"Power of Two" Japan Tour
Helping to change the heart of a
country about organ donation . . .
It is with great pleasure that I write to you from Osaka, Japan where we are currently on Day #14 of our 25-day tour for THE POWER OF TWO project.
Without a doubt, this journey has been an incredible and memorable one for all involved!
So much so, I wanted to take a few moments to step back and express our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing help with outreach. I'd also like to provide you with some additional updates from the field:
JAPAN ITINERARY: So far, we've had four major stops on our tour, which have served as a base for all kinds of special events involving Ana and Isa and our group, including: competitive sports, charity concerts, medical speeches, lively talk shows, engaged community interaction, and, of course, shooting for THE POWER OF TWO documentary project.
- In Tokyo, we hosted a successful press conference (Video: The Power Of Two: Making The News - 10.03.09);we spent a day with Ana and Isa at The Green Ribbon Running Festival (Video: The Power Of Two: With Every Breath - 10.04.09); we participated in a talk show and concert called "HERE COME THE MIRACLE TWINS" that promoted organ transplantation awareness; we followed Ana and Isa as they gave a speeches to doctors, nurses and medical students at St. Marianna University Medical Hospital in Kawasaki and at the Japan Academy of Transplantation and Regeneration Nursing Conference; and, we interviewed some 15 leading transplant doctors, recipients, advocates, and organ procurement coordinators.
- In Sendai, our group participated in a tremendous, high energy charity concert for Cystic Fibrosis awareness in Japan, featuring Mitsutoshi Ambe and the Miyagi Women's University Chorus. We're currently finishing that video, but you can see photos from the event here: CF Charity Concert Photos.
- In Fukuoka, we spent two incredible days with Ana and Isa while they competed at the 2009 Japan Transplant Games, which also included a slate of unprecedented interviews with Japanese organ donor families. See some INCREDIBLE PHOTOS here, which include shots from the closing night party where 150 transplant recipients and friends erupted in dancing and revelry. We also spent a special day out in the Japanese country side with the Transplant Games delegation riding Venice-style gondolas through the canals and rice fields of beautiful Yanagawa!
- In Osaka and the Kansai region, we interviewed Japan's top heart transplant surgeon and policy advocate, Dr. Norihide Fukushima, at Osaka University Hospital; we followed Ana and Isa to the ancient Japanese capitol of Nara; we spent a day at various medical facilities in Kobe, with a speech and celebration involving young medical students at Kobe Medical University serving as a major highlight.
Starting tomorrow, we're on the cusp of an incredible series of public and private events in Kyoto and Okinawa, with a final five day stint in Tokyo and Yokohama still yet to come!
STAY TUNED and please help us spread the word ... Here's how:
PHOTOS, BLOGS & PODCASTS: For those of you interested in promoting the content from our tour, here's a link to a nice cross section of Flickr photos, original blog posts and audio podcasts - http://www.thepoweroftwomovie.com/category/on-the-road/journal.
ANA & ISA - BLOG POSTS: Ana and Isa have both been blogging throughout our trip. Their lively and personal posts can be found here: http://www.thepoweroftwomovie.com/category/ana-isa/
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: As of this writing, we have 1244 fans on Facebook, with folks from all walks of life following our trip, commenting on our posts, engaging with our content and building community around the lens of this project. Certainly, we have much more in the way of content to come in the days and weeks ahead, so please help us build our fan base on Facebook in the following ways:
(1) Invite all of your Facebook friends to join the fan page here: http://tinyurl.com/powerof2facebook. Or, go to the fan page yourself, and once your are sign up as a fan you can click "Suggest to Friends" right below the "bubbles" photo in the left-hand column - you'll have to select each friend individually but you can also send a request to all of your friends at once when they are all selected.
(2) If you have family or friends who are active on Facebook, please ask them to invite their friends to become fans, so we can build a diverse, international audience for the content that emerges from our tour in the weeks and months ahead.
HELPING US BUILD OUR AUDIENCE NOW is the best way to help us build momentum for ongoing production efforts that will move this feature documentary forward in 2010.
RECENT NEWS - SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY NON-PROFIT FISCAL SPONSORSHIP: While on the road, we recently closed non-profit fiscal sponsorship with the prestigious filmmaker services program at the San Francisco Film Society. Upon our return from Japan, we'll be launching a FULL FLEDGED year end fund raising campaign to help raise the next round of funding for THE POWER OF TWO project. With your help, we'll be well on our way to delivering a final film that makes a major contribution to global awareness of organ transplantation, cystic fibrosis and other health related causes.
Secure, tax deductible donations can be made online to THE POWER OF TWO project here: http://www.sffs.org/donate/donate-now.aspx?pid=487
ALL OF OUR LINKS IN ONE PLACE: Finally, here is a comprehensive list of links that make it easy for you to promote THE POWER OF TWO online and on various social media networks:
Website: http://www.thepoweroftwomovie.com/
Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/Powerof2facebook
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PowerOfTwoMovie
Causes: http://tinyurl.com/Powerof2causes
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/thepoweroftwomovie
Flickr: http://tinyurl.com/Powerof2flickr
Stitcher: http://tinyurl.com/Powerof2Stitcher
Dopplr: http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/ThePowerOfTwoMovie
Certainly, we're very grateful to have your support and guidance on this important project.
Gambatte ne !! Genke de !!
With best regards,
--
Marc Smolowitz
Producer / Director
The Power Of Two
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