It's called "Wheel Love". For Kelowna producer, Chelsea McEvoy, the struggles in the film are the struggles of her own life. With the help of co-producer and director Ryan Tebbut, she not only pours her own life into this documentary but manages to get other couples to open-up on rarely discussed topics. The result is a warm, revealing and informative look at issues that are more common than most people realize. This movie informs while pulling at the heartstrings. We often hear the question: "Are you going to go there?" This film answers 'yes' and the results are amazing.
One thing Chelsea McEvoy had going for her in taking on the "Wheel Love" project, was knowing her subject matter. McEvoy was living it. But opening all of that up for a film wasn't easy.
"It's very painful at times," recalled McEvoy, "but my Partner and I James are big believers in peer support and education."
Shot in the Okanagan, Kamloops and Vancouver. "Wheel Love" is a Telus Story Hive funded production that takes on the fertility issues couples often face when disability is a factor.
"No I didn't hesitate," said Ryan Tebbut, about his involvement. "The more we got into it, the more we believed in the project and we saw that we had something special and a special story to tell."
You don't need to buy a ticket to see the film, it's on Youtube.
McEvoy said the more she told people what she was working on the more she realized just how many people, including able-bodied people, were going through these struggles.
"I realized 'man there's people around with this invisible problem'," she recalled, "that no one wants to talk about, but when I tell them what I'm working on they open up and they're so happy that someone is talking about it."
It's one of those topics, where once you break the silence there's a whole lot of emotion there.
"It gives me goosebumps talking about it," said McEvoy.
"The film is as much about infertility as much as it is about disability and families right? And love," said Tebbut.
As for the film making careers of McAvoy and Tebbut, the film means exposure. And the mentoring they received along has made them better they say.
"There's a lot of people at Telus that see the successful projects and I think at the very least, they trust us because we've done two well-received projects for them," Said Tebbut. "It's also just about us furthering our ability to tell stories well. And it's always on to the next one and we have a lot of pitches out there."
McEvoy has started a website to support couples going through disability and fertility issues and she hopes that organizations like Spinal Cord Injury BC and share their film, so it can be helpful for more couples.
