"A Stroke Of Endurance" production archive

These are achieved posts from the production of "A Stroke Of Endurance" in 2017. Older posts on the bottom:

November 21 2017: 

A Stroke Of Endurance" has finally been released online! "A Stroke Of Endurance" can be viewed on this site under the "films" tab. A version of "A Stroke Of Endurance" with open captions for our deaf and hard of hearing fans will be uploaded by the end of 2017 and added to the same page of the site. A version of "A Stroke Of Endurance" with audio description for blind viewers along with audio described versions of our 3 previous films will hopefully be uploaded in 2018.

October 30 2017:

KCC Diversity Festival 2017

Clip Video Productions was once again invited to the KCC Diversity Festival.We originally planned to screen the new film “A Stroke Of Endurance” for the festival but since “A Stroke Of Endurance” is not released yet we came up with the plan of showing “Drama Sighted” and a few, brand new exclusive promotional clips from “A Stroke Of Endurance”. The clips included a rough version of a trailer. I spoke about the films at the beginning and end of the presentation and did a Q&A. 

The first few questions were about technical aspects to the film like what kind of camera was used and what aspect ratio the films were in. Then someone asked if I was inspired by anyone in the media. I told them I was inspired by Lauren Faust’s writing style. Someone asked if I had ever seen bullying like in the “Drama Sighted” film happen at KCC, luckily the answer was no. I got some questions about how I planned to expand my work out to others.  I told them that I plan to take “A Stroke Of Endurance” and the other films to campuses and organizations and of course keep uploading them to youtube to reach people. Then I got the usual questions about why I cast disabled actors and how I started making films. I told the story of how “Drama Sighted” went from being a play to a film, how I learned basic filmmaking from scratch and then branched out. I told them I cast disabled actors because I believe it makes the performance more authentic. I feel that while able bodied actors try to learn to do disabled roles well by researching etc they often do not understand the lived experience of the disabled character, and won’t emote or express body language with the effected part of the body.  Like an actor imitating spasticity will hold still whereas an actor with spasticity in real life will still move that part of the body. I told them how disabled actors had expressed to me that they often feel they have to hide their disabilities get roles and how I had encouraged the actors to let the disability related parts of their body language show through, as long as they did it “in character” during shooting.

One person said they enjoyed that the characters of Lisa and Brandon in “Drama Sighted” related to and supported each other even though Lisa’s disability is different than Brandon’s. The response to the “A Stroke Of Endurance” clips also was very encouraging. At the end of the screening, one of the audience members approached me to ask me questions about how to communicate about her disability with a friend of hers who is also disabled. Her story reminded me of some of the plot elements of the upcoming “A Stroke Of Endurance”. I’m glad that my films could help her and the other audience members understand disability and a little bit more of the human story. I  really hope to come back and screen “A Stroke Of Endurance” in spring! Super special thanks to Kingsborough Community College for organizing, and inviting me to the festival! Clip Video Productions is honored and thrilled for the opportunity to share our work!

I have permission from Kingsborough Community College to write this post!

“A Stroke of Endurance” technical difficulties

Just like during the production of our film “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” I had a computer hard drive failure and had to get another computer which may slow the release of “A Stroke Of Endurance” because I may have to relearn some features on my new iMovie version. Regardless the film editing is still progressing well. The special effects are coming along and the music for the trailer and film itself is nearly done. We also got another request to screen “A Stroke Of Endurance” recently.

A Stroke of Endurance” music

I am creating the music for “A Stroke of Endurance” with my composer Walei Sabry. This time because of technical difficulties we used Google Hangouts instead of Skype to do our work. We are trying to give the music a different feel than in the previous 3 films because it features all new characters. The opening credits song is the closest to being finished. We hope the music will be done by the end of the month. 

An official trailer is also in the works. 

More updates coming soon.

“A Stroke Of Endurance” editing

Today(Sept 10) I met with my editor Rich Brotman to exchange files for the film and to discuss the special effects,music,color corrections and open captions for the accessibility of the new film “A Stroke Of Endurance”. We talked about the story and character motivations and how best to use our edits to get the story across. I told my editor how I managed to make an actor with a disability look able bodied in one scene that takes place pre injury for the character, which some of our disabled fans are really excited about. We also noticed the footage taken from an iPhone is of very decent video quality which is great for the film!

We will follow the procedure we used for “Crips Not Creeps” in mostly the same order. Right now the only aspects missing from the film are a few effects,the opening and closing credits and, due to technical difficulties, the music. We also hope to upload an official trailer and blooper video for “A Stroke Of Endurance” to youtube. I’m so glad I am more experienced with making films because it means Rich Brotman and I have great communication with each other. I definitely learned a lot since making “Crips Not Creeps” like to do the open captions after every other aspect to the film is completed instead of adding the captions as we go along to make the process shorter. Luckily we are thinking we may be able to release/upload “A Stroke Of Endurance” to youtube slightly earlier than our original release date. We will post to this blog and our website “news” page as the release date gets closer. 

On a side note, I may be forced to delay the release of audio described versions of the 3 pervious Crip Video Productions films due to expenses and problems with my computer’s operating system. We will keep you posted.

August 28 2017: Disabled Spectator

 http://disabledspectator.com/disabled-filmmaker-margot-cole/

Our director Margot wrote an article about Crip Video Production’s creative process for the disability news site “Disabled Spectator”. Special thanks to “Disabled Spectator” for the wonderful opportunity to get our message out there!  

"A Stroke Of Endurance" is a wrap!

Today(August 15) we wrapped “A Stroke Of Endurance”! Again for those who don’t know that is when the shooting of a film has been 100% completed. After our last shoot I decided to do a complete re write and re shoot of one of the early flashbacks in the film. That’s why it took longer to “wrap”  this film than some of our pervious films but I think the change in the writing was needed and will improve the entire film as a whole. Right now the rest of the film except for the scene we reshot, has been edited into a sort of skeleton or very rough cut and we will now move fully into the editing process which will involve adding music,color correction,and adding the elements that will make the film more accessible to our viewers. 

We also heard from a fan of ours who has both Cerebral Palsy and a stroke(like the characters) who said they love our films and can’t wait for “A Stroke Of Endurance” to be released online! We promised to keep all of you posted on the entire post production process! 

“A Stroke Of Endurance” Shoot Day 4

We are making good progress on the film. Today(July 23) we shot a few more minor but no less important scenes for “A Stroke Of Endurance” that adds a bit of good visual contrasts to the earlier scenes we shot. We are thinking “A Stroke Of Endurance” may turn out to be longer in length than previous Crip Video Productions films. We expect only one more shoot day before we “wrap” . There are only 2 more scenes left to shoot and the scenes that have been shot are already being edited into a rough cut. 

A Stroke of Endurance” shoot day 3

Today(July 10th) was our 3rd shoot day for “A Stroke Of Endurance”. We now have about 95% of the film shot and I can’t believe we have gotten this far so quickly! We only have 2 more scenes left to shoot after this! I’m so excited that “A Stroke Of Endurance” is becoming a reality! This time I remembered to bring a spare camera battery to avoid the technical difficulties of last time. We shot part of the middle of the film and all of the end of the film! At one point I let one of my actors who is blind hold the camera to ensure we got the shot from the point of view I wanted. I have seen blind people take film footage before successfully,most of the time the blind person can not see the footage themselves but can point the camera correctly with direction, so I knew this person would be capable of doing this. Special thanks to the cast and crew for all of their hard work,generosity, and patience! The footage came out perfectly. Soon we will be moving on to the editing stage of film making. Keep following this blog for details! 

In other news I have been invited to speak to a science/biology class, to use my films, particularly “Drama Sighted” as a teaching tool.

“A Stroke Of Endurance” Shoot Day 2

Today(July 3) we had another shoot for “A Stroke Of Endurance”. The day was a bit disorganized because we had to change plans when one of the actors got sick and therefore couldn’t be there, but the day was extremely fruitful. We now have roughly 75% to 80% of the film shot. Everyone did fantastic work! I am utterly honored to work with such talented individuals! Towards the end of the film shoot the camera battery died at the worse time much to my slight embarrassment because I like to create a very professional yet comfortable environment to work in during production. Luckily a few of my actors were generous enough to film the last 5 shots via their iPhones for free and totally saved my production schedule by doing so! I am so very grateful to them!  One of my cast members also informed me Crip Video Productions has been getting press via UCP.

