The first completed version

I just sent the first completed version of Gen Silent to it's premiere this weekend in Boston at the LGBT Film Festival there. We chose Boston because the film is entirely shot there.

It's taken twenty months to get to this Fed-Ex drop off and the last four months have been non-stop in front of the editor. Working out stopped about two months ago when it became clear that we wouldn't be getting an assistant editor.

Director Stu Maddux 10 lbs. heavier after the final months of editing

Hard to believe it's been a year since Krys Anne passed away

KrysAnne Hembrough from Gen Silent

Emails from Krys Anne's caregiving group circulated today in remembrance of the anniversary of her death from cancer.
She is one of the most compelling subjects of my current documentary, Gen Silent that premiere's in just a few days.

Krys Anne reviews her latest interview shot on a Canon XH-A1

For me, it was the anniversary of pulling together a group of people in the LGBT community to care for her. We barely knew each other or her. But through her case worker, Jenifer Firestone, we learned that our community has the power to care for our LGBT elders or any if us who is facing mortality alone.
Many of us know what it's like to be alone. I think it's the one thing I'm grateful that people coming out today will never have to feel- that they are the only LGBT person in the world. But there is a power in having felt that. I won't let it happen to people on the back side of their lives.

Krys Anne and Director Stu Maddux look at footage during their first week shooting

Emerging from Submarine Duty

You'll see a 75 day gap in between entries because I've been so busy finishing Gen Silent. There has not even time to tweet and I'm afraid it would have been the same thing over and over: editing.

Journal: How I keep going?

My edit suite when I first see it in the morning.
Visible in this photo: last night's bowl of chili, Emmies and a cat.

"Funds are running low". "Time is running out".

These phrases cross the brain of just about every independent filmmaker. It's like that news ticker in Times Square.
For me, I must have a constant source of something that gets me up at 4am (yes 4am) when the fear can be at its worst.

Kingpin still uses Firewire 400 cables

It is an unwavering belief in how important this film is. A gratification about how much it is going to help people. If I held any other main motive in my heart for doing this then I would succumb to doubts ad infinitum.

Ahhh, that's feels much better now that I've written that out.

Journal: Editing Gen Silent

Stu Maddux editing a scene from Gen Silent with Lawrence Johnson

From here in Novato, California, I am spending most of most of my waking hours in Boston, Massachusetts as seen sitting two feet from a large HDTV editing monitor.

The months between now and the May premiere of our documentary, Gen Silent, will be a non-stop race to finish the film with the dwindling funds that we have.
We are about 40% finished with the rough cut and it looks phenomenal.

Alexandre Rheaume cared for by his partner Lawrence Johnson

The access that these LGBT seniors have bravely given us into their lives simply takes my breath away at times. There is nothing like it out there that explains so clearly their fears of discrimination and isolation as they grow old.

If we can get it out there, this film will be a life-changer for people.

Ordering individual scenes before editing

Director talks dabout LGBT aging and latest documentary at http://voices.outtakeonline.com/

I just wanted to say thank you

On Feb 9, 2010, at 7:48 PM, Ellen Grudowski wrote:

Mr. Maddux,

I just wanted to say thank you for giving a voice to a cause that people often never think about. I am an undergraduate social work student at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio and often feel alone here in my quest to educate others about the invisible LGBT senior population. You have created such an important documentary that, from the little I've seen, sheds light on something I am quite passionate about. I am the only student in my class who is devoted to LGBT seniors and have found it difficult to articulate the issues that face this often forgotten about population. Again, I thank you for making this documentary.

I have made it my humble mission to try and change the face of the resources that already exist within Columbus so that LGBT elders can feel welcome. I plan on putting together a LGBT senior sensitivity training/education for my internship to present to agency caregivers, homemakers, and meal delivery personnel in the spring. My hopes are that if this workshop is a success that I can present it to other agencies within Columbus, and help open doors for the LGBT seniors in my community. I'm also working on a research project that highlights the life of a gay gentleman living in rural America and his long-term intimate relationship with his partner. My goal with this project is to put forth a positive portrayal of gay men into the academic research world as most research journals and articles tend to focus on the negative topics such as domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and the supposed impossibility for gays to exist in rural areas.

I am passionate about this cause, and am wondering if there is anything I can do to help your documentary reach a wider audience? Ohio is not the most gay friendly state in general, but Columbus has one of the largest gay populations in the midwest, so I'd be more than happy to push to have your documentary shown here if it is not already coming here. If there is anything I can do please let me know.

Thanks again,
Ellen Grudowski