Hi everyone – we finally have a title for the film (you’ll notice the top of the site has been updated to reflect this).

The documentary is now officially called HOLD ME STEADY: A Story of Autism Service Dogs.  We are now submitting to film festivals, and will keep you updated!

Also, here is the official poster for the film – feel free to use it if you are blogging about the film, with a link back to this site here: 

Mitchell Daniels and service dog Simba

I haven’t posted here in a while, as I took a brief hiatus from the project last year to work on another documentary about my friend Nicole Flynn.  Nicole is an artist, athlete, and self-advocate, who also happens to have Down Syndrome.  Last year she was competing internationally at a swimming competition, which is why I decided to make the film then.  That film, I AM NOT INVISIBLE, is now being released to the festival circuit and you can read more about it here:  http://iamnotinvisiblefilm.wordpress.com

I think that taking a bit of time off and having that extra distance from this Autism Service Dog project was beneficial for me.  Having that little bit of a break and working on something else allowed me to come back to this project with a fresh perspective on it again.  Over the past few months I have been back on it, collecting last minute footage, and editing until all hours of the night (or rather morning).  And finally, finally, I have a rough cut of the film done and ready to send off for submission to film festivals.

In the coming months, we hope to have some exciting updates for you as to where the project is going, and a trailer coming soon as well.  The film has come together really nicely, and I can’t thank all those that participated enough for all their help – I literally couldn’t have made the film without you.

To those who took the time to speak to me on camera, you are all really well-spoken and each and every interview adds another layer of depth to the film – you can all be really proud of helping bring this documentary to life.

To those who were interested in participating (and there were many more of you than running time for the project allowed), thank you again for your interest in the project, and perhaps in the future there will be space to do additional features profiling other families to accompany the film on the DVD.  Please do continue to keep in touch.

Overall, I am happy with how the film came together from all of the footage I was able to film, and I hope you all will be too.  I look forward to sharing it with you.

– Erin Corrado