Conversation with journalist-turned-filmmaker Bryan Cote (THE BOSTON BULLDOGS) on his love of movies and how great films of the past still hold up. Using “The Natural” and “Moonstruck” as examples as how they are still relevant today.
LISTEN to the full podcast: https://youtu.be/LLbdqNhvvME
THE BOSTON BULLDOGS, 96min., USA
Directed by Bryan Cote
“The Boston Bulldogs” is a 90-minute documentary film interviewing 5 people from a running club for addiction recovery, interconnected by one woman’s story from finishing the Boston Marathon after her first full year of sobriety to her relapse 24 hours later, and now her recovery 10 years later. The filmmakers follow Meaghan on a run at the site of her first day with the club in 2014, talk with her sister who saw her addiction at its worst and helped her to recovery, interview Meaghan and her husband Conan about their relationship, their hope for their kids, and Conan’s path, interview Ashley who talks about her low self-confidence on the way to addiction and recovery and how Meaghan saved her life, return to Meaghan and Ashley’s sober living house, and hear why the club formed from its founder. The film is intended to show people in recovery in a positive, hopeful light, providing guidance for those dealing with addiction now, their family and for youth and families dealing with the pressures that come from coming of age in the 2020s.
https://www.thebehavioralhealthhour.com/
Get to know the filmmaker:
What motivated you to make this film? I
I‘m a lifelong journalist and love to tell stories and wanted to work with my son on a project to marry our two interests – mine writing, his more broadcasting and film. This was an easy story to want to tell because addiction affects so many people worldwide and is misunderstood, and the running club is a great way to address addiction and recovery, particularly at a public health level but very much so at a local level. I wanted to try to tell this story in a different way than on paper…
What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Rewarding and validating. It was great to hear the reviewers mention things like the questions we asked and how the film impacted them. I also appreciated one of the reviewers acknowleding that the film is long – probably too long – which I get and I agree with candidly….I found it difficult to organize and package the content in a film compared to a written story. Much easier with words. Harder with images, video.
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