Just wanted to give you a quick update on where we are right now. 

Lately we’ve been working tirelessly to get the film through post production. Unfortunately we are still in need of more funding and we are currently considering some options on that end. Maybe another kickstarter campaign or maybe we will find that magical person/s out there that can provide us with the finances we need to get us to the finish line. 

Currently we have enough funding to finish the initial edit but here is a list of the jobs we still need additional funds to complete:

• Additional video shoots to fill in gaps where we currently do not have supporting footage
• Online Editing
• Original Music
• Sound Editing and Mixing
• Color Correction and Color Grading
• DVD Creation with Special Features and Subtitles
• DVD and BluRay Duplication
• Promotional Materials (T-Shirts, Posters, ETC.)
• Festival Submissions

Please visit www.TheAstronautsSecret.com to see where we currently stand with our fundraising efforts and to check out some of our great rewards like a signed photograph, a T-shirt, or a copy of the film. 

We have already been approached by numerous Parkinson’s organizations and film festivals about screening the film. The film isn’t even finished yet and we’re already scheduling screenings! If you or your organization are interested in a screening of the film please contact us at Info@TheAstronuatsSecret.com for more info. 

We’re going to keep working to get the film finished while we seek the required finishing funds. Our goal was to have the film done by the end of the year but since we will need to focus our time on additional funding we are pushing back the release of the film to April 2013. Please feel free to reach out to us at the afore mentioned email address if you have any questions or concerns. 

Last but not least, to all of the people that have supported us throughout this process, we really cannot thank you enough. Your love and support has kept us going and we cannot wait to show you what we’ve created.

There is no cure. But that doesn’t mean Parkinson’s is a death sentence.

Just ask Rich Clifford, who had no trouble climbing onto the platform of a medical imaging device, after receiving an injection of a new pharmaceutical called DaTscan.

After all, Clifford is the same guy who clambered all over the Mir space capsule after it docked with the International Space Station in a six-hour spacewalk in 1996.

Back then, only a handful of people knew what the DaTscan brain images show so clearly today: Rich Clifford has Parkinson’s Disease.

One of the few who did know, was Clifford’s neurologist, Dr. Joseph Jankovic, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

“I never felt that his Parkinson’s interfered in any way with his functioning, either on earth or in space,” said Dr. Jankovic.

These days, Rich Clifford – and the DaTscan – have starring roles in The Astronaut’s Secret, an upcoming documentary film about the spacewalker’s Parkinson’s diagnosis.

“Back in 1994, when Rich complained about having problems with his right shoulder, he went to the flight surgeon at NASA,” explained the film’s director. “And he said, ‘He needs to go see a neurologist.’ That neurologist happened to be my father.”

Before he was a filmmaker, Dr. Jankovic’s son – Zach Jankovic – kept the secret too. But now he wants his documentary to spread the word far and wide about Parkinson’s – and the importance of early diagnosis.

“We know that in Parkinson’s Disease, there is a deficiency of (the neurotransmitter) dopamine,” explained Dr. Jankovic. “But until now we have not had the chance to actually find out how much dopamine deficiency a patient with Parkinson’s Disease has.”

That’s what DaTscan does. And by quantifying the level of dopamine, it also helps new patients accept their diagnosis and move on.

“I think some people are really looking for some kind of diagnostic tool,” said Kathleen Crist with the Houston Area Parkinson Society. “It is difficult for people to go to the doctor’s office, walk across a room, be pushed on, pulled on, tugged on, and then told that they have this life-altering disease that is going to change everything for them.”

The Houston Area Parkinson Society – or HAPS – was an early supporter of the film, which is now in its final round of fundraising. Zach Jankovic is aiming for completion by the end of the year.

“It’s a very inspirational story,” said the younger Jankovic. “It tells you that even if you get diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams. You can still reach for the stars.”

For more information on The Astronaut’s Secret, click here:

theastronautssecret.com/

Read more: myfoxhouston.com/story/18961172/2012/07/05/not-a-cure-but-new-test-catches-parkinsons-early#ixzz2092Un4VG

We have XS, S, M, L, and XL!