Students at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts have created a remarkable short film called “Donate Life.” In 18 minutes, they manage to tell the story of a high school student with a heart problem, perform a catchy song you will not be able to get out of your head, and make you understand why you should sign up to be an organ donor when you get your driver’s license.
“They wrote the script, they wrote the music, and they were the performers,” Jeanette Slakey, director of the Legacy Donor Foundation, said. “It’s a message about donation from young adults to young adults.”
“Donate Life,” a collaboration between The Legacy Donor Foundation, Donate Life Louisiana and NOCCA, educates teenagers about organ, eye and tissue donation. It will be shown in drivers education classes throughout Louisiana.
“We’re lucky,” Slakey said. “A half-hour of instruction on donation was legislated for every drivers education course across the state. Louisiana is one of the few states that have done this.”
Donate Life from Donate Life Louisiana on Vimeo.
But there was no curriculum for that 30 minutes of instruction. And after looking at what was being used to educate young people around the country, Slakey -- whose mission is to educate Louisianians about donation and inspire us to register as donors -- wanted something better.
“I didn’t think throwing a bunch of facts and figures at young adults was going to inspire them to donate,” she said.
Then she thought about NOCCA.
“Who better to tell the story than these amazingly talented kids?” she said.
She approached NOCCA to see if faculty members would be interested in collaborating with the Legacy Donor Foundation and Donate Life Louisiana.
“We had done some 30-second videos and other small projects,” Paul Werner, NOCCA media arts chair, said. “But this would involve multiple departments -- media arts, musical theater and creative writing. We had to decide if we could fit it into our curriculum.”
When they decided they could, the first step was educating the students about donation. A transplant doctor, a former NOCCA student who had received a heart transplant, and members of the Legacy Donor Foundation and the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency spoke to the students at a youth forum.
They learned that there are many misconceptions about organ donation: Rich and famous people don’t go to the top of the list. Most religions do favor transplants. And even people who aren’t in great health can be donors of eyes and tissue. They also learned that every day people die waiting for life-saving organs.
“We told them, ‘We want you to write a short film dispelling those misconceptions and explaining why people should register," Slakey said.
Once they got the facts, they were ready to unleash their creativity, and the Legacy Donor Foundation hired a professional director and a professional photography director to work with them.
“One of our board members has connections in the movie industry, and he recruited some amazing professionals -- people working on Treme and 21 Jump Street,” Slakey said. “They mentored the NOCCA students behind the camera.”
The project evolved into a time-consuming, intensive, rewarding labor of love for everyone involved.
“From the beginning, it was a student-driven project,” Werner said. “It wasn’t a group of adults telling the students what to do. They wanted the student voices.”
They also wanted the students to learn about the technical side of making a film.
“We got involved in the creative and technical aspects at all levels,” Werner said. “We were using all the creativity and talents of our faculty as well as the students. We kind of got the best out of everyone.”
The actual filming was done over spring break.
“It was a five-day shoot of 12-hour days with a professional crew,” Werner said. “When the students get to experience that kind of big shoot, it gives them a whole different perspective.”
For Shangobunmi McAlpine, 17, the lead in the music video at the end of the film, that week was a revelation.
“Oh my God, we retook the same scene at least 50 times,” she said. “I thought we got it the first time, but they wanted it to be extra perfect.”
McAlpine has done lots of live musical theater but she had never done a film.
“I didn’t know how tedious it was going to be,” she said. “It was strenuous. It was long. But the end product was worth it.”
Now, she understands why it takes so long to make a movie.
“I can appreciate that there’s a lot of time and effort people have to put into making quality products,” she said.
The story the creative writing students wrote centers on Claire, a high school student who needs a heart transplant. While she is in the hospital awaiting a new heart, her friends change their opinion about organ donation.
The music video drives home their message: “On your I.D., put the sign of a heart. You can Donate Life. That’s how it starts.”
For McAlpine, becoming a donor was an easy decision.
