Will Moffitt's Production Blog

There is a place...

2012-01-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

Harley hits a homer

2012-01-23T18:50:00.001-08:00

Operation Smile Haiti with Harrison Ford

2012-01-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

Children's Medical Center Dallas

2012-01-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Before/After

2011-12-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

A spot we just finished for Russ Reid Company's client Operation Smile.

Brooke Walker for Operation Smile

2011-09-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Dallas Children's Hospital

2011-07-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

In Dallas with Gary Dowd to do some TV spots for Children's Hospital. Boy is it hot here. 96 degrees at 10:30pm. We will scout the hospital tomorrow and work up the shot list. Saw Jeff Probst on the airplane. He was heading off to do a pilot for the new "Jeff Probst Show". We had a nice chat remembering our time in Nicaragua for Operation Smile last year.

Wallow Fire in Arizona

2011-06-10T13:21:00.001-07:00

Three days after I helped drive 40 horses 60 miles through the rugged Eastern Arizona mountains the Wallow Fire broke out. It raced through the countryside we had just travelled consuming everything in its wake. and became the largest wild fire in Arizona's history. Where we had just been riding was now charred. But miraculously the Sprucedale Ranch was spared.

Horse Drive

2011-06-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

Will Moffitt, Russell Moffitt, Sarah Myhre, Jennifer Santini and Tammy Matthews drove horses 60 miles from the winter range to their summer jobs at the Sprucedale Guest Ranch high up in the mountains of Eastern Arizona.

Eastern Arizona burns

2011-06-08T20:32:00.001-07:00

Stay Left to Be Right

2011-02-28T11:12:00.000-08:00

A PSA on pedestrian safety for the City of Pasadena, CA and agency Jim Cox & Associates.

2011-02-12T11:13:00.001-08:00

Watch the full episode. See more Antiques Roadshow.

Operation Smile Rwanda

2011-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Behind the Scenes in Bolivia

2011-02-07T20:39:00.001-08:00

Will Moffitt and his team traveled to Bolivia with Alex Trebek for client World Vision and their agency the Russ Reid Company.

Matthew Fox volunteers in India

2011-02-04T21:05:00.001-08:00

Will Moffitt traveled to India for Operation Smile documenting their good work. Actor Matthew Fox joined the team in Guwahati.

How it all began

2011-01-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

Haiti One Year Later

2011-01-12T11:57:00.000-08:00

I am home, but the mission goes on

2010-12-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

Lois and I left India and flew back the long trip home, but our hearts are still in India with the children, families and OpSmile team members.

We saw miracles of love, compassion and transformation right in front of us. I can't wait to see little Sarban and Anisha a few months from now when their faces have healed and they have begun their new lives.

For now we are thankful for the opportunity to have helped in some small way. Happy Holidays.

Anisha after surgery!

2010-12-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

We came over to the hospital this morning with anticipation. What would Anisha look like today. She went into surgery yesterday afternoon and her mother and father were so anxious.

In the post-op room we saw her - and her parent were beaming. What a transformation. Where there had been a gaping hole was a beautiful new smile. We talked with them all and then Anisha's mother dictated a letter to our translator because neither mom or dad can read or write. Wow, what a letter they wrote. I'll share it later, but I can tell you it is a gift.

The little family gathered their belonging, said their goodbyes, walked to the hospital gates and disappeared into the throngs of humanity that is India. We wish them all the best, but I am confident that their lives will be so much better starting today.

Anisha's Story

2010-12-06T16:53:00.001-08:00

Lois Ephraim and I are in India with Operation Smile. Here is one of our stories as written up by Lois:

It was late in the day on our final day of screening. As darkness was descending and the temperature was dipping, a bus rolled in from the Sonitpur District to our screening site in Guwahati. Onboard were tired parents and children who had been on the bus for 10 hours. A flat tire on the journey had doubled the travel time and they looked anxious – worried that perhaps they had arrived too late to be chosen for surgery.

Our medical volunteers were waiting at their stations to begin the process of evaluating each and every one of these children for surgery. For most of these children, it was the first time they had ever been examined by a doctor.

These families clearly were among the poorest of the poor in Assam, a state in Northeast India. In their hands, they clutched a few belongings for the journey – not knowing how long they would be staying in this place that was so far from home.

Near the end of the line of tired patients, we spotted 5-year-old Anisha Tasa and her 27-year-old mother, Sosila. They were dressed in sweaters to keep them warm in temperatures that dip low into the 50s at night. But underneath their warm and dirty sweaters were beautiful dresses. Mom wore a lovely red and gold sari and some gold bangles. Anisha was dressed in a tangerine-colored tunic and pants with lace-up black shoes. Her curly black hair was tightly knotted in two small ponytails.

It appeared that they had worn the very best clothes on the most important journey of Anisha’s life. Yet, we discovered that these were not their clothes. Mom only had 2 tattered dresses back home in her village. Anisha’s old ragged clothes wouldn’t do for her first visit to the doctor.

This family had bought these clothes on credit. They spent 25% of a month’s wages for clothing they felt was suitable for this journey to Guwahati – the site of the Operation Smile mission. I’m sure they felt that if they looked their best, perhaps they would stand a better chance of being chosen for surgery.

They live about 200 kilometers from Guwahati – in a village where life is hard for families whose only means of survival is working in rice paddies and on tea plantations to make enough income to feed their families.

Yet, rice farming is not enough to feed Sosila’s three children. So, to help support her family, she does road construction work – a job that only the most desperate woman would perform. Her husband didn’t accompany her on this trip. He was back home working in the rice paddies to help make sure the other two children at home could have food to eat.

Anisha’s enormous brown eyes stared in amazement at the flurry of activity as she moved from station to station – being screened and examined by our team of doctors. This was the very first time a doctor had ever examined her. And, surprisingly, she was not scared at all. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the attention of the doctors and nurses.

Sosila never had any money to go to a doctor about her lip. In a good month when both she and her husband are working, they make $50. Surgery was always out of the question.

Sosila clearly loves her daughter. She told us that when Anisha was born, she cried and cried as she looked at her daughters deformed lip. She had never seen a child with a cleft lip before and she was scared.

The neighbors told her that it was her fault. They said that the reason her daughter was born this way was because she “cut vegetables” (harvested) while she was pregnant. (We learned that this is a common superstitious belief in this area.)

She was grief-stricken by the sight of her daughter, tormented by the neighbors, and fearful that her baby wouldn’t even survive.

