FOLLOW THE PATIENT

An inspirational film exploring the realities of healing after Traumatic Brain Injury

We started this crowdfunder in November of 2022, and were thrilled to (over) achieve our basic target of 10K in January 2023 with the support of 137 fantastic people. This enabled us to make a start on location-based filming in April 2023. We learned that a skeleton crew was much easier to coordinate and better for our budget...and a great workout to boot!

As at the end of May 2024, just over a year later, we had completed principal filming, with funds being used for all logistics surrounding this, eg, travel & transport around the country, accommodation, sustenance, etc, plus myriad sundries that come with filmmaking.

Funds have continued to trickle in both via private donation and crowdfunder and we are immensely grateful to all those who believe in this important project.

Now we need further funds for the post-production phase – this was always the plan. First, set an achievable target to enable us to begin and complete the pre and production phases, then to regroup and ascertain our precise requirements for post-production. 

Please help us complete this film to create awareness of the chronic condition within society that is Brain Injury. 

BACKGROUND
Co-Producer Ben Clench suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2010. The difficulties he faced in acceptance from wider society were a significant problem in his recovery. He also faced severe personal challenges in his own development. A better focus to enable his recovery came about through being open about the situation he was in. As a therapeutic tool he went on to write a book about the troubles he faced in resuming life; he did a second Masters, and a highly successful Tedx talk before Covid. This has led to where we are now…

THE STORY
One person in the UK has a brain injury every 90 seconds, this is a ridiculously high number, it’s not common knowledge; an unseen issue occurring in society.

A brain injured person might not look differently to the next person; it’s not something you can necessarily tell from passing someone in the street or meeting them for the first time.

Those with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) could be the ones you think are drunk, or not acting in a way you think people should act; angry, ‘too friendly’, outspoken. However, each person has a personal story that is utterly unique.

Every story is different.

Brain Injury might be severe, or less so. But a brain injury is permanent, and 'recovery' is a life-long process. We are making a documentary looking at the different stages people have got to, where they are going, where they hope to be.

We have met with other survivors around the country who’ve shared frank and honest accounts of their recovery process, and shared how they have negotiated life since their injury. Have they resumed their original trajectory, or have they taken a hairpin turn? Or have they not done so well, and why?

The brain is not entirely understood by doctors through brain scans. An individual’s outcome just can’t be judged by such means alone. We’ve spoken to experts specialising in brain trauma - scientists and medics from Imperial College and Great Ormond Street London, who explain the mechanisms of the brain, give their input on what they do know, and how behaviours are affected.

We have visited both traditional and unique rehabilitation centres, and they vary greatly.

We’ve learned that the sooner a survivor gets into rehab, the better their outcome, but the offerings are not the same for everyone and socio-economic factors come into play.

Brain injury and criminality is another important aspect we have covered, with experts speaking to this; from researching the vulnerabilities of young survivors and what happens when they don’t get the right support, on to the high number of adults involved in the criminal justice system in the UK – with immense overcrowding in prisons and the number of those with brain injury being 45-60%, this could be mitigated with the right treatment.

Brain Injury is a chronic condition. It has left some people with an invisible disability; a hidden and unknown aspect within society – affecting 1 in 10 people in the UK, it’s more prevalent in the population than anyone realises, with no campaigns on TV or on the backs of buses.

We want this documentary to change that.

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If you’ve gotten this far, you know that we’re reaching out to you for funding in order that we can complete this documentary in 2024. We're still open for business, folks!

Ben Clench - co-Producer.

Ben suffered a TBI in 2010. The difficulties he faced in acceptance from wider society were a significant problem in his recovery. The TBI also posed severe challenges to his personal development. He has since gone on to write a book about the troubles he faced in resuming life, complete a second Master’s degree, and do a highly successful Tedx Brighton talk in 2018.
Ben will also be cooking when necessary because he's really good at it.

Sini Manner - Producer.

Experienced in production across broad media, Sini produced & presented radio shows in alternative and commercial formats, worked in film and event production, as well as advertising and promotions. She has worked for large music and film companies as well as in corporate environments. Sini is a photographer and works with sound regularly. A whizz at multitasking, to keep the crew small on a tight budget, Sini has also both filmed and operated sound for this project.

Mark Tierney - Executive Producer.

Mark is on board to help us get all the pieces of the puzzle glued together to culminate in the best story. He is contributing expert knowledge (and equipment for filming), and is involved in post-production elements.
Mark is a DGA (Director's Guild of America) documentary-maker based in LA.

Oliver Harris - Composer.

Oliver Harris is a composer and music producer based in London, UK. He brings an intimate, experimental and immersive approach to his scoring projects and releases his own music under the name OHMSAN.

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Rewards.

Check out our rewards - we've got a really cool original graphic art t-shirt for you, designed by the fabulous artist and printmaker Patrick Edgeley (www.antigraphic.biz). The print is white and we have a range of t-shirt colours available. We kinda like the orange. It is actually Ben's own brain scan featured.
We wear ours everywhere. You should get one, too!

We're also offering an apron, because let's face it, you want to be stylish and practical in the kitchen, right? The apron is available in black and bottle green, featuring the same cool "Where's Your Head At? #TBI" graphic. 

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For reference:

During Covid-19 lockdown in early 2021, a short documentary film 'Ben Again' was made of co-Producer Ben Clench’s own journey as a TBI survivor; being the genesis for this new documentary. You can see the trailer for this here:

Ben's TedxBrighton talk from 2018: