You Can’t Stop This Dancer!

The Documentary Story. A fall from a 6-story building. A devastating spinal cord injury. A young dancer fights to live and dance again. A remarkable journey that will amaze and inspire you.

 

On Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, the unimaginable happened…Nicole Marquez, a young dancer, working toward her dreams of Broadway, fell six floors from the roof of her New York apartment building. She had lost her keys and after finding no roommates home, she went up to the rooftop to see if the fire escape might give her access. Realizing it wouldn’t work…she turned to go. What happened next is a mystery. How she survived is a miracle.

With a broken neck, broken back, broken ribs, a punctured, collapsed lung and a long, jagged shard of a glass embedded in her back, Nicole lay in the filthy, dark airshaft, severely injured and bleeding for eight hours before her discovery and rescue. Incredibly, she seemed to have sustained no head injuries. Her parents, Larry and Susan, rushed from Mississippi to New York. They were told that there was grave doubt that Nicole would live and if she did-she would be a quadriplegic. 

Less than 12 hours of arriving at New York Presbyterian, a surgical team, led by a brilliant, young neurosurgeon performed a 10-hour surgery to stabilize Nicole’s neck by removing vertebrae that were crushed and replacing them with a wire mesh cage infused with lab-grown bone. Then she was flipped over as surgeons went in through the back of her neck to attach stabilizing rods and pins. A second nine-hour surgery, using the same techniques on her lower back, was done on September 11th. Nicole survived the surgeries but there were frightening setbacks. Larry and Susan stayed constantly by their daughter’s side. Nicole battled pneumonia and a series of mini-strokes. She coded at least three times.

Good friends came to New York to help. Among them were Jef and Brenda Judin of 4Tell Films who had first cast and filmed Nicole for a television series when she was only ten years old and had remained very close as she grew up – working often with her on different projects. They were also good friends with Larry and Susan Marquez.  With Nicole’s trust and permission, they began filming the reality inside Nicole’s hospital room. Friend and photographer, Josh Hailey, began shooting photos. Although Nicole was intubated with a ventilator for two and a half weeks while at NY Presbyterian; it did not stop her from communicating her feelings. The bond between Nicole’s “support team” grew even stronger. There was much laughter, a few hidden tears, but no fears that Nicole would give up.

The Neuro-ICU at New York Presbyterian allows family and friends a more open access to their love ones, instead of just short visits staggered through the day, like so many hospitals. A brilliant concept for both patient and family that was treasured and respected.  The relationship between Nicole and the Neuro-ICU staff became unique. Her room was plastered with many beautiful photos taken of her throughout her career. Footage of her dance performances were shown to the doctors, nurses and staff. They came to know her – not as the broken body that lay immobilized in her hospital bed – but as who she really was and who she wanted to be again. Her neck and back were broken but her spirit was not. She went from patient to person. After nearly four weeks in the Neuro-ICU, Nicole was scheduled to be airlifted home to Jackson, Mississippi. Doctors, nurses, therapists and all who had come to know Nicole at NY Presbyterian came by to visit and to tell her good-bye…for now. 

Back at home, Nicole spent a month at Select Specialty Hospital. Step by small step, huge gains were made. Physical therapy began and intensified. In October, she was transferred to the Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson where she spent three grueling months in various physical therapies, pushing through the pain, learning to walk again as she triumphantly progressed from wheelchair to walker to cane. At last, the day came. She was discharged from Methodist Rehab. She walked out. 

Nicole began out-patient therapy, followed by physical and occupational therapy to foster independent living skills. Nicole has maintained an incredibly upbeat attitude. She’s defied all odds, exceeding the expectations of her medical team. With an initial prognosis of complete quadriplegia, Nicole is now walking without the aid of a cane. She continues to improve through outpatient therapy. Nicole’s story has inspired those who love her, the medical professionals who treated her and thousands of strangers who have come to feel they know her through the national media coverage of her incredible journey to reclaim her life. Her grit impresses them. Her wit hooks them on the gutsy dancer who just won’t quit.

Nicole has appeared in two dance performances and produced a fundraiser for the non-profit organization, Parents for Public Schools. She certified to teach Yoga Meets Dance™. She was featured in a music video for recording artist Grady Champion’s hit song, Weight of the World.  She returned to NYC to film a testimonial ad for NY Presbyterian Hospital with ad agency, MUNN RABÔT. The commercial is currently airing in the New York Tri-State area and additional video clips are featured on the NY Presbyterian website that share more of her story. She is in demand as a motivational speaker. She will appear at the International Women’s Leadership Conference in Hawaii in September as a keynote speaker.  Nicole is creating a new life that she hopes will encourage others who face unexpected challenges.

 

The Documentary – Production

4Tell Films will produce Nicole’s inspiring story as a motivating and compelling documentary. This unflinching look at the realities of recovery and rehabilitation, punctuated by the wit and courage of Nicole, will be edited with beautiful footage from her dance career, before her accident and her work since, along with interviews with doctors, nurses, therapists, fellow patients, family and friends. The people who moved into Nicole’s life often came away with an unexpected gift of hope and faith for themselves. Also vital were innovative medical techniques and cutting-edge medical devices that have allowed Nicole to break new ground in recovery. We’ll explore these medical advances that are justly part of the narrative. The documentary will be shot in a unique style that shares Nicole’s feelings while intubated and unable to speak by “lifting’ the text of her thoughts for display onscreen and by using split screens to show the myriad of images that tells this story. Nicole Marquez will choreograph and perform dance sequences for the documentary that will serve as a series of visual images that propel the story forward in the viewer’s minds. For Nicole, there are still many physical challenges that remain from her injuries. Yet, Nicole is a naturally funny person. So it is not surprising that there are many moments of humor to be found in You Can’t Stop This Dancer. That ability to laugh is one of Nicole’s saving graces.

Documentary purpose:

• To educate patients and families about spinal cord injury recovery and the new advances in treatments, medical procedures and medical devices and along with new physical therapies. To motivate others facing their own difficulties in life – no matter what they are – with courage, resolve and humor. This story will have a universal appeal to a general viewing population.
• To enlighten medical professionals on the potential of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients through better communication and advocacy on behalf of the patient. We believe and it has been confirmed by medical professionals already interviewed, that the ability to “know” Nicole through photos and videos from before her accident, profoundly affected their ability to successfully treat her with the goal of full recovery. In this digital world it is very likely that “pre-accident or pre-illness” images and video exists for everyone. We hope this documentary can advance the expectations of professionals who interact with and influence the outcome of spinal cord injury patients. Anyone who has suffered a devastating illness or injury can benefit from this patient to person approach.
• To illustrate and celebrate how optimism, determination, a willingness to work through the pain, and the spirit to not only survive but thrive, affects any circumstance for the better. Nicole is an excellent example of how this truly works.
• To foster a better general understanding of all people with disabilities and to encourage a more productive interaction between families, friends, the general population and medical professionals.
• To offer an educational outreach component for schools, organizations, and youth groups, as well as medical and nursing schools, to teach improved skills and better understanding during interaction with Spinal Cord Injury patients and people with all kinds of disabilities.

Return to New York Filming

Nicole has no memory of the accident or of her rescue. After three years of recovery, Nicole will return to New York with 4Tell Films to interview the superintendent of her building who found her, the NYFD crew that rescued her, the detectives of NYPD who consider this an open case, the ER doctor and team at Harlem Hospital who stabilized her and the doctors, nurses, and therapists of the Neuro-ICU at NY Presbyterian. These dramatic encounters will fill in the blanks for Nicole and give her a chance to ask her own questions and hear for herself all that transpired. They will also provide her “angels” with living proof of their miraculous work and remarkable results which so many never get to see. Nicole will have her chance to honor so many individuals who participated in saving her life, For Nicole, this documentary is her way of saying, “Thank you” to so many people.
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4Tell Films is pleased join in a co-production agreement with Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) which will serve as the “presenting station” for the You Can’t Stop This Dancer! documentary. This qualifies the documentary for distribution by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) to the PBS network of stations.
http://www.mpbonline.org   

