachers who will all stay up until 3AM, sipping coffee and arguing about storyline.) Working with such talented and dedicated individuals was without a doubt the best part of the workshop. It was truly a joy to collaborate with Brian, Rick, Eric, Leandro, and my teammates Piotr and Jeff.

In the end, I learned a lot, but, more importantly, I am immensely proud of our story. I can't wait to show it to friends and colleagues, and I am eager to apply the techniques I learned to future visual storytelling endeavors.

Piotr Malecki, Photography and Video

The workshop was so packed with activity and information that towards the end I was surprised that only one week had passed! These long days brought a lot of new ideas to my head that will certainly prove very useful in the future.

Information about building the scene, about storytelling and workflow was invaluable, very practical and hands on.

I also understand that a well shot and well edited story needs time, resources and careful planning. And the power of a finished piece can be huge; short documentary film thanks to its careful editing, good shots and music can be a real beauty, not only conveying the message, but also releasing emotions, provoking thoughts, raising awareness.

This workshop was also a great team experience for me. It was as a good lesson of technical skills as of communication and cooperation within a group. As a photojournalist I was always more happy to work and shoot alone, but during this workshop I have learned to appreciate the power of teamwork; brainstorming, exchanging ideas, the creative kick that it gives. I think that it can really help achieve better results.

And last, but not least, I need to mention great atmosphere and plenty of humour during workshop. It was a good time.

Jeff Rhode, Photography and Video

The amount of resources that the MediaStorm team put into our workshop was amazing and impressive. A Director of Photography was available in the field, a Producer in the editing suite, an Associate Producer who helped with every detail, and an Executive Producer in the office for the final creative decisions. We worked long hours-a couple of 19 hour long work days-and the whole MediaStorm team was available all the time pushing us to do more and keeping us on track. Once the workshop was complete our project was still a rough edit, even with the long work days. We were assured that the final edit, color grading, sound polishing, and titling would be completed so we would have our finished video.

I procrastinated a long time prior to applying to MediaStorm, because there are a lot of other workshops available for less money. After experiencing the resources that were available to us during our week and the dedication of the staff I know I made the right decision. Their dedication and passion was inspiring and changed the way I see.

Get involved

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Online Training

During the week of July 23 MediaStorm and three Advanced Multimedia Workshop participants shot and edited the short documentary A Thousand More.

This educational module invites you to learn about the decisions, both in the field, and within the editing suite that went into the making of A Thousand More. Join a conversation between Producer Eric Maierson, Director of Photography Rick Gershon, and MediaStorm Executive Producer Brian Storm, as they discuss the development of this story through a scene-by-scene break down of the piece.

The Making Of provides over an hour and a half of discussion and exposition on the thousands of decisions that went into the editing and shooting of A Thousand More.

Topics covered include: