No house, no salary, and no possessions.
British-born Amazonian cowboy and former US TV star, Stan Brock, sacrificed fame and wealth to bring free healthcare to America. His life both embodies and confronts one of the biggest social issues of our time; the US healthcare crisis.
Stan Brock was an errant British adventurer who fled his stuffy public school at the age of 16 and boarded a ship bound for British Guiana, where he went on to become a rugged Amazonian cowboy. He was later discovered by an American TV producer who whisked him away to the United States, making him into an anaconda-wrestling wildlife TV star. However, in 1985 Stan decided to forsake fame and wealth for a higher calling.
He sold everything he owned and founded a small charity with the aim of providing basic healthcare to the developing world, vowing never to take a salary for his efforts. But by 1992, Remote Area Medical had switched its focus to running relief missions closer to home. It now dedicates over 70 percent of its resources to providing medical care in the most depressed regions of the US, where millions of uninsured can go for years without seeing a doctor. To date, RAM has provided over $135 million of free healthcare, helping nearly 1 million people through the efforts of some 135,000 volunteers.
So who exactly was this enigmatic Englishman, and why did he choose to devote his life to resolving the US healthcare crisis? This feature-length documentary examines the shocking paradox of pop-up field hospitals in the world’s most affluent nation, while recounting Stan Brock’s extraordinary life story. It is a challenging and inspirational tale of an unlikely man on an unwavering and improbable mission to confront one of the biggest social issues of our time.
CREATIVE TEAM
Paul Michael Angell
Director
Paul is a director and producer specialising in branded content and non-fiction work for film, broadcast television, and web. His producer credits include documentary feature films The Beautiful Game and The Negotiators, and his directorial debut, Code Switching, was screened at The National Portrait Gallery, London. He has also shot footage for the documentary feature film productions New Town Utopia and Buried in Burma, as well as acclaimed observational TV docs The Estate We’re In (BBC) and 16 Kids and Counting (Channel 4). Paul has a strong storytelling approach that meshes his background in commercials with an up-close documentary style, and has a wealth of experience working with high-profile talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Katie Bryer
Editor
Katie is a highly experienced editor who has worked on many award-winning documentary films, including Academy Award nominated Virunga, which was directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and executive produced by Leonardo Di Caprio. Her most recent documentary feature film, veteran director Alex Holmes’ Maiden, has received widespread critical acclaim and is one of the top grossing documentaries of 2019. Katie’s other credits include documentary features Bruce Lee & The Outlaw, Evelyn, and We Ride, as well as Moon Shot, which was a series of short documentaries for J.J. Abram’s company Bad Robot. Her latest collaboration with Oscar-winner von Einsiedel, documentary short Lost and Found, has just been acquired by National Geographic for worldwide distribution.
