Buzzco - Inspiration

It's Still Me!
A Guide For People With Aphasia
& Their Loved Ones

•Click here to view Heart To Heart

“It’s Still Me!”
©2009 Buzzco Associates, inc.
Created and produced by Buzzco Associates, inc.
Distributed by The National Aphasia Association.
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Candy’s mother suffered a massive stroke in 1994 and then survived another 12 years with aphasia, the condition that impairs a person’s ability to process language. Because she could no longer speak, Candy noticed that even well-meaning friends stopped talking with her, and in fact, avoided looking directly at her when they came to visit. As a tribute to her and as a much needed public service, Buzzco created “It’s Still Me!”

Buzzco was delighted when Allison Janney, the award-winning actress best known as CJ Cregg on “The West Wing,” agreed to narrate the film with her intelligent and caring voice.

Four aphasia centers (New York, Texas, California, and Canada) focus grouped the work-in-progress, and their input was invaluable in crafting the script.

Marc Black (the composer of “Oooh I Love My Coffee” which inspired our short film), we discovered, serendipitously, that he was already involved with the aphasia community through his documentary “A Stroke of Genius” about his friend, Dan Mountain. It was natural that he and Candy wrote “Heart to Heart”, the theme song of "It’s Still Me!” and he subsequently scored the movie.

‘It’s Still Me!” is a 17-minute guide for people with aphasia and their loved ones, in order to help them learn how to communicate with each other more effectively. It explains what aphasia is, some basic brain function, how it feels to have aphasia, and demonstrates some ways to communicate without words. It acknowledges that the loss of words is devastating, both for those who have aphasia and for the people around them. More importantly, it also holds out hope for a rich and fulfilling future.

CREDITS

Directed & Designed by	Candy Kugel & Vincent Cafarelli
Executive Producer	Marilyn Kraemer

Narrated by	Allison Janney

Animation	Vincent Cafarelli
	Rick Broas
	Bryon Moore
	Candy Kugel

Written By	Candy Kugel
With help From	Aphasia Center of West Texas
	Aphasia Center of California
	The Aphasia Institute –Pat Arato Aphasia Centre
	National Aphasia Association
	Dan Mountain
	Jeff Thurman

Music by	Marc Black ASCAP
Lyrics BY	Marc Black & Candy Kugel ASCAP
Performed by	Marc Black

Sound Recording & Design	Beatstreet Studios
Sound Design & Mix	Jared O’Connell
With thanks to	Joe Franco & Jane Fishel

Thanks to:

National Aphasia Association:	www.Aphasia.org
	Ellayne S. Ganzfried, M.S., CCC-SLP Joan Peters, Esq., Fundraising Consultant
Aphasia Center of West Texas:	www.AphasiaWTx.org
	Beth Crawford, M.S., CCC-SLP Kathryn Shelley, Executive Director The Staff, Volunteers and Clients
Aphasia Center of California:	www.aphasiacenter.org
	Roberta J. Elman. Ph.D, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS
Aphasia Institute:	www.aphasia.ca
	Aura Kagan, Ph.D. The Staff, Volunteers and Clients