“When I tried to nurse her, the milk would come out of her nose and I thought she would die. I wanted to go for help, but we didn’t have any money.”

It’s been difficult for Sosila to watch her daughter being ridiculed and tormented on the streets of her town for the last five years. When she walks the streets, the kids make fun of her.

“Sometimes, the neighbors hit my daughter because they are frightened of her.

“The children never allow her to play with them. They say, ‘Your lip is cut, you aren’t any good. Stay away from us.’

“We are so poor and I don’t have any money to help her. It makes me feel so sad. I didn’t do anything wrong.

Amazingly, Anisha goes to school, even though the other children are cruel to her.

“They treat her so badly at school. They tell her to get away from them and she comes home and cries. But then she will still go back the next day.”

Anisha is a smart girl with so much potential – and her mother realizes that. Anisha writes the alphabet for us in Assamese – and then she recites the alphabet in English, with the coaching help of our translator. Sosila never learned to read and write, and she longs for her daughter to be educated and have opportunities that were never possible for her.

But right now, she has one big concern.

“How will she ever get married? That is my biggest worry of all. I never saw a child like this in my life before.

“If only I had money, I would have gotten help for her. But I had no money. But I always had hope that someday, she could be helped.”

Finally, after five years of waiting, her hopes were fulfilled when she heard the news she had always dreamed of.

One week ago, a neighbor told her that Operation Smile was coming to Guwahati– a city she had never visited before . She rushed out and bought their new clothes on credit. She borrowed shoes from a neighbor for Anisha to wear – she doesn’t own any shoes of her own.

“I was so excited when I heard the news – I kept telling Arisha that she could finally get surgery.”

When they boarded the district bus to come to our mission site, they were surrounded by other children with cleft lips. It was the first time they’d ever laid eyes on other children born with facial deformities. The sight was a comfort to Sosila.

“I was delighted,” Sosila told us. “Now I know that I am not the only mother who has a child with this problem.”

Sosila was hungry, tired and a little nervous about the events to come. Anisha seemed calm and quite delighted by the attention she was getting.

Sitting on a chair in her new dress, clicking her black shoes together, she drew her letters and numbers with a crayon we had given her. She loves to draw and seems to have a quiet understanding of the amazing events that are about to unfold in her life.

Her adoring mom wraps her arms around her daughter and tells us how she feels after so many years of suffering.

“I never gave up. I always had hope that someday she could have this surgery – but I knew that I would never have the finances to afford it. I was so excited to hear that everything was free – we could get free transportation, free lodging, and we would not have to pay for surgery.

“Now, I hope that after her surgery, she will grow up and become a great person.”

Click here for Will's photos from this medical mission.

First day of surgery in Guwahati, India

2010-12-04T10:12:00.001-08:00

Today was the first day of surgery on the Operation Smile Guwahati, India Mission. Children and their families had spent the night in the hospital. For many, this was the first time ever in a hospital.

At 7am the first patients were ready to be taken into the operation rooms. Eight operating tables were in full use today. Each child said goodbye to their parents and left in the arms of a loving stranger. The parents were anxious as they waited, but in less than an hour the children came out of the operating theater transformed forever - new smiles on their faces.

Bill and Kathy Magee, the founders of Operations Smile were on site greeting patients and medical staff and inspiring us all. They are living examples of what volunteers can do to change the lives of people, both physically and perhaps more importantly, in spirit.

As the day turned into night, the medical team was still working finishing up the day's surgeries, bedding down those who would spend the night at the hospital for surgery tomorrow and tenderly caring for those who had received life-changing surgery today. And the amazing thing is that these volunteers do it with such grace, day after day.

Tomorrow we will follow 5 year old Sarban through the process. Right before we left the hospital he gave us a big hug and then climbed into bed under a mosquito net. Sleep well little guy. Tomorrow will be a very special day.

Operation Smile India Day 3

2010-12-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

I was up at the crack of dawn again today as the call to worship sounded outside my hotel window. We selected two children to follow through the surgery process - a cute little girl, Anisha, who arrived with her mother last night, and a lively little boy, Sarban, who we met on at screening the day before with his dad. Both are 5 years old and small for their age.

Today we loaded the children and their families into cars and drove to a village on the outskirts of Guwahati. We saw a typical day in their lives. Doing household chores, working in the rice fields, going to school. Things that every child does. But there is a difference. These children and their families are shunned, avoided, teased and sometimes beaten. Somehow they survive the daily ordeals of being very different. Somehow they keep their hope alive. Someday maybe their faces will be healed and they will become accepted by their families, their friends and their communities.

For these children that someday will be Sunday when they go into surgery broken and come out in as little as 45 minutes whole and complete. What a day Sunday will be.

Tremendous need in India

2010-12-01T08:47:00.001-08:00

It was chilly this morning as we walked to the hospital for what would be our first day of screening on this Operation Smile mission trip.

We had heard of the huge crowd that had been screened the day before we arrived. There are so many untreated cleft lips in India. On the last mission over 1800 had come hoping for the surgery that would transform their lives. Most were turned away because there was not enough time or surgeons to handle the number who needed it. That is why Operation Smile decided to do a mega mission. 500 surgeries is the target for this mission which will include two teams back-to-back.

So many of this team are familiar to me. Surgeons and medical personnel that I have worked with in Bolpur, Rwanda, Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras and Vietnam. They are true heroes who give of their time and talents to help people they don't even know. They have traveled half way around the world to help this time.

We met a little girl named Namita Bora. She is 6 years old and doesn't go to school because the other children tease her too much. Her family is very poor. In fact, she borrowed the clothes she is wearing from relatives and neighbors to make the 17 hour journey to the hospital today.

Winging to India

2010-12-01T04:07:00.000-08:00

It is a long way to Northeast India from Los Angeles. A very long way. I left my house in California at 5pm Sunday evening and then landed in Munich, Germany the next afternoon in a freezing snow storm. It was here I met up with Lois Ephraim from the Russ Reid Company. From Munich we flew to Delhi, India overnight and then in the afternoon we flew on to Guwahati arriving after the sun went down Tuesday night.

Back in India once again. The last time was 2005. If you have been here you know. The sights and sounds and smells are like no other place in the world. And we were immersed in all that is India in the 45 minute drive from the airport to downtown Guwahati. Narrowly missing pedestrians, animals and other vehicles that were scurrying down the narrow road.

But after a long trip and the harrowing ride to town we are energized to witness the good work of Operation Smile once again.

Meti in Ethiopia - Dreams can come true

2010-11-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

Will is heading to India for Operation Smile

2010-11-17T13:09:00.001-08:00

Guwahati, India: Nov. 30–Dec. 20, 2010

More than 80 volunteers from around the world will join their counterparts in India with a goal to provide surgeries for 500 children at the Mahendra Mohan Choudhary Hospital.

In a few short weeks, our expanded mission to Guwahati, India, will be underway. To meet the unprecedented need in this area, Operation Smile will be sending two medical teams who will work back-to-back from November 30 through December 20.

More than 80 volunteers from around the world will join their counterparts in India with a goal to provide surgeries for 500 children at the Mahendra Mohan Choudhary Hospital. Operation Smile has been working in Guwahati since 2009 and to date has provided free cleft lip or cleft palate surgeries for nearly 2,000 patients.

During this mission, a campaign called “Smile for NUK” will be underway and includes products designed for feeding that have been donated to the medical mission. We know that hundreds of children are waiting and we are anxious to join the teams on site and provide the surgeries they really need.

- Allison Bradshaw and Kia Guarino, Program Coordinators, Operation Smile

Reba for the American Red Cross

2010-10-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Jeff Probst visits Granada, Nicaragua for Operation Smile

2010-08-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

Granada Nicaragua for Operation Smile

2010-07-23T22:15:00.001-07:00

What a day in Nicaragua

2010-07-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

A million dollar day for us today. Roma Downey and her daughter Reilly did a stellar job with our NEW bilateral boy, Eduardo and his beautiful and graceful mother, Noemi. They sat with Noemi and Eduardo gently learning of the horror his mother felt at his birth with a bilateral cleft lip. When Noemi went to a pediatrician all the way in Managua, he told her that a team from Operation Smile was going to be in Granada the week of the 21st. He told her to drop whatever else she was doing and get to the hospital. It would be Eduardo's only chance.

Eduardo was handed off to the nurses at the door to the operating room leaving his mother full of anxiety...and hope. Forty-five minutes later Roma delivered Eduardo into his mother's arms, a boy with a brand new smile and a whole new chance in life. With hugs and kisses Roma, Reilly and Noemi celebrated Eduardo's new birth.

Then Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor which is shooting in Nicaragua, hit the mission site and got to experience the miracle of Operation Smile surgery first hand. He saw our little 6 year-old boy Johan go into surgery. Jeff was very interested in everything. He got the fine points of anethesia from one of the best in the business and looked over the shoulder of a world-class surgeon as stich by stich Johan was transformed. Then in post-op Jeff learned from Johan's mother, Erica, just what life was like for Johan growing up with a cleft lip and being called "cleft boy" by other kids. She told him that even though Johan was constantly ridiculed and teased, he never gave up. Now he won't have to. Jeff turned to the camera and in no uncertain terms encouraged viewers to get off the couch and do something wonderful. Do something for someone less fortunate. Do something that matters.

What a day in Nicaragua. The team will be here for two more days, but Jim and I fly out tomorrow, heading home richer by far and full of memories that will last a lifetime.

Operation Smile Nicaragua

2010-07-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Roma and Reilly did a great job relating to kids and their families. About 50 kids showed up for screening. The vast majority were revisions, 8 were cleft palates. There were 5 kids with lips. One was a facial cleft girl, 6 months old. The surgeons are putting her on the schedule later in the week, but say that the result will not be good and that she will require several surgeries to fix her lip and nose. Two other lips were girls, one 2 months old, one 3 months old. We settled on 2 boys, both named Christopher, one is 7 months old and the other 14 months old, but looks 6 months. Reilly and Roma really took to the little boys and their mothers. We followed these boys through screening and one boy, the 7 year old, who has a revision, but he is a cutie named Johan. The two younger boys and the young girls with lips were all rejected because of illness (blood count, infections, fevers, etc). Roma and Reilly were devastated even though the local team promised that these kids will get their turn soon. That leaves us with Johan who is on the schedule for tomorrow morning. We'll follow him and also pickup another kid (hopefully a girl) from Pre-Op tomorrow. Three surgeries were performed this evening. A tongue tie, a revision and a cleft palate. Reilly and Roma did a stand up intro, related to the camera during screening and then did an end-of-day recap. They work well together. They were wet dishrags going back to the hotel...as were we all. Tomorrow we will follow Johan from 7:30am to 10:30am, see what other kid we can follow, then plan on getting some reflections from Roma and Reilly of the mission experience, record some VO. The Survivor team arrives in 2 groups. Group one comes at 8:00am for a couple of hours. Jeff arrives at 10:30 and leaves at noon. All of this is happening at the same time as our scheduled kids, but we'll do what we can. The team is a good one. Well organized. They have scheduled 32 surgeries and hope to do a few more depending on time and health of patients. That's it from Nicaragua. Best to you all back in the states.

Granada, Nicaragua

2010-07-21T04:43:00.000-07:00

Jim Jack and I met at the airport yesterday morning and made our way to Houston where we met Roma Downey and her daughter, Reilly, at the gate of the second leg of the trip to Granada, Nicaragua. Landing in Managua several hours later it was hot and humid.

A forty minute car ride brought us to Granada. A dinner at an outdoor restaurant and then back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep before our taping begins. The heavens opened up shortly after getting into my hotel room and the roof leaked right above the table where I had stored all my gear. I moved it quickly and went to sleep to the sound of rain pounding away.

Now it is 5 am and after a cold shower in the bathroom down the hall I am organizing equipment for the day. We'll meet Roma and Reilly at the hospital and see the families who will have come from far and wide hoping to get surgery for their children.

All in all, it's good to be here for Operation Smile in Nicaragua.

To Nicaragua with Roma Downey

2010-07-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning JE Jack and I head off to Nicaragua for Operation Smile. We will be going with Roma Downey and her daughter, Reilly, to document a local medical mission there where up to 50 lucky children will get their cleft lips and cleft palates repaired for free.

Roma and Reilly will be the eyes, ears and hearts of our viewers as the mission unfolds.

Jim and I count ourselves as lucky to travel with them and view the good work of Operation Smile once again. We are going on this assignment for ad agency Russ Reid Company.

2010-07-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens; not by what life brings us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.
--Anonymous

Another go at Slideshow

2010-07-04T13:08:00.000-07:00

Operation Smile - Amazing Grace

2010-07-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

Marceline and Jacqueline

2010-07-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Today was our last full day in Rwanda this time around. We set out just after daybreak to find Marceline, a girl who had had surgery on her cleft lip back in March. Her cleft was a pretty severe one. A hug hole in the middle of her face with teeth all heaved and shoved around. So when we saw her walking up the hill toward us we were curious to see what her new face would be like. The closer she got the better we could see that a miracle had taken place. There was now a new more confident girl. We enjoyed the fact that she was wearing the hospital gown that she had worn during her surgery. She wears it now as a badge of honor. A constant reminder of her new beginning.

Marceline lives with her father, mother, brothers and sisters in a small one room mud house, crumbling in the hot sun.

The whole community came out to greet us with songs, smiles and hearty handshakes.

Marceline sat on a bench in front of her house and told me, "Before I got my lip fixed, my life was miserable. After I got surgery I was very happy. Especially when my name was called when they were selecting the ones who would get surgery.

Now I am very happy. I now am able to drink using a straw. Other kids have been telling me that now I look beautiful, and this makes me feel so good in my heart.

May God bless whoever contributed to get my lips fixed. All of you and doctors who fixed my lips I thank you so much.

We gave our goodbyes and went down the red dusty road and cow track to find Jacqueline, another of the girls we had followed through surgery. By phone in another town her uncle gave us directions. And miracle of miracles, we arrived at Jacqueline's house. We were greeted warmly by Jacqueline and her tall statuesque mother.

Jacqueline is in P3 grade at school. She, too is tall and beautiful. And the surgery has given her an almost perfect smile. With much singing and waving we left Jacqueline to make our journey back to Kigali before nightfall. And so our trip through Rwanda is coming to an end. We have visited with four of our TV kids and two bonus kids as well.

Through their stories, warm embraces and smiles we have learned first hand what a tremendous difference Operation Smile makes in the lives of children and their families.

Adeline in Rwanda

2010-07-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

We visited Adeline today. She lives with her grandfather and her mother high on a hill overlooking a fertile valley. She told me that she doesn't want to remember the "old" Adeline, the one with the hole in the middle of her face. Years of taunting and teasing has left emotional scars. She had gone to school, but quit because of the way the other kids treated her. Today she has a new smile and a new life. She is no longer called names. People don't laugh at her anymore and at school she tells me, they must think she is a new student, because she is treated well, just like other "normal" kids. So for her the past is just that...past and gone. Today is a new and happy time.

Adeline said, "Before the surgery I was not happy with my life. Other kids were laughing at me. They teased me. The kept calling me "Cleft Girl" and "the girl with ughly lips."

Now I am happy because now I am going to school and other kids are not teasing me. Now I have a new life. Cleft Girl is now history. I don't even want to think about it. I want to thank all the people who contributed to get my lips fixed. Thank you so so so much!"

Harry Potter

2010-06-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Jean, a boy we dubbed Harry Potter because of the sweatshirt he wore to the Operation Smile screening process, was just coming up the hill to his house as we pulled up. He looks great with his new smile. The healing will get better with time, but even after only 3 months he looks good. After his grandmother scrubbed him clean from water in a plastic tub, he was ready to pose for photos. Then we had him show us one of the chores he does to help his family. He collects greens to feed the young pig they keep next to their dairy cow.

Eugenie

2010-06-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Eugenie, a girl once abandoned, abused and thrown away...is now a happy girl with a home and friends. She proudly wears her Operation Smile T-Shirt and can't stop beaming. Her house is perched on the side of a steep hill carved into terraces for growing bananas and other crops. At over 5,000 feet I quite lost my breath as I walked over the hills on a meandering path to her home. Her neighbors were there rejoicing in her new face and now promising future. It was so nice to see her and to know that she now has friends to play with and share the joys of life. So different from the past life she led on the streets.

Eugenie told me, "My life before my cleft lip surgery was bad, I don't even want to think about it any more. But now I have friends. To those who put their efforts together to fix my lips, I want to thank you. May God give you a special blessing. May God protect you in all your journey and in your every day activities.

At Habimana's House

2010-06-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Habimana. We returned today and spent time with Habimana, his family and his friends.

This boy ran to hug us as we arrived. So full of love. His house had been transformed since yesterday. A new "africa cloth" hung in the doorway. A wooden couch and stools were in front. And Habimana was washed and in clean clothes. All of this is because the community has seen what Operation Smile has done in the life of this little boy. The neighbors loaned the cloth , the furniture and the clothes. There was a jubulant air about the place.

Mom and Habimana spoke to us about the changes that have taken place in their lives. Once outcast, now accepted. They now have hopes and dreams where none were possible before.

Habimana and his new best friends strolled down the narrow footpath, confident and happy. They were off to play a game of soccer. The ball a simple one - made of rags.

Habimana told me, "Before you came to Rwanda people used to call me "Cleft boy" and they would tease me. That made me sad. I did not go to school because the other kids made fun of me. I just stayed at home alone. But then you chose me for surgery. You fixed my lip. And now my life has changed. Now I have friends. I am looking forward to going to school. I am happy and now people call me by my name - Habimana - not Cleft Boy anymore. Thank you for all you did for me."

In Rwanda for Operation Smile

2010-06-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is Day One of our return trip to Rwanda. First stop the airport to see if Peter Stuckings baggage had arrived yet. When he got to Rwanda this morning from Nairobi his bag did not.

We were lucky, it came. Bag in hand it was time to track down Habimana, a little boy who had received surgery a few months ago. We found the neigborhood of mud brick homes and dirt paths on the side of a hill. And after a few missed turns we arrived at Habimana's house. The door was unlocked so we knew his mother couldn't be far away. Sure enough in a few moments we were surrounded by villagers and through the crowd came Habimana with his new smile.

We talked with him and his mother, took some photos and video and hung out in the late afternoon sun. They are still stuggling each day for food and shelter, but so happy with the results of the surgery. No more taunting and teasing. Habimana is looking forward to attending school in the fall.

We will return tomorrow for more taping and photos. He and his mother walked us up the hill to our taxi. They will be waiting in the morning.

It fills your heart to see a boy like Habimana actually changed by a relatively simple surgery that he could never have afforded in his life.

With World Vision in El Savador

2010-06-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

With Laura Papetti, KREM TV anchor, in El Salvador for World Vision. She did a great job relating to the children and their families, some of the poorest of the poor. Spokane, Washington should be proud of her.

