Gabe Stewart’s passing, told through the lens of his parents, provided the OCS community with the “why” behind the Stewart family’s involvement with the Performing Arts Center and endowment fund.
With the OCS community not being fully aware of who the Stewart family is or the passing of their son, Gabe Stewart (an OCS alumnus), we were tasked with making a short documentary that encapsulated the celebration of Gabe’s life while also bringing awareness to the commonality of accidental drug overdosing.
Our solution was to honor Gabe’s life and the friend he was to many by showcasing his comedic and loving spirit from the day he was adopted until the day he accidentally overdosed. We painted a detailed picture of him to help other’s connect to his humanity. We were able to tell a genuine story because we were intentional with every meeting we had with the Stewart family from pre-production to delivery. We met with them in their home for pre-interview questions to ensure them that we would handle this story with care. Before production, we had the time to develop a skeleton project to help set the tone of interview questions/visuals. We were prepared on our production days! Through post-production, the Stewart family entrusted us with all of their home videos dating all the way back to the day they adopted him. With both parties being willing to be vulnerable and compassionate, the final video had the permission to be a moving, breathing truth.
