Revealing “the Largest Public Health Crisis You’ve Never Heard of” with the harris project
the harris project is the only national charity in the US dedicated to prevention, treatment, recovery, and system transformation relating to co-occurring disorders (COD). COD is the diagnosis of one or more mental health disorders plus substance misuse and/or addiction.
The organisation was founded by president Stephanie Marquesano following the accidental overdose death of her 19-year-old son, Harris. Diagnosed with anxiety disorder and ADHD, Harris turned to marijuana and prescription drugs, but the rehabilitation system failed to address his COD before his death in October 2013, just 36 hours after being discharged from a sober living programme.
Hoping to improve outcomes around COD, Stephanie tells LBB’s Ben Conway that when Havas NY’s senior producer Josh Kornrich reached out to express interest in a national campaign for the harris project, the answer was a resounding yes.
“The working concepts were: co-occurring disorders is the largest public health crisis you’ve never heard of; you can’t prevent something you’ve never heard of or demand access to better care if you don’t know a relationship between substance use issues and mental health challenges exists; knowledge is power; and, let’s bring co-occurring disorders out of the shadows and into the light.”
She continues, “The title ‘You Don’t Know The Half Of It’ truly captures the essence of the campaign… You may see the use, the changes, the destruction, but what is often hidden are the mental health challenges and the connection between the two. With almost half of US teens living with a mental health disorder (22% with severe impact) and one in two with substance use issues having a mental health challenge, we had to make that connection in the most impactful and relatable way – in three minutes!”
The result is a film directed by Love Song’s Daniel Wolfe that follows one girl’s anguish with COD, through a series of dynamic, emotive snapshots that cut through a drinking game of ‘Never Have I Ever’, which supplies the basis for the protagonist’s candid voiceover.
Speaking about the film, Daniel shares that he and the cinematographer, Anna Franquesa-Solano, worked together to craft the project’s ‘heightened, stylised naturalism’ - a style familiar to those who have followed Daniel’s work - to tell the story in a cinematic yet authentic way. “It’s tricky because I didn’t want to stylise it too much and romanticise the lifestyle,” he says. “We found that balance with pops of colour while everything is generally quite practical and relatively muted.”
Also speaking with LBB, Tyronne Schaffer, creative/art director, and Josh Kornrich, senior broadcast producer, at Havas New York say that this element of authenticity was vital to the campaign. “The bullshit metre goes off pretty quickly when you are doing cause-related work, especially something as emotional and human as this. So, we took every measure to make sure we represented COD credibly.”
The team made sure everyone working on the film had a first-hand personal connection to the subject matter and drew from many people in recovery and the family and friends of those who lost loved ones, ensuring the lines and scenes were as real as possible. Not only was the lead actress, Austin Patrick, in recovery - allowing her to channel a more personal performance - but the director also shares he has lived experience with his sobriety journey and mental health issues.
Passionate about the harris project’s goal to highlight COD in a less abstract way, Daniel says, “It was great to lean on their research and findings, take that data and visualise it… I understand the subject matter, I did my research, and I talked to a lot of young people, which was part of the casting process. That kind of research and casting is a huge part of finding something authentic, believable, and relevant today.”
He adds, “It was a combination of lots and lots of conversations. A lot of people are really suffering at the moment. I wanted each scene to speak to co-occurring disorders as opposed to just addiction – that was the balance of making this film.”
As well as sharing her own family’s story, Stephanie helped introduce the creative and production teams to young, diverse people from the harris project’s COD awareness prevention programming (CODA) - people experiencing COD, parents and siblings, and those who work in the field. “Almost every line in the film and image captured came directly from these real life experiences,” she says.
“Having a crew and lead who have experienced COD, either personally or with a loved one, you felt a palpable drive and determination on set and in post-production to get it right. I also spent time with the cast and their guardians talking about COD, learning about their experiences, and sharing the power this film could have. There was so much dedication and passion to both the film itself and in recognising how many lives could be impacted.”
One of these cast members in the film is wearing black nail polish - a custom colour dedicated to Cooper Noriega, a famous TikTok influencer who overdosed last year and whose family now has a close relationship with the harris project. Captivated by Cooper’s candour and understanding of mental health and substance misuse, Stephanie was determined to help his commitment to educating on the topics transcend his death. Connecting with Cooper’s parents, she brought them in to meet the Havas creatives and to pay tribute to their late son via the nail polish easter egg in the campaign.
