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Movie night conversation COMING SOON: Calling God to the Witness Stand, 55 Steps & 10 Days in a Mad House.

Ten Days in a Mad House based on true story in 1800’s Nelly Bly, a journalist, went into an assylum (similar to Anna Biltmore) to report & then win a million dollar court case.

Our true story is similar to the true story depicted in the movie, Ten Days in a Mad-House (released 2015). In 1887, a NYC journalist Nellie Bly went undercover in an insane asylum, published her findings and won a court case resulting in NYC awarding $1,000,000 to rectify the insane conditions. The similarity is that Nelly and Janet were both undercover. The difference is that Nelly had her NYC newspaper ready to get her out.

Photo images below, courtesy of Carolyn Green, our amazing team member.

SEE: (1) Brooke Siem’s Year of Living Dangerously with Antidepressant Withdrawal – YouTube 2001 the beginning of the anti-depressant era. “May Cause Side Effects”: https://www.brookesiem.com/books/

(3) Medicating Normal- The Film | Facebook

• Platform/Format: 1 hour 45 minute feature length film with potential for sequel film and multi-season series of court cases in a Netflix type series. Demonstrate a variety of multi-cultural spiritual mental health experiences that were wrongfully treated. Bringing different elements of the mental health & spiritual/religious system to court in a respectable & honoring way. (Include popularity of meditation & psychedelics induced SEY.
• SETTING Season 1: New Jersey court room interspersed with scenes from Spy in the House of Crazy™ and law office research teams.
• “Movies that have courtroom scenes in them are among the most popular for moviegoers. It’s safe to say that movies with courtroom scenes are so popular because there is something for everyone. Just remember that real life courtrooms usually don’t function like those in the movies.” The Top 20 Courtroom Scenes in Movie History (tvovermind.com)
• Time Frame: Actual 1979 & 2005 with fictitious court case in 2007.
• + 2022 2023 recorded experts at movie end. Expedite movie release 2023 2024.

Commentary on making the movie: Calling God to the Witness Stand. 2:06

Michael Garbe, Doctor of Social Work and Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in incorporating spirituality into therapy. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nSWVkisoG5UNglqLuhQnss7CEK-JtHyE/view?usp=sharing

NOTE: This can be positioned as a cross-over media experience, similar to Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, with some of the main characters seen in Spy in the House of Crazy™.

Healing Voices Trailer

Robert Whitaker is in the film.

“Mind, body, spirit connection”

Fictionalized court case: Anna Biltmore vs. NJ Regional Psychiatric Hospital.

Opening scene shows Anna meeting in the law office discussing the various law suits she wants to pursue. The law firm is passionate about bringing the entire mental health system to court and becomes her strongest advocate.

The deposition for this personal injury case begins with the expert testimony of research scientist who provides an update as of 2005/06 from Yale, Columbia, Cambridge and Oxford on the research historically and in process for treating people exhibiting behaviors described in the DSM-IV of 1994 (V 62.89 Religious or Spiritual Problem).

Expert DSM witness in deposition:  Dr. Luke Davidson provides intent of the v-code, ethical mandate for training and protocols for treating people exhibiting behaviors described in the DSM-IV of 1994 (V 62.89 Religious or Spiritual Problem). The deposition continues:

Frederick Goldstein confirms that Anna Biltmore presented on Wall Street to venture capitalists one week prior to her hospitalization in 2005 and confirms that the medical report documented by NJ Regional Hospital is prejudiced against Anna being brought to the ER as a presumed mentally ill patient. The staff did not check the fact that Anna is indeed connected to Wall Street. She is not delusional.

Robert Gregorio confirms that he invited Anna Biltmore to Washington DC one month prior to her hospitalization to assist in the research on the v-code modifier (62.89) that will help direct the protocol for college students experiencing spiritual and religious problems. Mr. Gregorio confirms that the medical report documented by NJ Regional Hospital is prejudiced against Anna with their statement that she had delusions of grandeur thinking she was connected to Washington DC. The staff did not check their facts.

The arraignment in court presents the defendant, CEO of NJ Regional Hospital with the charge of negligence and personal injury with failure to follow protocol for the v-code (62.89) and falsification of Anna Biltmore’s medical report which documented “she has delusions of grandeur thinking she was an entrepreneur, thinking she is connected to Wall Street and Washington DC.”

Conclusion of trial: Hospital may not be found to be legally responsible.

