Hello, I'm John McGrath.

I'm a producer for Kansas City PBS.

And today on Art House, we bring you the film just like you.

Anxiety and depression.

We sat down with the film's director, Jen Green Street.

She shared two of their works produced by her nonprofit, and her first foray into the world of narrative filmmaking with Rise and Shine, a film about a young woman living with cerebral palsy.

Oh.

Hook ups.

There are two ways my body works that I'd like to tell you more about.

Pain.

I live with an anxiety disorder and depression.

It's in you.

I.

Just like your anxiety and depression features ten brave kids, two Emmy Award winning journalist, one clinical psychologist from Columbia University, and one determined mother who is determined to take on the fear and stigma that surrounds anxiety and depression I think the key to getting rid of this stigma is if we come together as a community and help people who have anxiety disorders and depression to feel loved and heard and just listen.

and leave the audience in the community feeling empowered, enlightened and ready to live a healthy life or support someone that's living with anxiety disorder and depression.

My anxiety disorder is social anxiety.

Make up for this to make Well, you know, anxiety and depression are pervasive and dangerous conditions that are affecting people all over the world.

Really.

you know, it's I think it's the CDC.

It says over 500 million people live with anxiety and depression all over the world.

And, the Mayo Clinic says that one of the biggest reasons that people don't get help for their anxiety and depression is because it is so stigmatized.

if I was open and honest about my feelings, that would hurt the people I loved around me.

My name is Brandon Austin.

Rashawn is my brother.

My name's Regina.

I love being Rashad's mother.

I'm just constantly in awe of our subjects that are willing to step in front of the camera and just expose themselves and be so vulnerable, before I understood what anxiety and depression was.

I just really saw Rashawn as a disobedient young man who, just didn't have a level of respect that I thought he should have.

in talking to Roshan, through his mom, Regina, we really had a heartfelt conversation about the fact that, you know, her journey and not believing Roshan Before I understood anxiety disorders and depression, I didn't believe Rashawn.

I would say just get it together.

Like, you know, suck it up.

There's people who have worse problems than you.

and just wanting to, you know, parent him like we were like, I personally was parent and and a lot of us from our generation were parents.

And when we were feeling anxious or upset or sad, you know.

Yeah, just suck it up.

Like be you got to be tougher, stronger or, you know, you got to find that within you.

And and sometimes you just can't because it is a clinically diagnosable condition.

didn't wish I could just get over it because it made me who I am.

Looking back, I believe that he didn't feel that he was being heard.

I was just, very tired.

I, I really felt like I was failing as a parent, And so we had that conversation as a mother to mother.

And I asked for a dynamic, you know, I feel like I am personally have grown so much just talking to you.

Do you would you ever, you know, sat up in front of the camera and, and be one of our subjects in the movie, and she agreed to do it and that really this was the first time that we included a parents perspective in one of our projects, and it was profound.

When you meet someone who's a little different than you, you might be scared or uncomfortable and that's okay.

So just like you've balanced is, an award winning, woman led film production company, but we're different in that we're a nonprofit, so we have a mission, and we are, like, owned by the community to achieve this mission, which is to create a kinder and more compassionate world for people that live with certain unique circumstances.

And we've addressed, down syndrome, facial anomalies, which includes cleft lip and palate and facial paralysis, type one diabetes.

we are getting ready to release three projects on life threatening food allergies.

I am starting to get to the point where I can't breathe And we just finished filming, a movie about cerebral palsy, about life with cerebral palsy.

You know, Rise and Shine is based on a true story, a book that was written by Janice Steele.

And it's about her daughter, who lived with cerebral palsy.

One of the main reasons that, just like you said, I was able to be involved with this important film.

Rise and shine is a man named Randy Wood and Low Road Media, our director has a female director.

Laura Summers is a creative genius.

first thing she said is if we're going to do this and do it right, we have to find an actor who lives with this condition, who actually does live with cerebral palsy, so we can tell an authentic story, to Terri and honor her and her life and Janice.

And so they went on a search to find that lead actor.

And they found on a sharp and on a desert, live with cerebral palsy.

And she does live with a developmental disability also.

and she just absolutely brought it for this project.

And she came in, she, she came in, she was away from home.

She lives in Los Angeles.

She came to Kansas City to shoot it.

She lived here for four weeks.

just like you films provided on set.

An accessibility coordinator, which I think is very new and unique to the entertainment industry to provide that kind of an aid and assistance on set.

We had 12 hour shoot days.

And I think she was in probably 95% of the scenes.

And, we asked so much of her and she absolutely delivered.

we had almost entirely a local crew, and I was so proud of what Kansas City brought to the table.

And I know that our partners from Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas were so impressed.

Gina is just a regular kid like me.

all of these relationships that I've built over the 17 years of creating, Just like You films and, and we all kind of got to play in the sandbox together and just really kind of reap the reward of investing our time, energy and money into, you know, making media that makes the difference.

accept that some kids live with an anxiety disorder and depression.

And there's still just a kid just like you, just like I just like you.

Oh, you.