The Story
“Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” – Jean Luc Godard
As the mother of a child with a mental health diagnosis, Erin Bright was inspired to share her message of hope in the face of adversity, with the story of Winnetka. Learn more about Erin Bright, and about the story behind the story.
The Inspiration Behind the Film
Family First
At some point in 2016, I'm not sure of the exact date, my son was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was 14 and my family was devastated. It's hard to put into words the years both preceding and post this diagnosis, but what I can say is that they were hard. I've never experienced anything more traumatic really.
Although it is difficult to express in this short form how such a detrimental diagnosis tears a family apart, I can list here a few moments of critical impact, there were: several dozen suicide attempts, another several dozen run-ins with local police, one arrest, two years probation, four different high-schools in three different counties, a handful of hospitalizations, scores of clinicians, doctors and well-meaning therapists, and lots and lots of prescription medications. It was an all consuming venture, and at the time I wasn't sure we were all going to make it through to the other side (*spoiler alert*- we did, we have, and we are now thriving).
It was in this deep valley of life where as the mom, with a kid who had a serious and most definitely high-risk diagnosis, I realized that I too needed help. Not the type of help that comes at the end of a therapy session, and not the type of help that comes at the bottom of a wineglass. I needed an understanding, I needed to wrap my head around this disease that had come in and destroyed my family. What I needed the most at this time was HOPE. This is where Winnetka was born.
For Winnetka, The Short Film, I wrote each character as an homage to this new normal we were all trying so desperately to understand. Winnetka herself is how I imagine that I would personally navigate the psychosis caused by schizophrenia. Many other characters were written to signify a specific symptom that I had witnessed in my son. Each character essential to the survival of not only Winnetka herself, but also of the Nolan's small family unit as a whole.
Winnetka is a fictionalized account, based upon real people, a real diagnosis, based upon my family. Most importantly Winnetka signifies the hope and unfiltered joy that I needed to get through a very dark period. The same kind of hope that I know many other families need when facing the mental health challenges of a loved one. My continued hope is that the experience, strength and hope of my story, of Winnetka, will help those still struggling and prove that with love, understanding and support we are able to see a new day.