“A Stroke Of Endurance” shoot day 1

Today(June 28) was our first shoot day for “A Stroke Of Endurance” The shoot went wonderfully! Everyone contributed to the scenes with ideas and input. I enjoyed allowing the actors to be part of multiple parts of the film making process. Some actors helped me shoot extra angles with their iPhones. Everyone looked great together and had good vibes together. We shot some intense emotional scenes as well as some more comedic scenes. The actors were even more talented than I thought! We even found a clever way to make a few disabled actors appear able bodied when the story demanded it due to some characters being newly disabled by changing camera angles and using objects in the room. The cast has an interesting mix of physically disabled, learning disabled, and able bodied and are of different races and ages. The cast includes 2 of the actors from our previous film “Crips Not Creeps”. Thanks to some new recording equipment we hope “A Stroke Of Endurance” will have at least a slightly higher visual and audio quality than previous Crip Video Productions films.

June 9 2017: Audio Description and Dylan Rothbiem 

In November of 2016 I met Dylan Rothbein at a disability related event on a campus. I was happy to discover he was a professional filmmaker and knew how to audio describe film. He also informed me that he had autism and dyslexia and was interested in disability rights and #neurodiversity. We agreed that Dylan would audio describe our 3 previous Crip Video Productions films. I met with Dylan regularly in the winter of 2016 and spring of 2017 learning about audio description from him as he recorded the audio. He taught me a lot about autism and dyslexia. I have had some experience with children who have autism but it was nice to hear about autism from an adult with the condition. Dylan and I finished recording the audio description on April 6th 2017 for our blind and low vision fans who requested we ad audio description to the films to increase #accessibility. We expect to release the audio described versions of all 3 of our previous films sometime in 2018 and plan to ad audio description to all future films including our newest project “A Stroke Of Endurance”. Then Dylan shared his film plans and music with me and I quickly discovered we had somewhat similar life experiences and creative ideas. His work has a style somewhat similar to that of Crip Video Productions.
Please,please check out Dylan’s latest short film titled “Mirror Indifference” online for free at this link https://vimeopro.com/alphabetcityfilms/mirror-indifference
Dylan Rothbein also has a brand new website here! http://dylanrothbein.weebly.com/


Dustin Jones who was in our film “Crips Not Creeps” http://cripvideoproductions.com/cripsnotcreeps.php is in some new episodes of the youtube series “Men On the Move” here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHk--9Zd8bk and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-SQjwfWnfs

In Crip Video Productions news, We had 2 wonderful screenings which you can read about here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/161036296636/student-screening and here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/161298322001/impromptu-drama-sighted-screening and we are in the process of rehearsals for “A Stroke Of Endurance” http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/161340294141/a-stroke-of-endurance-skype-rehearsal-2 We are getting closer to narrowing down exact dates for our shooting schedule for “A Stroke Of Endurance”. Unfortunately we may need to recast the roles of “Paranoid Student” and “Student 3” immediately because of scheduling conflicts!
Here are the character descriptions:
“PARANOID STUDENT: Female. 20s. Sweet and often talks in quick, frantic voice.”
STUDENT 3:  20s. Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Able bodied actor preferred.”

if anybody is interested please see this link ASAP! http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call Then contact us immediately via cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com

“A Stroke Of Endurance” Skype rehearsal 2

Tonight we had another Skype rehearsal with the cast of “A Stroke Of Endurance” This time we had more cast members rehearsing together at once which allowed me to see more of how the film script flowed and also generated some interesting discussion among the cast members about people projecting their own issues onto others, the challenges of college, how disabled people are often unaware of the resources available to them, and the importance of minority groups like the disabled and black people telling their own stories,and even the dangers of assisted suicide. The delivery of the lines was much improved since the first rehearsal which I was thrilled about! 