2010-06-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

What a good day. Hot, humid, but good. We went to a very successful World Vision ADP in an area that has been rated one of the poorest in the country of El Salvador. The majority of families here live on as little as $25 a month. They are farmers and pottery makers...great black clay pottery. The people are humble and warm. The country is not. We are traveling with two armed guards.

We visited a children's class and then a Kid's Club across the cobbled road to see children learning, singing and sharing. Things they never had a chance to do before World Vision came to their assistance.

2010-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Lynne and Harrison drove me to the airport this morning. We had just been there last night when Harrison returned from law school for a summer intern program. I checked in and was at the gate in plenty of time. Just the way I like it.

The only thing I didn't like about Continental's flight to Houston and on to El Salvador is that they now have Direct TV for in flight entertainment. So to get anything, TV, movies, audio you have to pay $6. Other than that the flights were fine, comfortable and on time.

Now, it is 10pm in El Salvador and 80 degrees! I'm overnighting at the airport Quality Inn and then tomorrow we head for San Miguel and the World Vision ADP's.

Gary Dowd was the only one who didn't get his baggage. It should arrive at our hotel tomorrow night. So, for now, it is off to bed, rise early for our trip up country.

Oh, Harrison and Lynne reported that they walked a bunch of dogs at the shelter today and then took my favorites, Baxter, Coco and Hercules to the dog park. I think Harrison really enjoyed helping out.

Off to El Salvador for World Vision

2010-06-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, bright and early, I head for the airport on another TV assignment for World Vision. This time I'll be with veteran producer/writer/traveler Gary Dowd and Steve Quant from World Vision. Also joining us will be KREM TV's Laura Papetti who will be sharing her experiences as she meets children in need and those who have been helped through World Vision Child Sponsorship.

Before coming to KREM 2 Laura lived in Anchorage, AK and worked at the NBC affiliate KTUU. She helped create award winning projects while traveling extensively throughout the state and anchoring a business focused show. She started her journalism career in Missoula, MT where she covered the capture of the Unabomber and the militia movement and served as an anchor. In 2000 she got married and moved to Spokane where she lives with her husband and young daughter.

Contact Laura at lpapetti@krem.com.

2010-05-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

Madeline Video done!

2010-04-09T08:29:00.001-07:00

Operation Smile and Haiti

2010-04-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

By Elizabeth Simpson
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 9, 2010

Local rescue workers may have returned from Haiti, but medical volunteers are settling in for the long haul of helping earthquake victims through recovery.

Operation Smile and Physicians for Peace - two Norfolk-based medical charity groups - are still sending supplies and volunteers to help victims with rehabilitation, continuing work that was taking place even before the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Operation Smile, an international children's charity, sent its first mission to Haiti in 2008 to repair cleft palates and other facial deformities of children. Physicians for Peace helped start a "Walking Free" program there in 2005 to help disabled people with rehabilitation.

Even without an earthquake, the needs of the estimated 800,000 people with disabilities were great. People lacked prosthetics, crutches and therapists to help them survive in a country where sidewalks and roads are poor and the terrain is mountainous.

It's estimated the earthquake resulted in 2,000 to 4,000 amputations and thousands of other injuries.

After the earthquake, both organizations sent supplies such as medical equipment, prostheses, crutches and wheelchairs. Operation Smile began dispatching volunteer medical teams Jan. 25, in the organization's first disaster relief mission.

The organization has sent 11 teams of 100 medical volunteers since then, and a surgical team will leave for Haiti on Saturday.

Gail Grisetti, an associate professor of physical therapy at Old Dominion University, went with one of the Operation Smile teams in February. She previously traveled to Haiti twice with Physicians for Peace to help train people in physical therapy and establish centers where people could get crutches and prostheses.

In February, the Operation Smile team she traveled with went to a 110-bed hospital in Hinche, about a four-hour drive northeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. She treated people with fractures, crushed limbs, head injuries and, in some cases, amputations that had been done just to free them from rubble.

"The patients were all displaced," Grisetti said. "They had lost their homes. Many had staggering injuries."

Some of the patients had not gotten out of bed in weeks, so their muscles had weakened, making rehab even harder.

When Grisetti and others removed dressings, they sometimes found open wounds with bone and muscle showing. Plastic surgeons did what's called "revision surgery" to move skin and muscle around the wound in such a way that a prosthetic limb can be used.

Parents, children and other relatives stayed with victims to care for them, going out during the day to find food and medicine, later bathing them, getting rid of their waste, moving them when they needed to roll over.

One young woman, 18 or 19, had her leg amputated below the knee. Her mother would move her and do everything for her, but Grisetti told her they needed to work together to get her to do more on her own.

Grisetti showed the young woman how to sit up, get out of the bed, hop on her good leg. She used a metal chair without a back as a walker.

Another woman, 55, had lost both of her legs.

"I try to imagine her in a tent city," Grisetti said. "Would she have a wheelchair? How was she going to get around? How will she go to the bathroom? How is she going to get food? We taught her to move from the bed to a chair. Will there even be furniture?"

Physicians for Peace, which has medical programs in 22 countries, began sending physical therapists to Haiti in March. The organization is part of the newly formed Haitian Amputee Coalition, which is establishing a long-term prosthetic and rehabilitation center about 60 miles from Port-au-Prince.

Mary Kwasniewski, a senior director with Physicians for Peace, said the immediate objective is to help amputees recover. The long-term goal is to provide training for Haitians and people in nearby countries to provide therapy and rehabilitation.

"The goal is local sustainability," she said.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com

1906 San Fransisco - just days before the earthquake

2010-04-01T20:50:00.001-07:00

Madeline

2010-03-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Madeline is a ten-month old Wire Haired Pointer. She was in varying degrees of pain and discomfort when she came to Friends for Pets Foundation in Sun Valley, California. Madeline limped and hopped and we did not know why. FFP Founder Diane Monahan took her to the vet for x-rays. He could hardly believe what he found. The vet said he thinks that Madeline was hit by a car and that the impact drove her femur bone into her pelvis and "jammed it there". With no attention from her owner, it healed that way.

Diane intervened for Madeline and decided to have her see a specialist. FFP volunteer Dawn VerMeulen took her and discovered that FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy) was the only treatment that would get rid of the pain and help her live a fairly normal life. When Dawn called Diane from the lobby of the specialist with the news - Diane did not hesitate and said "when can he do the surgery?" Madeline had the surgery the next day.