The first trial day brings a series of expert medical witnesses:

• Dr. Graham Daniels, emergency room medical doctor who has prevented 92 wrongful hospitalizations over the past 10 years of individuals exhibiting behaviors that are similar to bipolar and schizophrenic episodes but he correctly diagnosed them with the v-code modifier, Religious and Spiritual Problems (62.89) and successfully treated them based on their cultural beliefs with alternative medicine protocols that did not require anti-psychotic medication. (Daniel M. Ingram Board Chair and acting CEO at Emergence Benefactors ???)
• Dr. David Youngman, a 92-year-old psychiatrist who treated Anna Biltmore at 25 years old when she was required to see him after her first hospitalization in 1979. “Anna was being tested routinely to maintain the therapeutic blood level for lithium. She was progressing well consistently and at one appointment I confronted Anna that her blood level for lithium was well below the therapeutic level and did acknowledge that she really was doing well.  Anna confessed that she reduced her lithium dosage by ¼. We agreed that Anna’s constitution was sensitive to medications and that this lower dosage was best for her.”
• Rennie v. Klein, 462 F. Supp. 1131 (D.N.J. 1978), was a case heard in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1978 to decide whether an involuntarily committed mental patient has a constitutional right to refuse psychiatric medication. It was the first case to establish that such a patient has the right to refuse medication in the United States.

Characters.

• Main character:  Anna Biltmore portrayed as a 50-year-old respectable and successful business entrepreneur and a single mom raising a son as she bravely speaks out to prove her innocence in court that she is not mentally ill. Played by Jodi Foster or Diane Keaton or Sandra Bullock
• PLAINTIFF lawyer team for Anna: Brandon Russel, ESQ (Russel Brand, Jim Carry or Matthew McConaughey or Jodi Foster or Laura Leggett Linney). Create a team of 3 lawyers: African American bad ass female (neutral to beliefs) with white male (Christian believer) & Hispanic female (experiencer).

• Business partner: Hank Michaels portrayed as a successful business entrepreneur, advocates for Anna when she is institutionalized in 2005 by sending letters to the NJ Governor, congressmen and senators petitioning for Anna’s release from the mental institution.
• Dr. Luke Davidson (character based on Dr. David Lukoff)
• DEFENSE lawyer for NJ Regional Hospital played by James Woods (from the movie Contact). Old school white male team skeptical of spiritual/religious.
• Expert legal witness:  NJ & US law on forced medication & hospitalization. Jim Gottstein, Esq Author, The Zyprexa Papers. Founder, The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights https://psychrights.org/about.htm
• Character witness: A Washington DC executive, long term colleague and former college supervisor of Anna Biltmore as portrayed by Robert Gregorio provides testimony of Anna’s character, mental health, spiritual beliefs and collaboration with Washington DC to support research that helps college student mental health across the nation.
• Wall Street sponsor witness: A wealthy financial investor, Frederick Goldstein portrayed as the financial sponsor for Anna at a Wall Street venture capital presentation one week prior to her hospitalization.
• Expert medical witness/case study review finds Anna Biltmore is not Bipolar. Dr. Jonathan Cavanaugh portrays John Calvin Chatlos, MD Rutgers University. Validates Anna Biltmore’s experience to fit into this v code category and confirms that the protocols applied to her were negligent and severely harming. Addresses spiritual differentiation from mental illness.
• Dr. Orest Pelechaty M.Sc., O.M.D., C.A., AHG treated Janet with acupuncture, Chinese medicine + essential oils from wife. 2005 – 2006
• Expert historical psychiatrist witness: The psychiatrist that Anna Biltmore was forced to see following her first hospitalization in 1979 as portrayed by Dr. David Youngman who is now 92-years old.
• Hospital support staff who were friendly and helpful to Anna maintaining her sanity and facilitating her eventual release. Anna’s psychiatrist who ignored her research and requests after reading & returning the research in 24 hours.
• CEO of NJ Regional Hospital inviting Anna to train his staff 6 months after she was institutionalized. Emergency room intake nurse who ignored Anna’s truth and did not fact check resulting in wrong statements leading to longer hospitalization. Discharge social worker who kept making Anna return with action plans for release despite how appropriately they were written.Patient: Marianna, a lawyer who Anna assisted after her release.
• Dr. ……(portrays Ki-Sook Yoo, MD attending physician, Bergen Regional). Reviews Anna’s research on the Spiritual and Religious Problems V-code & refuses to converse with Anna on including this in her treatment. He refuses to lower her dose of Lithium.
• Hostile witness Prescribing nurse portrayed as Marie Smith, RN who denied Anna’s story of weaning her off lithium and preventing her early release from the hospital.
• Spiritual Emergency Experiencers who were hospitalized with spiritual experience.

