Project 22
After tragedy struck home last year, two combat-wounded veterans set out to end a little-known epidemic in America. Their 6,500-mile cross-country mission was to raise awareness of the high rate of suicide among Veterans and show their brothers and sisters-at-arms that there is hope for them. During their journey, they interviewed researchers, healthcare providers, and Veterans. Many of those they encountered had either contemplated or attempted suicide and were able to share the life-saving alternative sources of hope that they had found. Asking hard-hitting questions and opening up about their own struggles, and painfully spurred on by recent estimations that 22 veterans are taking their own lives every single day, Daniel and Doc will stop at nothing to reach tomorrow’s twenty-two.
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Medicinal
Missions Our Vision To restore a Warrior Culture that supports holistic healing and life-long personal growth, while empowering Veterans to serve as Community Leaders and Mentors. Our Mission To transform, expand and partner, continuing to provide therapeutic and empowering resources to our nation’s Warriors. To combine cutting edge research with historical methods of therapy, ritual and healing in search of a Warrior’s Path befitting today’s returning Veterans. To utilize Film and Television as a
platform to efficiently reach Veterans across our nation and
around the world. Synopsis Making of Project 22 Project 22 was a 22 day, 6,500 mile motorcycle awareness campaign from San Francisco to New York City to raise awareness of the high rate of suicides within the Veteran community. As we traveled across the country, we spoke with many Veterans who had contemplated or attempted suicide and asked them for their stories; what led them to it and what brought them out of it. The responses regarding the challenges were in remarkable unison although the hope they found came in many different forms. We were able to explore the therapeutic potential behind sailing, pottery, education, activism, family, service dogs, painting and more. We also spoke with leading researchers of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress, mental health clinicians and educators, as well as, leading experts in warrior culture and combat stress. Coupled with the insightful and potentially life changing information we captured in interviews, we filmed the motorcycle awareness campaign, including camping, several organized rides and our final ride being escorted into World Trade Center by the Port Authority Police Department. We gathered incredible footage and news coverage in multiple cities, including Pittsburgh and New York. Doc flew back to Dallas with a small crew to film three interviews missed during the trip due to inclement weather. Medicinal Missions will continue the awareness campaign, through events and social media, leading up to and following the release of the documentary, Project 22. Project 22 was entirely crowd-funded via an IndieGoGo campaign and private donations. In addition, the crew was offered food, lodging and assistance wherever we rode, helping keep production costs low. Project 22, a Medicinal Missions production, is fiscally sponsored by From The Heart Productions, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.From The Heart has been successfully funding films since inception in 1993 under the 501(c)3 Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Also classified as a public charity under section 509 (a) (2) of the Code. Monetary donations to the Fiscal Sponsorship Program qualify as charitable contributions under the U.S. Tax Code for 95 444 5418. Biographies Daniel Egbert joined the Marine Corps Infantry in 2004 at 17 years old. After two deployments and four faithful years of service his time was fulfilled but he extended for a third deployment to Iraq. Daniel returned to Manhattan where he and Doc were roommates, but soon the duo was broken up as Daniel extended a second time for a fourth deployment to Afghanistan. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he studies filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School. Daniel is the co-founder of Medicinal Missions and co-directed Project 22. Doc King served as a US Army Scout Medic while deployed to Ramadi, Iraq from 2004 to 2005. During his three year enlistment, Doc worked as a Trauma Team Leader in the Madigan Army Medical Center and reached the rank of Sergeant. He then served as a Police Officer for nearly three years before resigning due to increased struggles with Post Traumatic Stress. After living in Seattle and New York, Doc now resides in Los Angeles and is studying Psychology at Antioch University. Doc is the co-founder of Medicinal Missions and co-directed Project 22. Matt Tester joined Project 22 as Producer in July 2013. He was born and raised in London, England before moving to New York City to study at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2008. Upon graduation he started his production company, Better StirFry Productions, where he produced numerous dramatic and comedy shorts before producing the award- winning feature, Buffalo Boys. Distribution On April 15th, 2015 Project 22 will be released theatrically by Tugg, Inc., a web-platform distribution company that provides screenings to educational facilities and local communities, as well as offering theatrical screening options based on demand. Tugg has also helped distribute other military related films, such as High Ground, Restrepo and Korengal, and they have strong ties to the Veteran community. From the beginning of the Project, it has been the team’s goal to have Veterans see this movie for free so we are working with non-profit groups and community leaders to make this happen. The theatrical release is scheduled to begin April of 2015. To request a screening, visit
Tugg
Coastal and
Offshore Recalibration Experience Hosting four sailing clinics in San
Francisco Bay in 2012-13 with the help of the East Coast
based wounded-veteran non-profit “Hope for the
Warriors”, program founders Ronnie Simpson (USMC
Infantry Iraq veteran) and Walter Kotecki (Army Airborne
Veteran) have taken the knowledge that they learned during
those experiences and have teamed up with Medicinal Missions
to build a sustainable program that can create a profoundly
positive and beneficial experience for veterans of this
generation, while helping build a community that stands
ready to work with veterans of future conflicts.“The
clinic” in San Francisco is where Walt and Ronnie met
Doc and Daniel, and it serendipitously served as a spring
board to launch Doc and Dan’s epic cross-country
motorcycle ride for Project 22. While CORE is based around
sailing, this is merely the catalyst for a program that has
earned a reputation as being a “life-experience”
clinic bbq and bluegrassclinic which offers a compelling and
highly tangible experience for veterans that serves to
reinforce the inspiring message of hope that has become the
very ethos of Medicinal Missions and the film Project 22. By
creating awareness for veteran issues, establishing
community and camaraderie where we can heal together and
showcasing the American warrior as a positive force in the
world, the ultimate goal of CORE is to help remedy the
veteran suicide epidemic that currently plagues our
nation..
 CORE’s first clinic will take
place in October 2015 in San Francisco, and will be run in
conjunction with the Bay Area Association of Disables
Sailors (BAADS). Future clinics and programs will take place
in multiple west coast venues beginning in 2016, while we
begin selecting and training an all wounded-veteran crew to
compete in the iconic Transpac race from Los Angeles to
Honolulu in 2017. Fandango
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