On Thursday, December 2nd, 2021, at 6 pm Central Time, Media Burn Archive will host documentary filmmaker Carmen Vincent for a virtual screening and discussion of her short film Forever a Champion as well as a preview of a work-in-progress, Teacher of Patience. The event will be moderated by Thea Flaum, founder and president of the Hill Foundation, whose mission is to to connect families dealing with spinal cord injuries with the life experiences of others, and to provide medical information and resources.
We will also be joined by special guests, Tom, Tina, and Emily Felter, the subjects of Teacher of Patience, and creators of The Emily Talk, which teaches first responders and the wider community how to interact with people with Down’s Syndrome, Autism, and other disabilities.
Carmen Vincent is a documentary filmmaker and diversified video editor based in Northwest Indiana. While Midwestern through-and-through, Carmen has edited for clients and told stories from across the country and in the United Kingdom and Palestine. Carmen believes everyone deserves to feel understood in their own skin and she commits to telling raw, often misunderstood stories that amplify and validate people’s authentic experiences. Carmen uses her experience with non-visible disabilities, including OCD and GAD, to pursue her work with empathy, curiosity, and an open mind. She is a Nikon Storytellers Scholar, a selected participant in Adobe’s Creator Camp, and a proud recipient of the Best International Director award at the Georgia Documentary Film Festival for her short documentary Forever A Champion. Carmen holds a bachelor’s degree in Digital Media from Valparaiso University and participates in numerous professional organizations such as FWD-Doc, D-Word, Women in Media, IDA, and others. She is eager to bring value to storytelling pursuits of all kinds through her video editing, producing, shooting, and directing skills.
Thea Flaum was a successful television producer for over 30 years. In 1976, she created a television show that redefined the way an entire generation learned about the movies. She put two Chicago film critics, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, in a movie theatre balcony, and a new television format was born – along with two unlikely celebrities. A few years later, Thea was named Executive Producer for National (PBS) cultural programs for WTTW/Chicago. She was responsible for the “Soundstage” music series and for negotiating and producing productions with MTV and HBO. In 1984, Thea formed an independent production company based in Chicago, Thea Flaum Productions. The company focused on family programming – creating, developing and producing dramas, documentaries specials, series and pilots, for network, cable, syndication and public television, and continues that mission to this day. She now runs the Hill Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to educating and inspiring the families of people with disabilities. Given her experience in video, it’s no surprise that she took what she knew about the power of video and used it to connect families who suddenly have to deal with a spinal cord injury with people like them who have “been there” and “done that.”
The event will be live captioned. Please contact info@mediaburn.org to request additional accomodations.
This event is free to attend. Media Burn is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and we depend on donations to continue our work. Please consider making a donation along with your ticket signup, or at mediaburn.org/donate, or by texting MEDIABURN to 44321.