Films that demonstrate the power and emotion and value of Calling God to the Witness Stand™

Mental institution movies do not address sane/spiritually based patients. We add the magical mystery of authentic spiritual experiences grounded by a Higher Power & introduce unprecedented court cases that influence paradigm shifting breakthroughs in the mainstream justice system for mental health consumers.

Jodie Foster demonstrates and example of Anna Biltmore’s testimony in court about spiritually transformative experiences.

Prosecutor (James Woods): “You come to us with no evidence…only a story that has strange credibility. I do believe you have suffered some sort of episode…a phenomena known in psychiatric circles called, a self-reinforcing delusion. Are you really going to tell us to take this all on faith?  Why don’t you withdraw your testimony and concede that this never took place?

 Defendant (Jodi Foster): “Because I can’t.”

“I had an experience that I can’t prove I can’t even explain it but everything I know as a human being tells me I know is real. I was given something that was wonderful…something that changed me forever…a vision of the universe that tells us undeniably how tiny and insignificant and how rare and precious we all are…a vision that tells us we belong to something greater than ourselves…that none of us are alone. I wish I could share that. I wish that everyone even for one moment could feel that awe and humility and hope. That continues to be my mission.”

Prosecutor in Calling God to the Witness Stand: Do we take this all on faith? Do you admit that you have no proof?

Anna Biltmore. No. I do admit that I do have proof and that is why I will tell my story as God is my witness. I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And there are thousands of others who have had similar spiritually transformative experiences and hundreds of research scientists and medical professionals and practicing psychologists who know what I have to say to be true.

Expert witness: “Hypersensitives are born differently from others.  The drug caused failure in exorcism. The drug made her immune to treatment.  Scientifically verified. (Gadobutrol is used to help diagnose certain disorders of the brain and spine (central nervous system), or the blood vessels of the kidneys)

God’s Not Dead 2 is a 2016 American Christian drama film, directed by Harold Cronk, and starring Melissa Joan Hart, Jesse Metcalfe, David A. R. White, Hayley Orrantia and Sadie Robertson. It is a sequel to the 2014 film God’s Not Dead. It follows a high school teacher facing a court case that could end her career, after having answered a student’s seemingly innocuous question about Jesus. The film presents an evangelical perspective on the separation of church and state.

 

 Trenton Psychiatric Hospital was a state-run mental hospital located in Trenton and Ewing, New Jersey. It previously operated under the name New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton and originally as the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum. Full demolition of the hospital must be completed by Oct. 15, 2022. “I was a patient there when I was 14, it was not much different than 1900.” JIHADAH SHARIF. March 17, 2022

Similar to the true story of John Nash, a Princeton University professor depicted in A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe (released 2001) both John Nash & Anna Biltmore were sent to the NJ State Hospital in Trenton (a dungeon). John in 1961 and Anna Biltmore in 1979 (for 1 night).John Nash also called a lawyer to get him out of the hospital.

According to Nash, the film A Beautiful Mind inaccurately implied he was taking the new atypical antipsychotics of the time period. He attributed the depiction to the screenwriter who was worried about the film encouraging people with the disorder to stop taking their medication.^[27]

Nash felt psychotropic drugs were overrated and that the adverse effects were not given enough consideration once someone was deemed mentally ill

Miracle on 34th Street (4/5) Movie CLIP – The One and Only Santa Claus (1947) HD – YouTube

USPS to his rescue. Macey’s department store requires Santa to take a psychiatric evaluation & is put in a psychiatric institution.

In this movie God (George Burns) is on the witness stand defending John Denver when John Denver talks with God with in normal mainstream life. This movie is included to demonstrate our intention to add the Christian perspective of Janet’s spiritually transformative experience that is missing in the research.

The movie court case ends with our lawyer wheeling in printed copies of the emails, texts & phone transcripts from thousands of folks around the world commenting in support of Anna Biltmore and a “me too” message. “I too was hospitalized against my will when having a spiritual emergency.”

Find YouTube video “In God We Trust Miracle on 34th st. 1994” not available to post on website.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Expert witness characters unique to a specific court case. IE when positioned as a follow up series.