Madeline is in Dawn's care now as a foster, and getting 24/7 attention. She is going to professional physical therapy several times a week as well as Dawn providing physical therapy exercises with her two times a day on the off days. The surgery, x-rays, physical therapy, etc. will run FFP about $5,000 when all is said and done.

Because funds are limited, Friends for Pets is making a special appeal to help pay for Madeline's medical expenses. If you can help, send your check today with this mail in form or donate online now.

Prisca's Story

2010-03-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Operation Smile sprang into action sending emergency relief medical teams to Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12th 7.0 earthquake.

Our work is done in Rwanda...until next year

2010-03-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

The Operation Smile mission is done here in Rwanda. 248 surgeries performed. Lives changed forever. And so the team sets off for home wherever that is around the world. I am heading to California, but lucky for me I'll be returning in a few months to visit some of our patients at their homes in the remote villages. By then their faces should be mostly healed and their lives settled into a new place in their families and commu nities. This will give me a glimpse into their futures. School, friends, marriage...opportunity.

So now it is off to Nairobi, on to London and then over the pole to Los Angeles and my waiting family. I for one am richer for the mission in Rwanda.

This is Marceline's Day

2010-03-13T05:15:00.001-08:00

Little Marceline was born with a deformity. The hole in the center of her face marked her as an outcast. In the hole was a lump of protruding dental material. She was a monster, an animal according to people who lived near by her. The villagers called her names and beat her. She was shunned and had no friends.

But today her life has changed forever. After only an hour in surgery she has a new smile. Anil, her surgeon, did a spectacular job. The tiny stitches will soon disappear. Marceline will go back to her village now, to her family, and they will all be as amazed as we were.

When Marceline looked at herself in the mirror she said, "Who is this beautiful girl?" That is why the Operation Smile medical team volunteers their time and talent. That is what keeps bringing them back for another mission in yet another country. What wonderful people.

Marceline will get her smile

2010-03-11T11:40:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter gets his day!

2010-03-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

Stories to the heart

2010-03-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

This is Eugenie. She looks like a ten year-old, but she is 14. Stunted and malnourished as a result of extreme poverty and a cleft lip. But that's not all. Eugenie is an orphan who until two years ago was wandering the streets begging for food and shelter. That is until a kind-hearted woman saw her and took her in as her own.

They traveled by foot and bus for hours to reach Kagali where they had heard that doctors were coming to perform surgeries for free. Realizing that this might be the only chance for Eugenie to get her lip fixed they anxiously awaited to see if she would be picked. And she was, but with hesitation because her red blood count was low and she had a cold. She needs to be monitored this week to make sure she is well enough for surgery. But if she is (and I hope she is) she will get her life-changing surgery on Friday. What a day that will be.

Yesterday afternoon when I visited the post-op area of the hospital I saw a boy we have dubbed Harry Potter because of the sweatshirt he was wearing. Jean, his real name, had just come from the recovery room with a new smile. Walking at his side was his father, carrying an IV. I asked the father what he would say to the people on the other side of the world who had helped make this surgery possible. He thought for a moment and then said, "I don't know what to say. I don't have any words to express my feelings." Then he turned to his son and told me, "Everything I want to say is written on his face." Enough said.

Dancille and her cousin

2010-03-08T21:28:00.000-08:00

Three year old Dancille has been teased and shunned all her life. But this week her life will change. On Thursday she will go into surgery with a broken face and come out with a brand new smile forty-five minutes later. She will be one of the 248 children this week who will get a new chance at life. Able to eat, drink, speak and go to school just like other kids.

When I look at her I see hope and that is enough to make it all worthwhile.

Mission going well

2010-03-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

Our medical mission for Operation Smile is going well here in Rwanda. In the last two days over 372 people with cleft lip or cleft palate have been screened by the international team. Most of these are children with cleft lips, but there are adults, too, up to age 80.

Last night the surgery schedule was prepared and today it will be announced to the waiting crowd of hopeful families. The good thing is that more than 200 will be able to get surgery this time. The bad/sad news is that the rest will be turned away to wait for another opportunity for surgery, hopefully next year. There will be many unhappy families.

Sent Harrison Ford a DVD

2010-03-02T09:38:00.001-08:00

Harrison Ford received a DVD today that I had sent him from our trip to Haiti. He and his co-pilot Terry Bender did a fantastic job of getting medical volunteers and supplies in to the desperate people who had been injured and left homeless by the earthquake a little over a month ago.

Now, this afternoon I head off to Rwanda where I will participate in a 2-week medical mission with Operation Smile. The result will be another TV special bringing attention to their great work throughout the world with children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate.

Off to Rwanda tomorrow for Operation Smile

2010-03-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

I leave tomorrow for Rwanda with a television production team from Canada and the US to produce a new television special about the amazing work Operation Smile does each month around the world.

Operation Smile’s international missions are conducted throughout the year in hard-to-reach places throughout the world. International missions involve up to 60 medical volunteers who travel to partner countries to provide surgeries for children over a two-week period.

Operation Smile’s partner countries also facilitate treatment for facial deformities, either by conducting medical missions on the local level or by conducting year-round programs in existing health facilities or through the development of clinics.

2010-02-18T12:04:00.001-08:00

I share this message from my friend Norrie Oelkers. While I am now home, she is still in Hinche, Haiti volunteering with Operation Smile:

Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010

It is difficult to write tonight but I feel that if I don't you will not know the true devastation in this country and people need to know some of the stories that continue. We are operating everyday but conditions are very difficult. Our main word in the Operation Smile vocabulary is "Flexibility" and this team of 17 doctors and nurses exemplify this word.

To begin with, it is hard to describe how poor this town of Hinche is and how these people are surviving. There are dirt roads with rocks that make even walking to the hospital difficult. Once we lose daylight we can barely see the hallways of the hospital which are all outdoors.

The patients have no sheets on the beds or pillows unless they bring them from home. Their families bring them food. Partners in Health, the phenomenal group that we we're partnered with, are now supplying food for the patients, since their recovery is hindered by their malnutrition. We are giving them all of our power bars, especially to the children.

It is very hot here and there are 30 people in each ward with no privacy, no running water, not even a cup of water for them to drink. They don't have much, yet they never beg or ask us for help. They speak French Creole, which is not a written language, so it not easy to translate. We have wonderful translators--young students from Port-au-Prince who can't attend school since their University is destroyed. We are paying them $4.00 per day to help us and we are giving them food.

