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This Movie is SH*T! explores reality of Crohn’s and Colitis

March 17, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Unless you know someone with Crohn’s or Colitis, there’s a good chance that while you may recognize the name, you may not know what it is about. For those who do know and understand about it, you recognize just how much it can disrupt your life and make things difficult.

Chron’s and Colitis are diseases which target your GI (gastrointestinal) tract by inflaming the lining and making it difficult for your body to digest food, absorb nutrition and eliminate waste in a healthy manner. This can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramping, gas, bloating, fatigue, diarrhea (possibly bloody) and loss of appetite. Crohn’s and Colitis are the two main forms of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease).

Bridget O’Rourke, former Orangeville resident and 2012 graduate of Orangeville District Secondary School, had the opportunity to learn more about these two diseases than she had ever known before, while creating a documentary for her as a Media Studies student at Ryerson University in Toronto.

The idea for the documentary was pitched by one of the group members, a girl whose boyfriend suffers from Crohn’s disease.

“She had no idea what it was when they started dating, and as she learned more about the disease and how many people it affects, she wanted to help bring more awareness to it,” explained Ms. O’Rourke. “This project acts like a thesis project to use hands on experience in the program. We chose to do a documentary, which follows the story of two people in their twenties who have Crohn’s.”

The group producing this documentary consists of 10 people filling roles utilized in the filmmaking process, including a director (Ms. O’Rourke), Producer, Director of Photography, Editor/Web & Graphic Designer, Marketing Manager, Behind the Scenes, Audio Supervisor, Production Manager, Financial Director and Locations Manager.

The is called This Movie is SH*T! and explores the way the two young adults live their lives and how the disease affects it, as well as how it affects relationships such as romantic ones, family and friends.

While many people have very little knowledge on either disease, they actually affect a large number of Canadians. In fact, Canada has the highest rates of the disease in the world, with 1 in every 150 Canadians living with Crohn’s or Colitis. Despite the fact that there are over 5 million people worldwide with IBD, there is still no cure.

“Our goal with this documentary is to bring more awareness to the disease, especially regarding young people who suffer with it,” said Ms. O’Rourke. “People don’t always know that it does target those of younger ages, as it is most often associated with older people. We wanted to show that while it’s not as common, many people in their twenties or younger also struggle with this.”

The group recently held their movie’s premiere at The Spoke Club in downtown Toronto, where they had an official launch party and cocktail hour. The event, which had 250 tickets available, sold out completely within two weeks.

“Having a launch party wasn’t a requirement, but it was something we wanted to do on the side, and make the film into a whole package,” added Ms. O’Rourke. “We have an online aspect for it to.”

Their website, www.thismovieisshit.com , greets you with their slogan “Kick IBD where it hurts” and provides a description of the documentary, as well as ways to get in touch, information about the team, the project, and on what IBD and Crohn’s and Colitis are.

The online component also shows interviews completed with other young people who suffer with the diseases, and includes interaction on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“We think that’s important because video and social media are huge components of how people learn and get information these days,” said Ms. O’Rourke. “There are also lots of different things to look up.”

The group added in an email that: “Talking about poop isn’t fun for anyone—and certainly not if your poop habits aren’t exactly healthy! This documentary will be a resource for those with Crohn’s and Colitis to share with family and friends so that they don’t have to do all of the talking.”

In the email, Ms. O’Rourke also explained the documentary would provide a way to discuss an otherwise-uncomfortable topic.

“The focus is on young sufferers of IBD because it is often in young people that this disease first arises,” she wrote. “It’s a particularly vulnerable time to be diagnosed with a disease with a host of ‘embarrassing’ symptoms. There is a void in resources for young Crohn’s and UC patients that our documentary will fill.”

In order to create the film, the team had to fundraise it for themselves. They set an initial goal of $5000 online, and within a month raised almost $7000.

“People are really excited about learning about IBD, and we learned how strong the Crohn’s and Colitis community is,” said Ms. O’Rourke. “We didn’t know if we’d even get the initial mount, and we ended up bypassing that. The amount beyond our goal, along with any of the funds we don’t use, will be donated to Crohn’s and Colitis Canada.”

The opportunity to produce the film as a director plays into Ms. O’Rourke’s long-term goals, along with the education she received on this disease. She hopes to do directing in the future, and explained the process itself helped her learn more about the role, making a movie, and how everyone’s roles work together.

“I feel like I got a lot of good experience working in a team with people and being open to everyone’s ideas, listening and working with them, yet remaining capable of keeping it in the direction you want to see it go,” she explained. “By learning all that, I feel it will definitely help me in working with a film crew.”

She added that she also now knows the process of making a documentary, and doing it in such a short time frame. The film itself was produced in about six months, and while a short-film can be easy because most of the work comes from the pre-planning process, it’s not the case with a documentary.

“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Ms. O’Rourke. “I didn’t have much experience in documentaries before this, and I didn’t know much about Crohn’s, so I went in blind. It was amazing to discover how much you can learn through hearing others experiences. Which is part of the whole documentary process — you have to kind of wait and see what happens, yet film enough of these people’s lives to portray a strong message.”

More information about the movie, how to get involved with raising awareness for IBD, or to find out how to view the film, visit their website at www.thismovieisshit.com or check them out on Facebook.

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