We are still casting a few more roles for “A Stroke Of Endurance” here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call 

Impromptu “Drama Sighted” screening

Today I was invited by friends to a small private disability awareness event. We were not originally intending to screen any of my films but luckily we had some extra time and luckily since my films are available on youtube we can screen them anywhere with an internet connection. So on a whim we screened the first Crip Video Productions film “Drama Sighted” for the people in the room! I was thrilled to have an unexpected opportunity to share my work!  After the screening we had a discussion about bullying,invisible disability, how/when/if to disclose an invisible disability and not assuming negative intentions in others. One disabled audience member talked about how they are not sure what to do when able bodied people around them assume they can’t do something they actually can indeed do. One person asked if I casted the films myself. After the screening and discussion I made an announcement about the casting of our new film “A Stroke Of Endurance” here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call 

In production news we have gotten new better equipment for the shooting of “A Stroke Of Endurance” and have more rehearsals planned for the very near future. 

Student Screening

(Spoiler alert: This post may contain spoilers if you have not watched “Drama Sighted”, “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” and “Crips Not Creeps”! Scroll down to the older posts to watch the films to avoid any spoilers!)

Yesterday(May 23 2017)I had a private screening of all 3 currently released Crip Video Productions films. We had a nice turnout including some cast members from our newest in-production upcoming film titled “A Stroke Of Endurance” in attendance. I was glad some of the cast members saw the screening so they could see the kind of work I do with the films once they have been completed. I tried to give a little introduction explaining why I made the films. I also explained that I’m still casting for my new film “A Stroke Of Endurance” here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call  in case the audience was interested. We had a little Q&A and discussion after each film.

After the first film “Drama Sighted” someone asked if I had ever been been bullied like the main character Brandon. I told them those scenes had been based more on other people but that I had been bullied only once in first grade. Another person asked “why the characters insulted each other.” I answered that it was immaturity of the characters. The way I see it the disabled characters are also capable of being immature and imperfect as Brandon would only be roughly 15 years old and Lisa would be only roughly 25 years old in the film continuity/film canon of the first film. I explained that I would have written “Drama Sighted” very differently if I had written it now.

After we showed “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” someone asked me how long it took to make each film. I told them “Drama Sighted” took about a year because I had to find a new film editor, but that the other films generally took about 6 to 8 months to produce. One person asked how I casted the films, and I told them about “Alliance for Inclusion in the arts” and my other methods adding that finding disabled actors was not always easy, especially finding people willing to work pro bono.



After we showed “Crips Not Creeps” one of the audience members asked how to find the youtube versions of each film so he could send the links to other colleges and college professionals. I was very, very grateful and thrilled with the idea! One person asked why “Crips Not Creeps” ended on a cliffhanger. I explained I just liked it that way so my fans could guess as to what became of the characters. Some audience members said “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” was their favorite of the 3 films, and others said “Crips Not Creeps” was their favorite. One audience member told a story about when she used crutches after an injury and another person talked about a disability they had which was caused by type 1 diabetes. My films had reminded them of those stories and reminded them that sometimes disability is hard but that life can be good with the disability.

Special thanks from Crip Video Productions to SWA and PTK for the wonderful opportunity! 
I have special permission from SWA and PTK of KCC to post this blog entry.

May 23 2017 screening:

For KCC students only! Student screening of all 3 Crip Video Productions films

“Drama Sighted”
“Only Those Who Limp Allowed”
“Crips Not Creeps”
Q&A afterwords with director,writer and producer of the films Margot Cole who is a student and a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
Sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa and Student World Assembly.
Tuesday May 23 2017 at 4:00pm in the Honors Lounge. Room M-378 Refreshments will be served!
Crip Video Productions’ mission is to increase understanding of Disability through storytelling. To find out more please visit http://cripvideoproductions.com
Email cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com

Please note, I had special permission from Student World Assembly to post this blog entry. 

Also, I am still casting some roles for my new film called “A Stroke Of Endurance” at this link http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call Please share my casting information if you know anybody who may be interested in acting in the film pro bono!! 

EDIT: This screening has already happened. Read about it here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/161036296636/student-screening 

"A Stroke Of Endurance" Skype Rehearsal 1

On May 11th and May 14th 2017 I started having rehearsals with the cast of “A Stroke Of Endurance” despite the film not being fully casted yet. It is the first time Crip Video Productions has used Skype for rehearsals since the production of our first film “Drama Sighted” and allows us more flexibility. The rehearsals went better than I expected,considering I could not have the entire cast together, I was impressed with how well the actors did and how smooth the script already sounded. I also got to give more detailed acting notes and some of the cast has already provided good ideas on how to better get the character development across for which I am grateful. 

