Every transformative film begins with a question. But the stories that leave a lasting impact begin with the courage to keep following that question, even when the path is uncertain.
Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside filmmakers and artists who are asking bold questions and refusing to let limited resources stop important stories from reaching the world. Inside our Artists for Impact™program, participants arrive with extraordinary vision, but like so many independent creatives, they’re often searching for the strategy, community, and support to bring that vision fully to life.
That’s what inspired me to launch the Artists for Impact Spotlight — an ongoing and behind the scenes look at the creators and cultural leaders in our Artists for Impact community who are creating work that matters. These artists aren’t simply creating one-off projects. They’re building movements, shifting conversations, and finding creative ways to finance, distribute, and sustain stories that can positively change culture and society.
Our first spotlight features filmmaker Lauren Lindberg, director of FALL OF THE PHOENIX. When Lauren and I first began working together, she had already spent more than five years bringing the film to life. She had secured grants, completed most of production, assembled an extraordinary network of collaborators, and remained deeply committed to the story. Yet she was still asking the question so many independent filmmakers eventually face: How do I actually get this film across the finish line?
What began as Lauren’s effort to better understand her sister’s sports-related brain injuries evolved into something much larger: a genre-blurring documentary that combines documentary, magical realism, movement, and mythology to make the invisible realities of traumatic brain injury visible. Built in collaboration with survivors, the film is both deeply personal and profoundly universal.
In our conversation below, Lauren reflects on six years of filmmaking, the isolation that so often accompanies independent work, what changed when she found a community of fellow mission-driven artists, and why her current crowdfunding campaign—live through July 30—represents the final stretch of an extraordinary journey.
Enjoy the read! And, here’s the link to support the campaign, if you are so moved.
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Part I: The Story Behind the Film
FALL OF THE PHOENIX began as a way to better understand your sister’s sports-related concussions. At what point did you realize this wasn’t simply a documentary and that it was your story, too?
In 2020, my sister, a Division I athlete, was navigating the impact of twelve compounded concussions. Around the same time, my cousin in Alaska experienced a serious concussion in a swimming accident, and my aunt encouraged me to make a documentary about brain injuries and concussions. As I began interviewing survivors, doctors, and advocates, I realized how enormous and misunderstood the topic really is.
I also began connecting the dots in my own life. I had been a high school cheerleader and experienced repeated falls as a flyer, and shortly before film school, I was knocked unconscious during a random act of violence. I had spent years struggling with my mental health and believing I might never make films again, but no one had ever considered the role brain trauma may have played. I started the film to understand my sister, but ultimately realized I was part of the story, too.
Your film blends documentary with magical realism, movement, and mythology rather than taking a traditional documentary approach. Why was that creative language the right way to explore brain injury?
Brain injury is often invisible to the human eye. Someone can look completely fine while struggling internally with memory, emotional regulation, exhaustion, sensory overload, or a loss of identity. It can be incredibly difficult to articulate that experience or convince others that what you are going through is real.
Magical realism gives us a visual language for making the invisible visible. Each participant has helped co-create imagery that reflects how brain injury uniquely manifests in their life, because if you have seen one brain injury, you have seen one brain injury. Mythology also reminds us that the hardest chapter of our story does not have to be the end. I wanted the film to be not only informative, but also cinematic, approachable, entertaining, and filled with the possibility of transformation.
You’ve spent nearly six years following survivors around the country. What has surprised you most about the resilience and humanity of the people you’ve met?
When I first began filming, many of us were still trying to understand how to navigate the injury, access care, and rebuild our lives. Brain injury can affect housing, employment, relationships, emotional regulation, and nearly every part of a person’s identity. As a filmmaker, it was difficult to witness those challenges and feel that I could not immediately fix them.
What has moved me most is the extraordinary creativity people develop when traditional systems fail them. I have watched people turn to healing gardens, community, activism, storytelling, and service as pathways toward recovery. Many have transformed their own pain into a roadmap for others. They have taught me that creativity, compassion, connection, and resilience are not simply inspiring ideas; they are essential tools for navigating life.
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Part II: The Artist’s Journey
When we first met, you’d already spent more than five years making the film. You’d received grants, built strong relationships, and completed much of production, yet you said to me you still felt stuck. What did that season feel like?
That season felt like I was carrying every piece of the film alone. I was producing, directing, fundraising, building relationships, managing logistics, and trying to understand how to move a feature documentary forward without the resources of a traditional production company. I had received two modest grants, but institutional support was much harder to find than I had expected.
The film had grown tremendously, but I had not yet built the structure or support system necessary to hold everything it was becoming. I also did not always know how to ask for help. From the outside, it may have looked like I had made enormous progress, but internally, I felt like I was constantly pushing a boulder uphill.
Shortly before joining Artists for Impact™, you received a small grant and said it felt like a sign to invest in yourself. What made you decide that it was the right moment?
Receiving that grant reminded me that sometimes, in order to receive support, you first have to demonstrate that you are willing to invest in yourself. I knew there were gaps in my knowledge, particularly around financing, strategy, accountability, and turning a deeply personal creative vision into a sustainable production. I did not need more determination; I needed guidance and community.
I decided to include the Artists for Impact™ program in the film’s budget and treat that investment as a real production need. It was a way of saying that my growth as a filmmaker was just as important as a camera rental or a plane ticket. The experience with the AFI cohort gave me practical tools, but it also gave me permission to believe that the film and I were ready for the next chapter.
Independent filmmaking can be lonely. How did being part of our community of mission-driven filmmakers change your experience?