The film is filled with such details relating to both Cooper and Harris, from the colours and design of the harris project logo and the two stars representing CODA, to the green colour-matched to Harris’s eye colour, the dog tags that nod to the video games he played and the brave battle he waged fighting COD, and Harris’s actual notebook that the protagonist writes in. “This was the notebook in which he wrote poems to both [his sister] Jensyn and me,” shares Stephanie. “The hero is also wearing Jensyn’s bangle bracelet which has her favourite line from her poem engraved in Harris’s handwriting.”
The testimonies of all involved were instrumental in shaping the script too, which formed around the concept of a ‘Never Have I Ever’-style drinking game. “It’s sort of universally accepted as a rite of passage for experimenting with substances,” says Tyronne. “It feels innocent on the surface, and the repeated mantra allowed us to devolve it and take it to a much darker place. The game is designed to reveal real things about yourself you wouldn’t normally admit to.”
Josh adds, “Many of the lines were informed by people’s real experience with COD. The line ‘drink if you’re so anxious, it’s happening again’ came from a mother whose son overdosed in relation to COD. When driving him to a sports game, he would start uncontrollably sweating and say, ‘Mom, it’s happening again’. Anecdotes like this helped craft the script.”
Discussing the nimble two-day shoot - shot on Alexa 35 with Panavision T and G anamorphic lenses - Daniel says he especially loves the “more joyous” shots of Austin on stage and in the aquarium. “I wanted to show both sides of the coin. Stuff around addiction can be very, very heavy - which, of course, it is - but you can’t just show that. So, I prefer some of the lighter moments. For instance, with the diving stuff, we wanted to show that she was high-achieving, so the shots of the dive were really important.”
One technique he’s always employed is experimenting with frame rates - and this project is no different. While he says it's ‘never particularly thought-out’ ahead of time, these spur of the moment directorial decisions - whether it’s the thoughtful slower shots or the more chaotic sped-up sequences - give each moment of the protagonist’s story its own unique feeling. “Whenever I’m directing a scene, I instinctively feel what frame rate is right to evoke the emotion of that moment. It’s more of a gut feeling if this frame rate will play out and create this feeling of mania, euphoria, exhilaration, angst, or depression.”
To be expected, non-profit campaigns provide their own challenges with reduced budgets, but Daniel says the main difficulty was to present a film that made people feel and be hopeful, without manipulating them, being too heavy or fetishising addiction - all while representing the harris project and its message truthfully.
“We overcome it by being honest, asking the right questions, and talking to people,” he says. “I have a vision, but I always make sure that I’m listening to people, and in this instance, listening to young people.”
Tyronne and Josh add, “COD is quite complicated - there are many combinations of substances and mental health challenges. It’s also something that affects everyone, spanning age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic [circumstances]. Therefore, it was extremely difficult in the concepting phase to find a vehicle that would relate to young people without alienating their parents. The drinking game is something everyone has some contact with, and the ‘drink if you’ repeated drum gave us a platform to showcase multiple substances and multiple mental health conditions. This allows the viewer to clearly understand that the hero character encompasses a collection of experiences that universally represent COD.”
Following the campaign’s launch on the 10th anniversary of Harris Marquesano’s death, Stephanie says that she wasn’t fully prepared for the level of organic reach it’s had. She’s since heard from every avenue imaginable about how so many people with COD experience relate to the film, as well as hearing feedback from other parents overwhelmed with emotion and wondering why it’s taken so long to get this message out there.
She says, “Those in the field continue to reach out, noting overdose, suicide and alcohol-related death rates, and the critical importance of finally addressing the needs of the millions with co-occurring disorders in an integrated and comprehensive way. And for the youth and adults who have been fortunate enough to not be touched personally, they have shared the lens shift from substance use as a choice, or blaming the individual for treatment failures, to what they can do to be more empathetic and supportive of those in need.”
As for the future of ‘You Don’t Know The Half Of It’, the hope is to continue to engage with potential collaborators and partners to expand this organic reach, be it through sports and entertainment venues, platforms like TikTok or finding media donors.
“At the end of the ‘phase one’ arc,” adds Stephanie, “my hope is that every single person in this country has a basic understanding of co-occurring disorders. As for phase two, I think that will become more crystallised as we move through the next couple of months. It will likely include introducing CODA prevention and the integrated treatment model we have been implementing with great success. We might also consider the role that those with lived experience, loved ones and motivated youth can play in educating elected officials about what can be done legislatively to make an impact.”
