melanie's friend
>Dear Friends,
>
>Kurt Kuenne here; I hope this email finds you all well. I have a
>very big favor to ask of you, and I apologize for the mass email,
>but it would take me forever to contact each of you wonderful folks
>individually about this, so I'm going for the modern shorthand.
>Here it is:
>
>As many of you well know, for the past four and a half years I have
>been working on a documentary film about the life and murder of my
>lifelong friend Dr. Andrew Bagby (1973-2001). Andrew was killed 5
>years ago by his ex-girlfriend, who fled the U.S. for the Canadian
>province of Newfoundland and went on to give birth to his son after
>Andrew's death. I began making this movie for that little boy,
>Zachary, as a way for him to get to know his father when he came of
>age. Because Canada let Andrew's killer walk free on bail while
>awaiting extradition, she had the opportunity to commit another
>murder, killing herself and baby Zachary on August 18, 2003. After
>a lot of soul searching and conversations with Andrew's parents, we
>ultimately decided that I would transform my film for Zachary into
>the story of what happened and release it to the general public. It
>is titled as it was begun, "DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT
>HIS FATHER." The film will become a powerful tool in the Bagby's
>fight to get the bail laws in Canada changed, so that a tragedy like
>this will never happen again. Andrew's father David has written an
>excellent book about this nightmare which is being published in the
>spring; my goal is to have my film done by May to coincide with its
>publication, and to make the deadline for the 2007 Toronto Film
>Festival. We aim to hit the media with a strong one-two punch next
>year, book and movie working in concert.
>
>In order to meet this goal, we need to raise some money. This film
>is not for profit, it is fiscally sponsored by the International
>Documentary Assocation, a 501-C(3) organization, and all donations
>to it are tax deductible. All proceeds from the film will go to the
>Dr. Andrew Bagby Scholarship at Latrobe Area Hospital in Latrobe, PA
>and the Dr. Andrew Bagby and son Zachary Bursary at Memorial
>University, Newfoundland. Every contribution helps, no matter how
>small.
>
>I've cut a 10 minute trailer to give everyone a sense of what the
>finished feature film will be like. It is now on line at:
>
>www.dearzachary.com
>
>If you are moved by what you see and would like to contribute to the
>cause, that would be wonderful. Tax deductible donations can be
>made on line, or checks may be mailed to the International
>Documentary Association, or donations can also be made to me
>directly (thereby avoiding the IDA's 5% sponsorship fee). All the
>information is on the site.
>
>PLEASE forward this email to everyone you know, and please ask them
>to forward it to everyone they know and so on. I believe we
>actually have a shot at making change. On October 4th, the
>government of Newfoundland released a review and investigation
>officially finding that Zachary's death was preventable if the
>departments of Child, Youth and Family Services and Child Protection
>had done their jobs right and removed Zachary from his dangerous
>mother's custody; the head of the department resigned, and
>politicians were squirming and tripping over themselves to endorse
>the review's recommendations and begin their implementation. The
>Provincial Minister of Justice took the review's findings to the
>federal government to begin discussing the topic of bail reform.
>This investigation and review would not have happened if Andrew's
>parents hadn't stood up and screamed for change. That was Step One,
>and it has been successful -- but the issue of bail still has not
>been addressed. That is Step Two in this endeavor; David Bagby's
>book and my movie are going to be the juggernaut that keeps this
>issue in the public eye until it is seen to completion.
>
>Thank you so much for your time and help. Check out the trailer. I
>hope that you will join me on what has been the most rewarding
>journey of my life. I sincerely believe we have a shot at making
>the world a safer, better place.
>
>All the best,
>
>Kurt
>
>Writer/Director/Composer, "Dear Zachary"
>www.dearzachary.com