>> I WANT TO START BY SAYING THAT DAN CARRACINO WHO IS NOT ONLY THE CO-DIRECTOR AND
CO-PRODUCER OF THIS FILM BUT MY VERY DEAR FRIEND WAS UNABLE TO BE HERE TONIGHT AND I FEEL
SAD ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I FEEL THAT HE IS MORE RESPONSIBLE THAN ANYBODY ELSE FOR GETTING
THIS FILM MADE.
BOTH HE AND I ARE DEEPLY HONORED TO ACCEPT THIS AWARD FROM SAMHSA.
I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS AS I WAS COMING HERE.
THERE'S NO LITTLE BIT OF IRONY FOR ME THAT I'M STANDING HERE ACCEPTING AN AWARD FOR A
FILM THAT WE MADE ABOUT A MAN WHO SPENT MORE THAN HALF HIS LIFE TRYING TO AVOID AWARDS,
AND HONORS AND RECOGNITION.
BILL WILSON WAS A PERSON WHO WAS VERY HUMBLE AND DID AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK REALLY IN
THE SHADOWS, IN A WAY, BUT DAN AND I FELT STRONGLY THAT NOT ONLY HIS PERSONAL STORY, BUT
THAT THE WORK HE DID THAT HELPED SO MANY MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE WAS REALLY A STORY
WORTH TELLING.
AT A TIME WHEN ALCOHOLISM WAS FAR LESS WELL UNDERSTOOD AND THE STIGMA ABOUT IT WAS FAR
WORSE THAN IT IS EVEN NOW, BILL WILSON WAS GIVEN A DEATH SENTENCE.
HE WAS TOLD THAT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE AND HE WOULD BE DEAD WITHIN A YEAR.
AND SO IN SOME WAYS I FEEL LIKE HIS VOICE IS ONE OF THE MOST ORIGINAL VOICES OF RECOVERY
AND ONE OF THE MOST UNIQUE BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID HE FIND A WAY OUT OF THAT DEATH SENTENCE
FOR HIMSELF, BUT HE DEDICATED THE REST OF HIS LIFE TO TRYING TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE NOT DIE
FROM THE VERY THING THAT HAD ALMOST KILLED HIM.
I WANT TO READ SOMETHING THAT HE -- THAT HE SAID MORE THAN 50 YEARS AGO.
"THERE IS THE QUESTION OF OPENING CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION TO THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW.
AND HOW MANY ARE THERE THAT STILL DON'T KNOW?
SINCE OUR SOCIETY CAME INTO EXISTENCE, CONSERVATIVE FIGURES TELL US THAT BEFORE US HAS
PASSED A MELANCHOLY PROCESSION OF 25 MILLION.
AND THAT WE HAVE FISHED ONE IN 100.
RIGHT OUT IN FRONT OF US TONIGHT, WORLDWIDE, THERE ARE MILLIONS WHO WOULD COME IN THE
DIRECTION OF TREATMENT IF THEY ONLY KNEW HOW ILL THEY REALLY WERE." WHEN WE FIRST STARTED
THIS FILM, DAN SAID TO ME THAT IF WE MADE A FILM THAT HELPED EVEN ONE PERSON REALIZE THAT
THEY WERE SUFFERING FROM AN ILLNESS THAT WAS TREATABLE THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WELL WORTH
DOING AND I HOPE IN SOME SMALL WAY WHAT WE'VE DONE MAY SHOW SOME PEOPLE THAT THERE IS
TREATMENT AND RECOVERY FROM THE SCURGE THAT IS ALCOHOLISM AND ADDICTION.
ONE OTHER LITTLE IRONY, WE WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND A STUDIO OR BACKER FOR THE FILM SO WE
DECIDED TO DISTRIBUTE IT OURSELVES WHICH WAS A DAUNTING TASK.
WE WERE ONE OF TO TOP GROSSING DOCUMENTARIES OF 2012 AND IT WAS STRICTLY THROUGH A
GRASSROOTS EFFORT, BUT WE CAME TO REALIZE BY THE END OF THAT RUN THAT WE WERE IN THEATERS
FOR MORE THAN SIX OR EIGHT MONTHS, BUT IT WAS ALMOST ALL MEMBERS OF AA OR OTHER 12-STEP
GROUPS.
IN OTHER WORDS, PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAD RECOVERY.
AND I SORT OF FELT LIKE WE WERE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR.
SO IF THERE'S ANYBODY OUT THERE TONIGHT THAT KNOWS ANYBODY AT LIONSGATE OR SONY CLASSIC
PICTURES OR HAS ANY OTHER IDEAS ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT TO GET THIS FILM OUT TO PEOPLE WHO
DON'T KNOW AND PEOPLE WHO REALLY WOULD BENEFIT FROM KNOWING, YOU KNOW I'D LOVE TO TALK TO
YOU LATER.
ONE LAST THING AND I KNOW I'M JUST ECHOING A THEME THAT I'VE BEEN HEARING TONIGHT, BUT.
WHEN WE STARTED OUT, ONE OF THE WISEST PEOPLE I RAN INTO ON THIS PROJECT, I HEARD HIM SAY
THAT THE ABSOLUTE CRUX OF ADDICTION WAS ISOLATION.
THAT PEOPLE WHO SUFFERED FROM ALCOHOLISM OR ANY OTHER ADDICTION WERE LIVING IN ISOLATION.
LATER, YEARS LATER, I HEARD AN AA MEMBER AT A MEETING SAY THAT THE ABSOLUTE BOTTOM LINE
OF RECOVERY WAS CONNECTION.
THAT IT WAS ABOUT CONNECTION.
SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT TONIGHT IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, BUT I MENTION IT BECAUSE
I REALLY FEEL THAT THAT'S WHAT THE POWER OF STORIES ARE IN 12-STEP RECOVERY AND RECOVERY
IN GENERAL.
IT'S WHEN SOMEBODY ELSE IS TELLING A STORY THAT SPEAKS TO ME ABOUT SOMETHING I MAY HAVE
GONE THROUGH IT OPENS UP DOORS THAT CAN'T BE OPENED UP ANY OTHER WAY.
THERE'S A HISTORIAN IN OUR FILM THAT DESCRIBES IT, HE SAYS WHAT IT'S ALL BASED ON IS
MUTUAL VULNERABILITY OPENLY SHARED.
SO FOR THAT REASON I FEEL LIKE I OWE A VERY SPECIAL THANKS AFTER BILL WILSON HIMSELF, TO
ALL THE PEOPLE IN OUR FILM WHO WERE WILLING TO GO ON CAMERA AND BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT
THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH AND SHARE THEIR STORIES BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY, I THINK, I THINK THAT
THAT'S WHAT RECOVERY IS ABOUT.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.