For Immediate Release: March 31, 2008

PRODUCER/DIRECTOR FULFILLS HER DAUGHTER’S DREAM

– SCREENS DOCUMENTARY ACROSS CANADA FOR YOUNG ADULTS LIVING WITH CANCER

Vancouver-based actor Sara Taylor Gibson was diagnosed with cancer in 1997 at the age of 23; she spent the next two and a half years “living life while fighting for it,” and working to raise awareness of the particular needs of young adult cancer patients. She dreamed of doing something about the lack of resources targeted at her age group…something to let others like her know that they weren’t alone. She began work on a documentary called Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living With Cancer; but sadly, she died in 2000 while the film was still little more than raw footage. Six years later, Sara’s mother, producer/director Pat Taylor, finished the film and screened it at cancer centres throughout BC in the spring of 2007. In April-May 2008, Pat will take another step towards fulfilling Sara’s dream: she’ll take Chasing Rainbows across Canada, presenting screenings in Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.

Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living with Cancer is a dynamic 43-minute documentary built around an honest, intimate living-room conversation between six young adults: four women (Sara being one) and two men. With passion and humour, they discuss hope, fear, faith, sexuality, infertility, family relationships, finances, the future and more. Their stories are an invaluable source of information, inspiration and hope – not only for other young adults facing life-threatening illness, but also for their families, friends, caregivers and medical support teams.

“I couldn’t protect Sara forever,” says Pat. “But I can certainly help her reach one of the goals she had before she died: to make sure Chasing Rainbows reaches young adults throughout BC, Canada, the US and the rest of the world. Our hope – Sara’s and mine – has always been that the film can be used to raise public awareness of the unique challenges facing young adults living with cancer. They need help to address their needs – which are not only medical, but also financial, logistical and emotional – both in the short and long term. I will continue to do what I can to make that happen.”

It seems that Pat and Sara are well on their way: in addition to last year’s screenings in BC and those planned across Canada this spring, the film was shown in Mumbai, India last November – and Pat has received requests for screenings in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia.

Chasing Rainbows: Young Adults Living with Cancer also features animation by Derek Cummings, evocative original songs by Michael Booth Palmer and underscoring by Edward Henderson. Copies of the DVD are available from the BC Cancer Foundation, online at www.bccancerfoundation.com/chasingrainbows or via www.chasingrainbowsproduction.com.