... AND THE WINNER WAS...

"Dear Colton, Love Niko..."

(a short film)

OK, so we didn't win. But hey, I've said all along, and mean it wholeheartedly, that it's not so much about the winning as about the participating in a worthy cause, and Charter Communications offered us that opportunity. Go Charter!!!

Because Childhood Cancer is so very close to our hearts and has been for so long, we were thrilled to have that opportunity, so we pulled our limited resources together and worked our butts off to create a project that would properly convey the message requested by the contest rules, as well as tell the story of a brave little boy and his best friend. And we did it!!

Our movie/short film, "Dear Colton, Love Niko", was a success, and held it's own VERY nicely with the other entries. The others were very good and they brought home the fact that there are few people who have not been touched directly or indirectly by cancer at some point in their lives. The stories ranged from heartbreaking to hopeful, and it was obvious that the film makers had put their hearts into each and every one. The sad thing is that many of them were telling the story of the loss of a loved one, in this case a child, which made the stories even more poignant and difficult to tell. There was one in particular that was so powerfully done that it was like a punch in the gut to me. It was called "Blowing Bubbles" and with any luck, we may be able to eventually find it on youtube. Had I been the judge, THAT one would have won, however, since judging is a subjective art, another great film, "Out Touching Cancer" was chosen.

Bottom line, the whole point was to raise awareness of the need to find cures for all the different types of childhood Cancers and I feel certain that if used properly by Charter Communications, these few stories will go a long way in connecting with the people in their viewing audience.

We're going to try to put our's on you tube when I figure out how, so ya'll stay tuned and I'll let you know how to find it!