• Defense lawyer for each court case.
  • Defendant executive for each court case. ie. hospital CEO, Pharma CEO, etc
  • Expert witnesses
    • Research Scientists from Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Oxford, etc.
    • Cultural competency experts on unique spiritual beliefs and treatments for patients with African, Asian, Latino/Hispanic, etc.  Cross Cultural Spirituality | Spiritual Emergency
    • Catholic priest on how they care for human mystical experiences within the Catholic church and unique cultural norms of South American Catholics.
    • Indigenous elder from US Native American reservation
    • Spiritual Emergency experiencer testimonies from around the globe
  • NOTE: We will add to the missing research from a Christian experience.
  • Christian women spiritual emergency 32-3_9_Lesniewicz.pdf
  • Judith Miller Ph.D., a professor of developmental psychology at Columbia University, has spent her life and career bridging the two worlds of mainstream psychology and spirituality. More than twenty years ago, Judith began to have spontaneous mystical experiences that ultimately led to experiences of Christ Consciousness. There was nothing in her background that prepared her for these experiences: she was a traditionally trained psychologist working clinically with persons diagnosed psychotic and schizophrenic, an agnostic, and a Jew. A search for an explanation led to her discovery that all spiritual traditions have the same mystical roots and meaning
  • Ever since the term Spiritual Emergency was coined by Stan and Christian Grof, this phenomenon has mostly been studied within the framework of Eastern religious practices. The mainstream Western Christian religion, largely ignoring mystical experiences, has been unaware of spiritual emergency, leaving the job of helping those persons having these experiences to mental health professionals who may pathologize this experience. Peggy Lesniewicz, MA, PhD, LPCC-S

NOTES from when this was positioned as a TV series.

EPISODE ONE  60 minutes or a series of episodes to complete one court case.

Episode one arc starts with a rise from a previous fall initiating a challenging quick rise and fall of the conflict between truth exposed facing off with the established misinformation and ignorance of the hospital’s medical staff. The first court case is lost which appears to be a fall but is actually a rise stirring up support to keep fighting and keep the court cases coming.

• 2^nd episode: Litigation against emergency transport company (Quick Transport NJ Inc.) who said they are aware of v-code and spiritual emergency and do training but failed to treat Anna Biltmore with appropriate protocol in 2005.
  • 3^rd episode: Litigation against government officials failure to take action when issued letters from Anna Biltmore.
  • 4^th episode: Litigation against pharmaceutical industry producing lithium: failure to conduct clinical trials & demonstrate low therapeutic dose efficacy.
  • 5^th episode: Litigation against pharmaceutical industries producing/advertising psychotic drugs to ‘cure’ chemical imbalance based on misinformation promoted by the DSM III (1980) & failure to inform public of v-code in 1994.  See:  J&J to pay $8 billion for wrongfully pushing doctors to prescribe the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal. (the character in this court case was forced to take Risperdal, Haldol, Wellbutrin, Lithium.
  • 6^th episode: Litigation against NJ State Medical Board for not monitoring effectively enough the training & competency required to apply the V code since 1994 published in the DSM-IV.  Failure to ensure accountability for ethical mandate of cultural competence…which should lead the professional to ask questions about cultural & spiritual frame of reference….and reasonable protocol…and limit or eliminate pain & suffering for wrongful psychiatric hospitalization, over medication and stigma from wrongful diagnosis. NOTE: 2022? mandate for training in medical residency programs in US.
  • 7^th episode: Litigation against universities failure to train medical students and maintain cultural competency communication on V code protocol as of 1994.
  • 8^th episode: Litigation against professional organizations (AMA, APA, National Association of Social Workers, etc) whoever is to hold medical universities, hospitals & individual mental health workers accountable for ethical compliance in v code.
  • 9^th episode: Litigation against insurance companies for failure to include a billing code for the v-code which would position mental health workers to use the protocol.
  • 10^th episode:  Class action suit with thousands of spiritual experiencers who were over medicated and hospitalized against their will.

The series can continue with the continuously expanding research and exponentially growing victimization of spiritual experiencers being misdiagnosed, over-medicated and hospitalized against their will.

• ORIGINAL FORMAT DESCRIPTION: Series of episodes over multiple seasons.
• One trial by jury court case per season at 30-60 minutes each with 6 episodes for each court case.  Option to position multiple court cases within a season of 10-13 episodes.
• 10 court cases identified to be verified and expanded with legal counsel.
• Some cases may end with the deposition in the law office where evidence is heard and not found worthy of a trial but truth is exposed in the episode.
• Some cases end with an arraignment where the defendant (medical, psychological, pharmaceutical, insurance industry or government enters a plea of guilty and settles out of court.

