A fundraising film for the Acara Hospice Foundation
A film about the last days of a life, and the place Bryan/College Station does not have yet.
Background: a concept image generated for this treatment. It is not the architect’s design.
Contents
Director
Past work at miragemedia.us
When Dr. Covington asked whether I would consider this project, it was an easy yes for me. This film presents an opportunity to create something beautiful that will generate meaningful, lasting change in our community, and bless the lives of many… it also presents an opportunity to love and care for the folks who will be generous enough to share these tender stories with us. That’s my favorite part of filmmaking. If you choose to work with me, stewarding these families and treating them with dignity and compassion will be my utmost priority.
What follows is how I would make the film: how the story is told, how the edit flows, how the families are looked after, and how the house appears before it exists. The scope and the price come after that, in plain numbers.
Thank you, sincerely, for your consideration.
Medicare does not cover 24-hour care at the end of life.
Today, option 1
Sometimes possible. Never the place anyone would choose.
Today, option 2
Around the clock, paid out of pocket. Out of reach for many families.
What is missing
Bryan/College Station has none. The film exists to change that.
4 beats
Caregivers describe what happens now when a patient needs round-the-clock care and there is nowhere to go.
Families who have lost someone share what those days were like, and what a place like this would have meant.
The film turns toward hope as the house appears: its rooms on paper, its porch, its quiet.
A clear ask. The goal, what a gift builds, and the name the house is still waiting for.
How the interviews are made
Every family in the film has lost someone. The way they are treated matters more than any frame.
Families hear about the film from someone they already know, like Dr. Covington or another person who cared for their loved one. They are free to say no.
Wherever we film, the room is calm, unhurried and compassionate. Lights are set before the family sits down, and only the people needed for the conversation stay.
We are not there to mine grief for effect. Each family shares only what they choose to, and can pause whenever they need to.
Each family watches their part of the film before the board, a donor or anyone else does.
Before the house appears
Still, empty and seen from a distance. The hospital is not the villain of this film. It is the wrong room for this moment.
Locked off, wide and deep. Rooms without people, or people seen from a doorway.
Cool and flat. Overhead fixtures, and daylight kept on the far side of the glass.
Room tone, a clock, a hum down the hall. Subdued, ambient music. Perhaps no music at all.
Once the house appears
The change begins when the house does, and it comes gradually. The color warms, sunlight reaches into the rooms, the lenses soften, and more people come into the frame.
These frames show how the second half should feel. They are not a picture of the house. We film in a warm, light-filled home that stands in for that feeling, and we stay close.
Softer lenses and gentle movement. Closer on details, with more people in the shot.
Warmer color, low sun through the windows, beams in the haze and a little bloom in the highlights.
Uplifting music arrives. Voices, a porch, the outdoors.
Concept frames generated for this treatment. Shown for tone only. They do not depict the hospice house or its interiors.
Showing what does not exist yet
The architect’s own plans and elevations, brought to the screen through animation, practical filming or immersive 3D renders.
Close vignettes in a warm, light-filled home that stands in for the feeling of the place: coffee on a porch, light through a window, a hand held.
The drawings show the building. The footage shows the feeling. The home we film in is never presented as the hospice house.
Background: a reference frame from an existing film. It is not the foundation’s drawing.
3 ways to make it
Signature is the package I recommend, for the story’s sake. With 5 to 6 interviews, the film can hold a doctor’s view, a caregiver’s and several families’. Filming at home lets people speak where they are most at ease, and the hospital footage shows what is missing today.
One film.
Recommended
The film and its cuts for the December ask.
A year of campaign films, from the first ask to the thank-you.
If your budget lands somewhere between these, I can adjust the scope to fit.
Story development and pre-interviews, editing, color grading, sound mix, licensed music, captions, 2 rounds of revisions and a final polish pass. Crew, equipment and travel to Bryan/College Station are included.
When the house receives its permanent name, I update the film once at no charge, within 18 months of delivery.
How the house appears depends on what the architect has produced. Essential shows the plans and elevations simply. Signature and Legacy give them more time and craft on screen, and pair them with filmed footage. Legacy’s room tours use views from the architect’s 3D model, so they are included only if that model already exists.
October to December 2026
These dates hold if the board approves by October 20 and families are confirmed by November 13.
Board approval and signed agreement
Planning: family outreach, hospital permission, pre-interviews, drawings received
Filming in Bryan/College Station. Essential films on November 21 only.
First cut delivered for review
Foundation feedback due
Second cut delivered
Foundation feedback due
Final film and short cuts delivered
Terms
50% on signing and 50% on delivery of the final film.
2 rounds of revisions are included, plus a final polish pass for small fixes. Further changes are quoted before work begins.
The foundation may use the finished films for the campaign without limit.
Mirage Media may show the film once the foundation has released it publicly.
These prices and dates hold through October 23, 2026.
If the board says yes
The board chooses a package and approves by October 20.
I send a short agreement and an invoice for the first 50%.
Dr. Covington, Angela Robinson and I plan family outreach and hospital access.
Questions
Past work
Everett Francis · Prepared October 2026