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DVDs on Screenwriting
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 DVD: Living With Lew -- A 90-Minute Documentary By Adam Bardach:
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Synopsis
Scott Lew is
a funny guy. His taste for the absurd has served him well throughout a
successful career as a Hollywood film executive turned writer/director.
Without exaggeration, he's one of those people who is genuinely liked
and admired by all who know him.
In 2003, at the age of 33, Scott Lew was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
ALS is a commonly fatal neuro-muscular disease, which leads to the loss
of the ability to breathe, speak, chew, swallow, or support one's own
body weight. Because ALS attacks only motor neurons, the senses of
sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell are not affected. For the vast
majority of people, the intellect remains sharp throughout the course
of the disease despite the eventual, total paralysis of the body. The
average life-span of a patient with ALS is three to five years from the
time of diagnosis.
Despite this devastating news and the rapid progression of his
disability, Scott forged ahead and made the choice to direct his first
feature film, Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas.
He had written the script years before, about an eccentric college kid
whose grand theories of the universe reach cult status.
Characteristically "Scott" in the script's cosmic reflections and
wildly funny writing, we see the ideas in the film strangely parallel
Scott's changing perspective.
Over the next three years, as Scott worked tirelessly to achieve his
goal, trusted friend and filmmaker Adam Bardach set forth to document
Scott's trials and triumphs. The resulting film, Living With Lew, is an
intimate portrayal of a man forced to make enormous life-decisions in
the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Living With Lew is ultimately a story of hope, bravery and a family's
love. It is the story of one man's indomitable spirit, relentless lust
for life, dogged pursuit of a dream and his wild, subversive sense of
humor that carries him through an unimaginable turn in his life story.
About The Filmmakers
 Adam Bardach
was born and raised in London, England. His father, Gene Gutowski, was
the producer of early Roman Polanski classics Repulsion, Cul-De-Sac and
Fearless Vampire Killers among others.
Adam moved to LA in the early nineties and began his own film career in
agency mailrooms, followed by a two year stint assisting producer Joel
Silver. He soon struck out on his own and began producing commercials
and music videos before discovering a passion for documentaries.
Over the past decade, Adam has produced over ten award-winning
documentary films including Hate.Com: Extremists On the Internet and A
Season of Fury for HBO’s ‘America Undercover’ series.
He also produced The Monster That Ate Hollywood for Frontline/PBS.
Taking advantage of faster, cheaper, DV technologies as they became
available, Adam went on to produce three indie, festival favorites
Karaoke Fever, Welcome Sinners! and People of Earth. He found himself
taking on more and more of the creative responsibilities on these
films, gradually learning to shoot, edit and ultimately direct.
Living With Lew is Adam Bardach’s first
documentary as director. He also acted as both producer and
cinematographer of the film.
Claire Didier
left her hometown of Rochester, Minnesota at 17 to work at an orphanage
in Bologna, Italy, and later a refugee center in Rome. Returning to the
U.S. she earned a BA at the U of Michigan in a major of her own making,
“History as Spectacle.” The subject has remained a
motivating interest in her professional choices, compelling her to move
to Los Angeles in the late 1990’s to edit documentary film.
She has edited a number of feature documentaries, including Welcome
Sinners!, People of Earth, and The Restoration of
Cassavetes’” Shadows,” which she also shot and
directed for Criterion. Having cut programs for HBO, VH1, FOX, TLC,
Animal Planet, and Travel Channel, etc, she has spent the last few
years at PBS editing the award –winning program California
Connected, in tandem with Living with Lew.
Claire can also be seen performing as the Blazing Queen of the Rhumba, in and around Los Angeles.
What Is ALS?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's
Disease, is a progressive neuromuscular disorder that is caused when
the motor nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement gradually
die resulting in paralysis and potentially death. It progresses at
different rates in each individual, with the average time of survival
being three years to five years from onset.
ALS strikes men and women equally between the ages of 40 and 70 years
old, although it can start at an earlier or later age. Nationally, the
incidence of ALS is 1 per 100,000 people with approximately 5,000 new
cases diagnosed annually. It is not contagious nor is it generally an
inherited disease, however 5 -10% of those who develop ALS has a family
history of the disease. There is no known cause nor proven treatment
for ALS, though researchers are exploring several viable theories. A
number of clinical trials are currently underway with the hope that a
successful treatment will be found. Until that time, many ALS symptoms
can be successfully managed, enabling people to live their lives longer
with dignity, while enjoying a greater quality of life.
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