July 10, 2022 From Calvin Chatlos

Janet-I just finished watching Gods Not Dead 1.

In most ways I thought it was wonderfully done, and I think it should be the model as we develop your movie. The financial stats were also pretty good!

A big point was how they followed 5 or 6 different characters surrounding the issue and slowly pulled them together.

There were also some unexpected shocking events, and of course the imitation of A Few Good Men classroom scene which I actually thought was funny, ballsy, and effective. However, I do not think the final events, /scene would be appropriate.

Characters to consider: Paul LaClair, Esq. to advise is he defense or prosecuting lawyer.

I would suggest that we model it after the group you are going to gather – including you, me , Paul, Dr Lukoff/ or / and Garbe, and I would suggest

a physicist / Sikh friend interested in spirituality

a Muslim leader

a Swami I know in NY, and a leader in the Interspiritual movement with a spiritual quest and friend of mine

and maybe a scientist in psychedelics. ((7)Daniel M. Ingram | LinkedIn Board Chair and acting CEO at Emergence Benefactors

The movie would follow our spiritual paths as we finalize them during the movie development!

Janet’s NOTE: Movie 1 we follow 1 spiritual path of Anna Biltmore & bring in other spiritual experiencers who were hospitalized & offer a ‘mainstream’ message re how common these experiences are & how to prevent hospitalization & over medication when spiritual counseling/holistic tools & protocol from the DSM Vcode can be applied. Following other spiritual paths can be addressed in a documentary & also in recorded zoom conversations with experts that promote the movie. Movie 2 sequel or Netflix series can include many real life experiences made into fiction.

1 page treatment Spy in the House of Crazy™

 

Edited by Deborah Louise Ortiz, Film Producer/Film Independent; Producer/Director/Dangerous Curves Productions. Actress. Impacting Lives through Film Working through a Lens of HOPE and Empowerment / Mental Health Advocate

Logline: The true story of a heroine’s journey to find a healing prescription for her soul after navigating her horrific experiences with the mental health system.

Synopsis: Based on a true story of the tragedy and victory of Janet Werner over being wrongfully stigmatized with mental illness in 1979. Weaving together four decades of success and derailment in business, in life as a single mom integrating experiences within the psychiatric institutions of 1979 and 2005. Armed with proven research and a stubbornness to speak truth the heroine successfully navigates the mental health system over a 40-year journey.

It is 2005 and Anna Biltmore (acting as Janet Werner) is presenting to investors on Wall Street inspired to receive funding support for the training of medical students and mental health professionals that is now required by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.  Nine days later Anna summons the courage to tell her family that she was wrongfully labeled manic depressive in 1979 and wrongfully put in a mental institution. No one believes her.  Anna’s mother calls the police stating emphatically that Anna is having another breakdown. A police car arrives and escorts her to a state hospital in New Jersey despite Anna pleading not to do this…not again.  No one listens. Anna’s ten-year-old son is watching from the living room window crying and thinking to himself: “I don’t know if I’ll ever see my mom again.”

Eleven days locked up on a mental ward and drugged against her will Anna reaches deeply into her soul to find a way to survive without going crazy.  After her release Anna embarks on a mission to vindicate herself by issuing press releases and letters to Congressmen and Senators, yet no support is to be found.

Six months later Anna gets a copy of her medical report and makes an appointment with the CEO of that same hospital. Dressed in a black suit, looking like her professional self, and accompanied by her business partner, Hank Michaels, Anna places page 3 of her medical report on the desk of the CEO and askes, “How did this happen?  How did your staff not check the facts when I was telling the truth? How do you explain that I was labeled as delusional in this medical report when each of the statements I made were true and easily validated?  The stigma was established in a misdiagnosis in 1979 which haunted her for over 40 years.

The CEO had already confirmed her credentials prior to this meeting and recognized that his staff made some grave mistakes which cost Anna extreme hardship, loss of income in her business not to mention the psychological impact on her son who was afraid that he would never see his mom again. After a brief apology, the CEO askes Anna to schedule a training session for his staff to inform them of the latest protocols for preventing such an atrocity from happening to others.

This true story leads viewers into a sense of hope from experiencing the unrelenting conviction from Anna Biltmore to speak her truth, prove her innocence and make a difference for others.