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Purchase Evan's
Gate Now!
$20.95 - DVD
Total Viewing Time: 40 Minutes
:: Synopsis :: Evans Gate is a film about the struggle that a widowed father (Jimmy Sullivan, played by Edward C. Crawford) endures trying to find a correct diagnosis for his ill child.
After discovering that the mystery illness is chronic Lyme disease, Jimmy encounters yet another challenge: medical insurance policies pertaining to Lyme disease. He sees his son Evan responding to treatment but his insurance will no longer cover traditional medication. Jimmy is driven to measures no father should have to pursue in order to secure the medication his son needs.
This is the true story of one father’s journey to help his son beat this horrible disease and a son’s struggle to get his life back. Evans Gate profoundly asks the following question: how far will a loved one go to help another loved one?
A must see for anyone struggling with a chronic illness!
:: Times Herald-Record
article by John Doherty :: City of Newburgh, New York
- October 5, 2007. Read
Article at recordonline.com.
Lyme disease. A truck full of plasma TVs. Newburgh thugs.
Somewhere in there, Ed Crawford thinks, could be Hollywood gold.
Crawford, 33, is the driving force behind "Evan's Gate," an indie film with big ideas.
The movie tells the story of a widower father whose young son contracts Lyme disease. The man is quickly drowning in medical bills his insurance company won't pay. Some local hoods make an offer: help hijack a truck loaded with electronics and get your son's medicine.
"How far will a father go to help his son?" wonders Crawford, who based the film on his own fight with Lyme disease. "That's what this is about."
Crawford, who grew up in the Town of Newburgh and is a Newburgh Free Academy graduate, is the film's
creator.
"My mom and dad, everyone, they think I'm crazy," said Crawford. "They're like, 'Why don't you become a cop, or get a job on the railroad, like everyone else in the family?'"
His movie begins filming in Newburgh tomorrow and he will spend days this month at a handful of local landmarks: Pamela's Restaurant at the blue-collar Newburgh Yacht Club, the Route 17K Pilot Truck Stop and a local Gold's Gym. By March, the project is to be done and ready for showing at the Garden State Film Festival, where it has already been accepted on the strength of Crawford's script.
He is hoping for an invite to the Tribeca Film Festival as well.
"I see Newburgh as a character in this film," he said.
Crawford these days is the picture of the hustling, struggling artist. He divides his time between his parents' home here and friends' couches in New York City.
He arranged an interview about "Evan's Gate" this week from the set of "Law & Order," where he auditioned for the ninth time — and for the ninth time missed winning a multi-episode bit part.
"Hey, they keep calling back, though," said Crawford. "They must see something."
But Crawford has already had the type of modest success in film that would turn many actors green with envy.
He costarred in "Down to the Bone," a drug-soaked drama that won two awards at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, including the prize for best director.
That little-seen film helped spawn "Evan's Gate."
Through it, he began to meet the industry types that encouraged him to turn a one-act play about Lyme disease into a feature-length screenplay. He was also recognized by a local working actor, Lou Gross (he played Tony Soprano's muscle-bound driver on the Soprano's final season) at a local gym. Gross took a part in "Evan's Gate."
Crawford already has turned down a $30,000 offer to sell the screenplay for someone else to make.
It's a Newburgh story, he says, and his personal moonshot.
"I love Newburgh, I'll always be here. Even if I, quote-unquote, make it, I'll still be here," said Crawford, laughing. "I'll be in Balmville, of course, but I'll still be here."
Purchase Evan's
Gate Now!
$20.95 - DVD
Total Viewing Time: 40 Minutes
"Evan’s Gate is compelling, important, factual, and entertaining. This film bridges the gap between desperate, severely ill Lyme patients and their loved ones who just can’t understand what they are going through. While the recent documentary,
Under Our Skin, provides a descriptive and qualitative tour through modern Lyme
disease science, Evan’s Gate fills an entirely different need; that is, addressing the profound burden of emotional and financial stress experienced by each and every Lyme sufferer and their family and friends.
I could not stop thinking about Evan’s Gate after I saw it; days went by and it was still on my mind constantly. I can’t recommend this film highly enough. For Lyme sufferers, family, and friends, the 40 minutes it takes to watch this film
will provide new and much-needed perspective."
-- Bryan Rosner
Author, The Top 10 Lyme
Disease Treatments |
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