 

The Mississippi Film and Video Alliance (MFVA), a 501(3)c organization established in 2000, serves the film community in several capacities. 4Tell Films and MFVA have signed an agreement to establish MFVA as the non-profit Fiscal Agent for this documentary. MFVA can receive and disperse funds earmarked for the You Can’t Stop This Dancer! documentary and provide individual donors or foundations with proper reporting and documentation so that their contribution is tax-deductible. 

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You Can’t Stop This Dancer! will also be submitted to film festivals around the country including: the Sundance Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival & others. 4Tell Films will also seek a limited theatrical release for the documentary to qualify for consideration for nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  “Documentary Feature” category.

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4Tell Films is a production company specializing in documentaries, arts and music, and educational programming. 4Tell’s Emmy award-winning director, Jef Judin, along with partner, Brenda Varner Judin, have led a creative team that has produced numerous documentaries to illuminate social & philanthropic causes along with entertaining concert films and music videos. The company created and produced, You’ve Gotta Move, an innovative and engaging arts-infused, music and movement Childhood Obesity Prevention DVD series for schools. Along with its own projects, 4Tell Films offers production services from script development, casting, filming, editing, graphic design, packaging and distribution for clients.

 

Director/Producer - Jef Judin is a 30-year veteran of innovative television, music and multimedia programming. Judin began his media career in Los Angeles producing READ-A-VISION™, a literacy-enhancing process utilizing television to teach reading skills. In 1986, he set up the Highland Entertainment Complex, an incubator for independent production companies in Hollywood. Judin joined Bob Abel/ Synapse Technologies in 1988 to create Columbus – A Journey to Discovery.

 As Executive in Charge of Production for Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) in Mississippi for seven years, Jef was responsible for hundreds of productions distributed regionally, nationally, and internationally including the Emmy-winning BBC co-production, Richard Wright – Black Boy, and Return To The River, the Emmy-winning exploration into the history of the music and culture along the Mississippi River narrated by James Earl Jones.

Jef Judin co-founded 4Tell Films in 2001 and has produced projects as diverse as the documentary Project Safe Neighborhood for the U.S. Justice Department to Bobby Rush-Live at Ground Zero, a concert film shot in high-definition digital video and recorded in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound on location in actor Morgan Freeman’s famed Clarksdale, MS juke joint.  In 2005, Judin produced The Keys to the Quarter, a documentary on the legendary French Quarter finished days before Hurricane Katrina.  Judin produced & narrated Polar Dreams and Trekking the Gobi, featuring celebrated explorer and wildlife photographer, Helen Thayer.  Judin and 4Tell Films has pioneered work in the field of Childhood Obesity Prevention with the production of two music and movement exercise DVDs, You’ve Gotta Move, for K-2 classrooms and Grades 3, 4 & 5. Jef directed and edited both DVDs featuring original songs and choreography designed for use in the classroom to meet the new federally mandated P.E. requirements.  

Writer/Producer – Brenda Varner Judin is a Speech and Theatre graduate of the University of Mississippi.  Brenda studied in New York with renowned acting teacher Stella Adler. During eleven years in NYC and seven years in L.A., she worked as an actor, casting director and writer for television and educational multimedia projects. As Managing Editor of Parents & Kids magazine, she won two Gold Awards for Excellence from the Parenting Publications of America organization.

Brenda works as a voice-over artist for a diverse range of projects including a nationally touring, mixed media exhibition featuring the work of acclaimed artist, H.C. Porter, and is a freelance writer for numerous media outlets where she writes creative non-fiction along with book and movie reviews. 