We have some sad stories that are tearing our hearts out. A little 4-year-old was brought in last night who was burned over 85% of his body from a petrol fire in his shack, I have never seen such severe third degree burns (the worst level) and it happened 3 days ago. He has had no pain meds and nothing to eat or drink. The only area that was not burned was where his underpants were worn. We brought him to the OR , gave him morphine and removed his dressings stuck to his body. The surgeon and I and anesthesiologist and nurse who cared for him soon realized that there was no chance of survival and we needed to help this little boy have the least amount of pain possible.

He is in a ward tonight and our nurses are giving palliative care and hospice. Telling the mom was extremely difficult but as we we all cried and prayed in the OR, we want him to be in a better place. I will always remember the loving care that our surgeon and team gave to this little boy, coating his body with silvadine to ease his pain and wrapping him in soft gauze.

In the U.S., he would be in the best burn care facility ever. Operation Smile did call the USNS Comfort but they do not care for burns on the ship and there is no other hospital that can care for him. It is hard not to find solutions for their suffering, since that is what we are trained to do.

The local people had a memorial today for all of the patients who have died here since the earthquake. Last night we heard crying and chanting at 3:30 a.m. because someone died.

We are becoming very attached to some of our young patients and it is heart wrenching to watch them sitting in bed for a month now. Our favorite little boy Jonel left with his grandmother today with his fractured femur. He lost his mom and dad in the earthquake and we don't know how she will be able to raise him.

He laughed heartily when I showed him to Harrison Ford and Harrison just tickled him and showed such compassion to all of the patients. Harrison Ford is a true hero for helping Operation Smile and did not want any press whatsoever.

On the other hand, we have NO crutches or walkers for the children and adults who have fractures and amputations, so they lay in bed every day. We sit every night after we finish in the OR and just talk about what we need and how we can improvise.

We have bonded beyond belief and we will stay friends for life because of what we have seen. These people need long term relief such as the help of one of our teammates who is a physical therapist who is helping get them out of bed to walk again. She is having some men make crutches out of old junk, broken chairs and anything else she can get her hands on.

No one has gotten sick because we are not really eating very much. We have a small breakfast in the morning made by a local woman. Yesterday we had spaghetti with a strange sauce. Then we get our main meal at 2:30 p.m. which is very different every day. Yesterday we had rice, beets and potatoes and goat. Today we had sandwiches for breakfast with cheese, ham and a pink mayonnaise mixture.

We get a thick soupy pot of something at 8 p.m.--but we sneak it over to our little patients. Now that we know that we only get one meal a day, we make sure we eat everything at 3 p.m. I bought 4 large jars of peanut butter and 4 boxes of Ritz crackers and that is our evening meal.

I just pray every day that we can continue to help these people and make a difference. I feel honored to be a part of this relief effort and I thank Operation Smile for allowing being here. After 32 missions, this is the one that will stay with me and remind me of how much I have to be thankful for every day in my life!

- Norrie Oelkers, Clinical Coordinator in Hinche

Harrison Ford flys help to Haiti

2010-02-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

2010-02-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

2010-02-12T15:37:00.001-08:00

Actor and Humanitarian Harrison Ford Assists Operation Smile’s Relief Efforts in Haiti

February 2010

Operation Smile supporter, legendary actor and humanitarian Harrison Ford piloted his Cessna 208 Caravan to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Saturday, February 6 to command a remarkable airlift of Operation Smile medical volunteers and supplies into Hinche, Haiti to provide much needed treatment for earthquake victims. Mr. Ford decided to volunteer his time, piloting skills and aircraft in response to an urgent request from Operation Smile, Inc. for logistical support after the organization announced that it was sending three additional medical teams and over 2 ½ tons of medical supplies across three locations in Haiti.

After battling three days of adverse weather conditions between Los Angeles and Miami during last week’s winter storm, Mr. Ford made several trips over a two-day period to a remote dirt landing strip in Haiti and delivered a team of 20 volunteers that included plastic surgeons, an orthopedic surgeon, anesthesiologists, and eight nurses along with critical medical supplies. Given the logistical challenges and difficult travel routes from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, Mr. Ford’s efforts significantly sped the process of getting the medical team and supplies to Hinche so care could be given most expeditiously to children and adults who have been waiting for weeks to receive treatment.

Mr. Ford wanted to provide support after seeing the devastating impact of the earthquake, and noted, “This is not about me, it is just about doing what I can to help Operation Smile and the people of Haiti.”

After he safely delivered the balance of volunteers and supplies, Mr. Ford was able to visit with both pediatric and adult victims of the earthquake at the hospital in Hinche, all with devastating injuries requiring urgent surgical treatment. Most had been buried in the rubble of collapsed buildings, subsequently rescued and brought by family members to this remote area because of no alternative locations for care. Upon arrival, the Operation Smile medical team rapidly triaged patients according to the severity of their injuries and additional patients were directed to physical therapy volunteers to begin the process of rehabilitation.

Operation Smile team leader and plastic surgeon, Dr. Craig Merrell, noted, "We are truly thankful that we were able to get here as expeditiously as possible, in order to begin treatment of patients who are suffering from infections, open wounds, and untreated fractures from the recent earthquake.”

Operation Smile is working directly with Partners In Health in Hinche to provide critical surgical care for the overwhelming number of patients. A second team was sent to Fond Parisien to relieve an initial group of Operation Smile volunteers who arrived on January 22, and helped establish a comprehensive medical and surgical compound that expanded the capacity and level of care for hundreds of patients. A third team is currently working with the United States military aboard the USNS Comfort. Since Operation Smile has been in Haiti, its medical volunteer teams have conducted hundreds of medical and surgical procedures.

Operation Smile is known for its 28-year history of providing cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries in developing countries and is not traditionally a disaster relief organization. However, the organization made a commitment to utilize its unique resources and quickly mobilize medical volunteers from around the world to provide assistance in Haiti. With over 4,000 Operation Smile credentialed medical volunteers and a presence in over 50 countries, the organization has immediate access to trained surgical and medical professionals who have experience working in difficult environments. In addition, the Operation Smile logistics team is skilled in deploying and organizing highly functional field hospitals in developing countries across the globe.

For updates on Operation Smile’s efforts in Haiti, visit the daily blog on www.operationsmile.org/haiti

2010-02-12T09:07:00.000-08:00

Great News. Our story on Harrison Ford will be on E! News tonight.