We are still casting some roles here http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/157585455766/a-stroke-of-endurance-casting-call especially some physically disabled student roles so please,please feel free to share this information! 

Google Plus Press for casting

Crip Video Productions is getting some much needed publicity via google plus thanks to a fan of ours! Special thanks to Adelaide Dupont! He also created the awesome new hashtag #astrokeofendurance in honor of our newest film production! We are still casting for the roles of “Professor 2″ and some physically disabled student characters so please contact cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com ASAP if you or anyone you know may be interested! We start shooting in June 2017 so time is running out and we really need the help! Please,please,please share this information! Crip Video Productions can also be found on google plus. We regularly post updates to our google plus here https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430 



"A Stroke Of Endurance" Casting Call!

Crip Video Productions: Casting Call 2017: “A Stroke Of Endurance”

I am posting this to announce my new film project titled “A Stroke Of Endurance”, The film is about a disabled college student who has Cerebral Palsy and her classmates who must deal the physical and emotional ramifications of their professor becoming disabled in the middle of the semester when they least expect it. The film will be roughly 17 minutes long, and will feature some brand new abled bodied and physically disabled characters. Here is the list of the characters we need to cast.

PROFESSOR BEN: ​Male. 30s to 40s. Can be of any race. Has a gentle nature and is slightly stubborn. He has a mild stroke so he has a slight motor and sensory disability but can walk and speak very clearly. His mental functions i.e mental abilities and speech are NOT affected. Disabled actor highly preferred but not mandatory. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

ALICE:​ Female. 20s. She has strong Christian faith and is a voice of reason. African American actress preferred. Able bodied actress preferred but not mandatory. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

ADVISOR: ​Female. 30s to 40s. Able bodied. Rude and condescending. Can be of any race. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

PROFESSOR 1:​ Female prefered. 40s. Able Bodied. White. Has very thick southern accent. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

PROFESSOR 2:​ 30s to 40s. Can be male or female but male highly preferred. Can be of any race. Able bodied. Speaks in loud voice and likes to show off. Is a bit obnoxious. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

PARANOID STUDENT: ​Female. 20s. Sweet and often talks in quick, frantic voice. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

BIG MOUTH STUDENT:​ Male. 20s. Able Bodied actor preferred. Very blunt. Says whatever is on his mind but has good intentions. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

STUDENT 1:​ 20s. Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Able bodied actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

STUDENT 2: 20s. ​Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Able bodied actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

StUDENT 3:  20s. ​Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Able bodied actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

DISABLED STUDENT 1:​ 20s. Has physical disability. Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Disabled actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

DISABLED STUDENT 2: 20s. ​Has physical disability. Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Disabled actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

DISABLED STUDENT 3: 20s. ​Has physical disability. Can be male or female. Can be of any race. Disabled actor preferred. (EDIT: This role has been casted)

This film will also likely require a mix of young adult disabled and able bodied extras. Please let me know if you would like to be an extra? Please provide phone number,email address, and photo if possible when emailing the address(s) below.

All scenes will be shot in south Brooklyn, New York City (NYC). All scenes will be shot in accessible locations. Non-professional actors as well as professional actors welcomed. No acting experience required. PLEASE NOTE: This is a very low budget project so actors must be willing to work ​PRO BONO(no pay)! H​owever some food will be provided and the actors will receive free DVD copies of the finished film(as many copies as they wish). Rehearsals and shooting will take place around June/July 2017. I hope to release the film onto youtube and this blog in late 2017 or early 2018 depending on how fast the post production process is.

If you, or anyone you know, is interested please contact me ASAP at cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com​ and/or ​casting@cripvideoproductions.com

Please reblog! And feel free to share this information on other social media sites like Twitter,Facebook, and Google Plus so as many people as possible see this post!! Thank you! This post and the blog itself will be updated as casting happens so some information may be subject to change. More updates coming soon! For more information please visit our website http://cripvideoproductions.com​ and our tumblr blog http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com

DISCLAIMER:​ DVDs of the films featured on this blog are not for release to the general public. Only cast and crew receive DVDs.
While we research disability and write the most accurate portrayals possible,our films are NOT a form of medical advice! Please consult medical professionals on such matters.