Teen Cancer Survivor’s Hollywood Dream Comes True
LOS ANGELES (June 12, 2018) – Rachel’s Pitch, premiering on Wed., June 20 (7pm PT) at the James Bridges theater at UCLA, is the screenwriting and directorial debut of Julia Fulmer, a talented, young filmmaker who made this comedic film in conjunction with Think Ten Media Group as her official “wish” with support from Make-A-Wish South Carolina.
The family-friendly event is free and open to the public. Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rachels-pitch-la-premiere-tickets-46738362701.
The film stars two-time Grammy Award nominee and YouTube sensation Jamie Grace as Rachel, with Andrew Bowen (MADtv) opposite her as Mr. McKnight, a big-time Hollywood producer. Bowen’s most recent project, The 716th, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Nancy Lantis (Grace & Frankie, Veep, Newgirl) rounds out this comedic cast.
Jamie Grace and director Julia Fulmer will be in attendance at the premiere for a Q&A along with other cast and crew.
Fulmer is not your average teenager. At 16 years old, she had spent more time wheeling down hospital corridors than high school hallways. As a young girl she enjoyed making home movies with her brothers. Then, at 13, she was diagnosed with T-Cell ALL. Julia’s story was one of 50 featured in Hernan Barangan’s acclaimed documentary, Cancer Rebellion.
“Julia’s extraordinary story first touched us when we sponsored Hernan Barangan to travel to all 50 states to film the testimony of young people with cancer,” said Simon Davies, executive director of Teen Cancer America, the national non-profit dedicated to providing specialized services and treatment for teens and young adults with cancer. “As part of Hernan’s documentary, Julia’s story has informed our work and provided us with powerful messages to share with health professionals. Julia’s parents have since become passionate supporters of TCA, with her mom, Judy, now leading a parents initiative for us. It is a privilege for us to be associated with Julia and her family, and we’re so excited about her wonderful work as a filmmaker.”
In the midst of her cancer journey, Julia began to study films intensely, determined to develop her own “voice” as a visual storyteller. Soon, she was sharing her experience with the world through video projects created for her own YouTube channel. Always an optimist and with a spirited sense of humor, Julia’s videos often included satire and joy, even when the challenges she faced during treatment were steep. When Make-A-Wish South Carolina began working with her family to grant her “wish,” it quickly became clear that just any typical Hollywood wish wouldn’t do.
Of course, she could visit a Hollywood set, but that wish didn’t seem quite right. Julia’s mother, Judy Fulmer, stumbled upon Spotlight on Hope Film Camp, a free film program for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings run by Think Ten Media Group. She reached out to the company and connected with Think Ten co-founder and film producer, Jennifer Fischer. As the two spoke, it was clear what Julia’s true wish was: she wanted to write and direct her own professional film.
With support from Make-A-Wish South Carolina and mentorship from Think Ten Media Group, including award-winning writer/director Ramon Hamilton, a once-in-a-lifetime filmmaking experience began.
While the film itself is a comedy, the filmmaking process was full of real life drama as Julia contracted pneumonia just two days before the original film shoot was scheduled. Travel from South Carolina to L.A. was too dangerous. Despite being recently declared cancer-free (Julia is currently in remission), many health challenges remained, and Julia’s immune system was highly compromised because of her previous cancer treatments.
It was heartbreaking for all involved to delay the film shoot in L.A., especially for Julia and her parents. However, the Think Ten Media Group team decided to try and use the extra time to make the film even better. They put out a new casting notice. Think Ten was able to secure two-time Grammy nominee and YouTuber Jamie Grace (“The Jamie Grace Show”) to play the lead character in the film, Rachel Jensen.
Fischer and Hamilton did not realize at the time that Jamie Grace was at the top of Julia’s wish list of actors for the project. Starring opposite Grace is Andrew Bowen as Mr. McKnight, the big-time Hollywood producer who has the power, Rachel believes, to make all of her dreams come true. A steady working actor since his debut on MAD TV (his impressions of Keanu Reeves and Nic Cage are legendary), Bowen’s enthusiastic work ethic and ability to transition between comedy and drama has produced a rich filmography. Recently, Bowen wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in the comedic sci-fi short film, The 716TH, which world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year to critical acclaim.
Nearly one year after Judy’s initial phone call with Fischer, Julia Fulmer arrived in L.A. in June of 2017 to shoot Rachel’s Pitch and make her directorial debut. She has been directly involved in every aspect of the filmmaking process, beginning with development of the story and writing her own screenplay, all the way through post-production, consulting directly with the film’s editor, colorist and sound designer to make sure her vision came through in the final cut. Post-production for the project was supported by Women in Film & Television Florida and supporters of Julia’s Seed & Spark post-production crowdfunding campaign.
On Wed., June 20, the premier of Rachel’s Pitch will be hosted by the prestigious UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in the James Bridges Theater. Jamie Grace and Andrew Bowen will be both be at the event. Julia and Jamie will present the film and host a Q&A session after the screening. Additional cast and crew members will be in attendance as well. The crew featured women in most of the key positions as the Think Ten team wanted Julia to see women working in multiple facets of the film industry.
###
“Rachel’s Pitch,” Produced with Help from Make-a-Wish,
Premiers in Los Angeles on Wed., June 20
Contact: Judy and Philip Fulmer (to arrange an interview with Julia Fulmer) at 843-423-6394 or philip.fulmer@juno.com; Ramon Hamilton at 661-600-6320 or ramon@thinktenmediagroup.com (for Think Ten Media Group)
About Think Ten Media Group
Think Ten Media Group (TTMG) is an independent production company co-founded by Jennifer Fischer and Ramon Hamilton, the award winning duo behind the feature-length narrative film SMUGGLED, winner of 5 Best Of Awards at Film Festivals. “Smuggled” has screened at more than 60+ university and college campuses and has been featured by NBCLatino, ABC, Univision and Fusion. Their short film, “The wHOLE” premiered at Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary Human Rights Conference in New York, was selected for PBS’s National Black Programming Consortium’s 360 Incubator, Fall 2016, and screened at the Global Impact Film Festival in Washington, D.C.
Think Ten’s arts education division currently conducts programs with LA’s BEST (the largest after-school provider for LAUSD), the City of Santa Clarita, iLead Santa Clarita; Spotlight On Hope programs have been held at UC-Riverside, USC and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Spotlight On Hope (SOH) came to fruition when UC-Riverside TTMG intern and pediatric brain cancer survivor, Cassie Nguyen realized that the filmmaking workshops that Think Ten conducted for youth throughout Los Angeles County could be tailored for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings and raised funds for the first free camp, conducted at UCLA in 2013. SOH was recently a finalist in UC-Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest. Cassie is now a UC-Riverside Bachelor and Master’s recipient, committed to expanding this important program as its founding Executive Director.