2010-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

Our team in Hinche was just joined by Dr. Marie May Louis Fils, our Operation Smile Program coordinator, who also works with Zanmi Lasante (Partners In Health). She has been helping out with coordination in Hinche and also in the ORs as a general surgeon. So happy to have her on the team and to work with such compassionate people.

Also, a patient showed up yesterday 80% covered in 3rd degree burns.

Harrison Ford arrives

2010-02-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

Harrison Ford arrived today with his plane. He flew from California with forced weather stops. He and his co-pilot Terry were exhausted. He will be spending the next few days shuttling Operation Smile medical team members and medical supplies in to Hinche, Haiti. This just shows what a generous human being he is. He wants to help and is able to make a significant difference in the lives of people here. The first surgeries should take place tomorrow afternoon.

What we have heard is that there are 30 surgical cases waiting for our team already. One small boy has severe burns over 30% of his body and will need skin grafts. Many people have lost limbs and will need a lot of physical therapy even after their wounds have healed. This is a different kind of mission for Operation Smile. They have come to Haiti to provide relief and medical assistance in a land where there is nothing. And they are training local doctors and nurses to do surgeries and provide care once they have gone.

Operation Smile has one team at a tent city of Fond Parisien. Another will be at Hinche where we are going in a few minutes. And a third team is on the USS Comfort, a medical ship anchored off shore in Port Au Prince.

I am not sure if I will be able to access the internet until later this week. Without a BlackBerry communication is difficult in this country at best.

Our team is terrific. We have one member from Denmark, 4 from Canada and the rest from the US, one is a Haitian-American. All hearty souls and dedicated to serving others. Well, we are about to fly out.

Haiti Bound

2010-02-06T03:10:00.000-08:00

Along with Lois Ephraim of the Russ Reid Company I'm off to Haiti today. We'll be spending the next few days documenting the tremendous work of Operation Smile with the desperate families left helpless and hurting from the recent earthquake.

We arrived late last night in Miami (on Super Bowl weekend) and made our way to the Courtyard by Marriot. A few hours of sleep and now it's time to head back to the airport for the next leg of our journey...Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It is there that we will meet up with the Operation Smile team that will be going in to Hinche, Haiti to set up a complete operating theater with all medical supplies and medical staff.

More to come.

Valley Performing Arts Center to open in 2011

2010-01-28T20:14:00.001-08:00

Operation Smile

2009-12-30T11:54:00.001-08:00

Ethiopia with Operation Smile

2009-12-26T22:35:00.000-08:00

Our team went to Ethiopia in 2007 and again in 2008. This animated slideshow is a remembrance of those trips and the good people we met.

PSA for Climate Control

2009-12-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

Our team recently shot a PSA for Greenpeace Canada's Kyoto Plus campaign. Producer Nathalie Malette and Greenpeace's Paul Mero skype'd in to the Los Angeles shoot from Canada.

Shannon Tweed and Dustin Milligan were the Canadian celebrities on camera. Dustin even brought his little dog to the set which made our dog-loving crew quite happy.

CSUN turns 50!

2009-12-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

ClubCorp

2009-11-29T16:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a video we did for ClubCorp.

Bodega to Santa Rosa

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

Jason and Katharine's Wedding (Fast Cut)

2009-11-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

Lynne's Pet Sitting "Pets"

2009-11-14T20:37:00.001-08:00

Lynne's Pet Sitting

2009-11-14T14:57:00.001-08:00

Hi Jolly

2009-11-14T12:11:00.000-08:00

Hide Emiles Spot

2009-11-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

This spot was done for a new web site where banners will tell the stories of children helped by Operation Smile all over the world.

Arifase Emiles Spot

2009-11-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

This spot was done for a new web site where banners will tell the stories of children helped by Operation Smile all over the world.

Arisfase's Story

2009-11-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

This is a video we did for Russ Reid and Operation Smile. The story was shot in Ethiopia Nov 2007 and then followup material was shot by Will in Nov 2008. We thoroughly enjoyed the people and country of Ethiopia and the fantastic work that Operation Smile does there.

Jason and Katharine's Wedding (Slow Cut)

2009-11-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

Jason Zasa and Katharine Seelye's Wedding
November 7, 2009
Santa Rosa, CA

2009-07-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

Building a Dream

2009-07-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Building a Dream
A video we did for:
The Valley Performing Arts Center, Cal State Northridge

2009-07-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Big Bear Lake Resort Association Spot

Operation Smile: Son's Story

2009-07-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a video we did for Operation Smile in Vietnam with Roma Downey.

2009-07-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

We got word today that work we did for the Russ Reid Advertising Agency won Telly Awards:

World Vision TV Special Children in Peril won a Silver Telly.
Operation Smile TV Special A New Smile. A New Life. won a Bronze Telly.
Operation Smile TV Spot HIDE won a Bronze Telly.

Thanks to all who worked on these projects.

Operation Smile "Eyes" TV Spot

2009-05-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

"Hide" Spanish

2009-05-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Operation Smile Spot "Hide" featuring Roselyn Sánchez

Blue Duke enjoys the afternoon.

2009-04-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Blue Duke enjoys an afternoon at William Moffitt Associates.

Blue Duke is such a sweet boy. And well behaved, completely house-trained. He knows how to sit, lie down and is quite a gentleman. He is a bit shy and seems like he might have been abused in a former life. But he is a wonderful companion. Currently he is at Friends for Pets (http://www.friendsforpets.org/) hoping for a forever home.

The Boys of Spring

2009-04-18T15:22:00.000-07:00

Ian and Harley enjoy a spring evening. They were rescued by Friends for Pets. Close to 75 other Weimaraners are at the shelter waiting for a forever home.

Lynne and Chaz Cooly

2009-04-04T22:00:00.001-07:00

Lynne and Chaz Cooly
Originally uploaded by wmadigital

Sprucedale Guest Ranch

2009-03-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

A Little Bit of Heaven in the White Mountains of Arizona.

2009-03-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Laguna Cliffs Resort

2009-02-10T23:16:00.001-08:00

2009-02-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

Hannukah at Auntie Lynne's

Happy New Year to All

2008-12-27T10:21:00.000-08:00

We wish you all a Happy New Year. Here's our crew getting ready for what will come.

California State University, Northridge

2008-08-21T11:07:00.001-07:00

We have been asked by California State University, Northridge to produce a video celebrating their 50th anniversary.

Dr. Vance Peterson, Vice President for University Advancement, and Michael McManus, Assistant VP for Marketing and Communications, are leading the project for CSUN. They will launch the video at a gala celebration at the university, September 22.