Independent filmmaking can be incredibly isolating, especially when you are building a project without the funding to maintain a full-time team. There are more tools than ever that allow one person to perform many different jobs, but that does not replace the energy of being in genuine creative community. Having people to strategize with, test ideas on, and speak honestly with was wildly motivating.
For the first time in a long time, I felt nourished rather than depleted by the filmmaking process. The relationships also continued beyond the Artists for Impact™ program. Many of the women from the cohort have contributed to the crowdfunding campaign, shared it with their networks, and helped make new connections for the film. That support has shown me that community is not separate from the work; community is how work like this becomes possible.
If Lauren’s story is resonating with you, my weekly newsletter goes deeper with an inside look at the Artists for Impact™ methodology, the funding strategies I use with artists like Lauren, and more spotlights like this one, nearly every week in your inbox.
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Part III: The Impact
Many supporters think they’re simply backing a film, but they’re often helping launch a larger movement. How do you envision FALL OF THE PHOENIX creating impact beyond festivals?
I am designing FALL OF THE PHOENIX as a 360-degree impact campaign, not simply a film. I want survivors to be able to show it to someone and say, “This is what I have been trying to explain,” while also helping viewers recognize injuries in themselves or the people they love. The film can create awareness, but awareness is only the beginning.
My larger vision includes a resource hub featuring survivor stories, practical guidance, and pathways to community so that people do not feel abandoned after the credits roll. I also envision screenings and conversations in hospitals, universities, rehabilitation centers, prisons, shelters, and community organizations. The people and communities who helped build this film deserve something meaningful in return. I want the film to become a tool for education, advocacy, connection, and lasting change.
What conversations do you hope audiences are having after they watch your film?
When I was young, my family watched AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, and afterward, we sat down together and wrote out the ways we could help address climate change. I dream of FALL OF THE PHOENIX sparking that kind of active conversation. I want people to ask how they can become more compassionate toward challenges they may not be able to see.
I also hope healthcare professionals consider what it means to treat the whole person, rather than isolating the brain from identity, relationships, creativity, community, and purpose. Most of all, I want survivors and families to leave with hope. People are often told what they may never do again, but hope and neuroplasticity matter. This injury does not have to be the end of someone’s story.
Brain injury is often described as an “invisible injury.” What misconceptions do you most hope this film helps dismantle?
One of the most damaging misconceptions is that if someone looks fine, they must be fine. A person may appear completely capable while using an enormous amount of energy to process a conversation, control their emotions, remember information, or simply make it through the day. Brain injury also does not look the same in every person, which is one reason it is so frequently misunderstood or missed altogether.
I hope the film encourages people to replace judgment with curiosity and compassion. There are parts of all of us that can feel frightening, isolating, or difficult to explain. We do not have to navigate those invisible challenges alone. The more we are able to name them, share them, and create through them, the more opportunities we have to heal.
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Part IV: The Campaign
You’re crowdfunding at a very specific moment in production. Why is this fundraising window so important?
I am currently crowdfunding $20,000 to finish production this summer, and two of our remaining shoots are tied to immovable seasonal windows. In Alaska, I will join Dr. Adam Grove aboard the Brain Bus as he brings brain injury education and resources to remote communities. In Connecticut, I will film the healing gardens created by Dr. Ivette Ruiz while they are in full bloom. We will also be filming a Native dance sequence for participant Alex Mortensen, which will serve as one of the film’s major magical-realism moments.
These shoots represent the final chapters of the participant’s stories. If we miss these windows, we risk losing the opportunity to capture these essential moments altogether. That is why reaching the campaign goal now is so urgent.
When your campaign reaches its goal (I’m putting that out into the universe), what becomes possible for the film?
Reaching our goal means I can complete these final character stories and officially finish principal photography. After nearly six years of filming, that would be an incredibly meaningful milestone. It would allow us to move forward with the complete emotional and narrative foundation of the film.
If we exceed the goal, every additional dollar will go toward bringing the film’s magical-realism sequences to life. Those visual moments are what will allow us to translate the invisible experience of brain injury onto the screen and distinguish FALL OF THE PHOENIX from a traditional documentary.
Finally, for someone discovering your project for the first time today, what’s one thing you’d like them to know before they decide to support the campaign?
Brain injury touches far more people than most of us realize, yet many survivors never receive the diagnosis, treatment, or understanding they need. Even for those who have not experienced a brain injury, we all know what it feels like to carry an invisible wound or struggle that others cannot see. FALL OF THE PHOENIX is ultimately a film about meeting those hidden experiences with greater compassion, curiosity, and hope.
This project has been built with nearly six years of love, trust, and intention. Supporting it means helping give the brain injury community the visibility it deserves while also helping me reclaim the filmmaking career I dreamed about as a child, but nearly lost because of my own undiagnosed brain injury. Every contribution helps bring both of those stories full circle.
Thank you so much, Lauren for sharing your story with me. I know you will inspire many in our community of social impact artists. You and FALL OF THE PHOENIX have transformed right in front of my eyes these past months. I am honored and grateful to be in your mix.
I’m heading over NOW to make my pledge!!
Support FALL OF THE PHOENIX Seed & Spark Campaign
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Lauren is just the first of many artists I can’t wait for you to meet. If you want the next Spotlight, plus the funding strategies, behind-the-scenes lessons, and opportunities inside the Artists for Impact™ ecosystem, join my weekly For Impact Productions newsletter here → Join the weekly newsletter.
With heart and solidarity,
Simone
Founder, For Impact Productions & Artists for Impact™