As co-founder of 4Tell Films, Brenda has produced projects for the MS Arts Commission’s Whole Schools Initiative; the Unita Blackwell Young Women’s Leadership Institute for the Children’s Defense Fund, Delta State University’s Summer Arts Institute and Heritage House for the Robert Johnson Blues Foundation. Brenda serves as writer on many 4Tell Films projects including Polar Dreams and Trekking the Gobi featuring renowned explorer Helen Thayer.

Brenda was Writer/Producer on the You’ve Gotta Move music & movement Childhood Obesity Prevention DVD series. Working in concert with songwriters, she created a cross-curriculum blueprint for the production that allowed students and teachers to meet curriculum goals in several subject areas (Language Arts, Health, Science, Music, Dance and Foreign Language) in addition to addressing new mandated P.E. standards. Ms. Judin recently wrote, produced and narrated, Five Years After Katrina, a documentary chronicling the recovery efforts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for LESM-the lead agency in Katrina relief efforts.

 

Choreographer/Dancer/Story Teller – Nicole Marquez is

the focus of, and a creative contributor, to this documentary. In dance classes from the age of three, Nicole was cast in the children’s show, Funnybones, produced by Mississippi ETV when she was ten. In high school, Nicole worked in theatre, TV and radio. She had a radio program called Nic’s Picks: What’s Hot and What’s Not and she did a teen news report on WLBT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Jackson, MS, She danced in a national Coke commercial and hosted a documentary series on teen smoking. Nicole was featured in an article for Teen People magazine.

Nicole attended the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in Theatre and Dance. She spent a semester abroad, in Pontlevoy, France. Nicole was an intern for the American Dance Festival at Duke University. After college, she did two acting apprenticeships: at the Berkshire Summer Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA, and the Actor’s Theatre in Louisville, KY.

Nicole worked as a production assistant on two national children’s shows, Between the Lions, produced by MPB, and Lomax: The Hound of Music. She was the Production Coordinator for You’ve Gotta Move, a DVD dance/exercise series used in elementary schools produced by 4Tell Films.

In Jan. 2008, Nicole moved to New York to continue her career and to pursue her dream of being a “triple-threat” on Broadway.  You Can’t Stop This Dancer will chronicle her journey to pursue her goals as she redefines her dreams. Many physical challenges remain from her injuries. Nicole rejects the idea that she is a hero for her courage – or that she is a victim. She considers her family and friends, all the professionals that have contributed their skills and training to her recovery and everyone who has shown their love and support the “real” heroes of this story.  

 Back in the Studio- 3 years after her fall.

Nicole’s Business Cards Showing off her “Bionic Woman” Medtronic Hardware.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

You Can’t Stop This Dancer Trailer 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEA7cPq0mt0

Additional Media:

New York Presbyterian- “Amazing Thing Are Happening Here” campaign http://nyp.org/amazingthings/nicole-video-1.html

CBS filmed a segment on Nicole for “The Early Show” and millions more learned of her courage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThCK-93wAME  

 

PBS Emmy-winning series, NOW “Nurses Needed,” segment featuring NY Presbyterian Neuro-ICU nurses, especially the superb Mary Grace Savage, and her interaction with Nicole.  

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/442/index.html 

 

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation website featured Nicole‘s story of rehabilitation http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/c.mtKZKgMWKwG/b.5349433/k.7CD6/You_Cant_Stop_This_Dancer.htm  

 

Caring Bridge Site.  Susan Marquez blogged daily about Nicole’s progress. Overall, there were 253,934 “visits” to Nicole’s Caring Bridge page and 3,654 messages from family, friends and strangers. Susan’s writing will serve as a valuable blueprint for this journey.
http://caringbridge.org/visit/nicolemarquez

4Tell Films – music video with recording artist, Grady Champion- featuring Nicole Marquez.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGjZxG7Mi7g

For more information on this project- contact 4Tell Films, Inc.:   
Office Ph # 601-368-4527 or directly:  

Brenda Varner Judin                                                                     Jef Judin                                                             
Cell: 601-842-0712                                                                           Cell: 601-209-3093
brendajudin@gmail.com                                                              jefjudin@gmail.com