“Honestly, even before we did the video, I had told my parents I wanted to be a donor,” she said.
While most of the movie was filmed at NOCCA, during the last section of the music video, the students are splashing in the fountain at the Piazza d’Italia.
“That was all very real,” McAlpine said. “It was over, and we were ready to celebrate.”
At the end of the film, the young actors sit down and talk to Britney Dugas, a former media arts student at NOCCA who was diagnosed with dilated cardiomopathy -- a frequent cause of heart failure -- at 10. She went from having Olympic aspirations to not being able to do much of anything.
“At one point I felt like I was just going to give in and die,” she tells them.
A heart transplant gave her a second chance, which is what “Donate Life” is all about. And now, Dugas is a donor, too.
“I can’t donate my heart, but the rest of me is all right to go,” she says, smiling.
The students’ message is exactly what Slakey envisioned at the beginning of the project.
“It’s about life,” she said. “It’s about saving lives and healing lives. It’s about all those things that are inspiring.”To become an organ, eye and tissue donor, visit Donate Life or sign up when you get or renew your driver’s license.
Once they got the facts, they were ready to unleash their creativity, and the Legacy Donor Foundation hired a professional director and a professional photography director to work with them.
“One of our board members has connections in the movie industry, and he recruited some amazing professionals -- people working on Treme and 21 Jump Street,” Slakey said. “They mentored the NOCCA students behind the camera.”
The project evolved into a time-consuming, intensive, rewarding labor of love for everyone involved.
“From the beginning, it was a student-driven project,” Werner said. “It wasn’t a group of adults telling the students what to do. They wanted the student voices.”
They also wanted the students to learn about the technical side of making a film.
“We got involved in the creative and technical aspects at all levels,” Werner said. “We were using all the creativity and talents of our faculty as well as the students. We kind of got the best out of everyone.”
The actual filming was done over spring break.
“It was a five-day shoot of 12-hour days with a professional crew,” Werner said. “When the students get to experience that kind of big shoot, it gives them a whole different perspective.”
For Shangobunmi McAlpine, 17, the lead in the music video at the end of the film, that week was a revelation.
“Oh my God, we retook the same scene at least 50 times,” she said. “I thought we got it the first time, but they wanted it to be extra perfect.”
McAlpine has done lots of live musical theater but she had never done a film.
“I didn’t know how tedious it was going to be,” she said. “It was strenuous. It was long. But the end product was worth it.”
Now, she understands why it takes so long to make a movie.
“I can appreciate that there’s a lot of time and effort people have to put into making quality products,” she said.
The story the creative writing students wrote centers on Claire, a high school student who needs a heart transplant. While she is in the hospital awaiting a new heart, her friends change their opinion about organ donation.
The music video drives home their message: “On your I.D., put the sign of a heart. You can Donate Life. That’s how it starts.”
For McAlpine, becoming a donor was an easy decision.
“Honestly, even before we did the video, I had told my parents I wanted to be a donor,” she said.
While most of the movie was filmed at NOCCA, during the last section of the music video, the students are splashing in the fountain at the Piazza d’Italia.
“That was all very real,” McAlpine said. “It was over, and we were ready to celebrate.”
At the end of the film, the young actors sit down and talk to Britney Dugas, a former media arts student at NOCCA who was diagnosed with dilated cardiomopathy -- a frequent cause of heart failure -- at 10. She went from having Olympic aspirations to not being able to do much of anything.
“At one point I felt like I was just going to give in and die,” she tells them.
A heart transplant gave her a second chance, which is what “Donate Life” is all about. And now, Dugas is a donor, too.
“I can’t donate my heart, but the rest of me is all right to go,” she says, smiling.
The students’ message is exactly what Slakey envisioned at the beginning of the project.
“It’s about life,” she said. “It’s about saving lives and healing lives. It’s about all those things that are inspiring.”To become an organ, eye and tissue donor, visit Donate Life or sign up when you get or renew your driver’s license.
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