I cried the first time I read my friend Eli Saslow's Washington Post article about Mark Barden and his family. And every time I've read it since, I've cried. For over a year I actively worked to make this a film - but nobody in Hollywood was interested. I proposed a film that wasn't an issue based film (although the issue here is important to me) - but rather a portrait of a man and his family struggling to grieve and move forward; and at every turn reminded of their loss. And still understanding that someone must carry that flag into battle - and that perhaps it needs to be their family - as painful as that always will be.
This film would have been about one of the great issues facing society today. I believe that in making the film about the people that the message would be there, available for all to understand, without it being preachy. I was told that it was too "heavy" and "dark", that people didn't need this dose of reality. I still disagree and hope to make this film someday. Read Eli's article at the link below.