|
For those of us who have made our lives
here, the powerful will to rise above this tragedy is not surprising.
Hokies have always been strong, compassionate and we come together in a crisis
on many occasions on behalf of other people.
Local medical and law enforcement personnel immediately went to New
York after 9/11. New River Valley residents, students, faculty and staff from Virginia
Tech have worked to re-build the Gulf states after Katrina.
Hokies
have fought hunger and famine on a global scale and are building
schools and clinics in war-torn lands and serving in the US military. In
fact, the traditional Hokie motto is Ut Prosim--"That I May Serve."
As we watched our small town become
horrific international news, we found reason after reason to be proud
in spite of this tragedy. Every student we saw interviewed
demonstrated incredible composure and will. Our families and
friends were part of the response team and saved lives under
incredible stress.
Professor Liviu Librescu, a survivor of the Holocaust, gave his life
to protect his students and three students, including at least one who
had already been wounded heroically held a door shut with their
bodies.
These are the kinds people we know in the Hokie Nation and are proud
to call our neighbors in
Blacksburg.
Nearly everyone has asked us how we are
going to handle the events of April 16th in the film. Naturally,
we are dedicating our film to those who have fallen and those who
continue to suffer.
As for the documentary itself, we firmly
believe that the film should go on as originally conceived so
that the Hokie Nation has the sole shaping voice in this
testament of our lives and our unique culture. We set out
to show the world how the Hokie Nation has defined itself . . .
and we feel that staying committed to that spirit is the best tribute we could offer.
We are also setting aside a portion of our
profits to establish the Horse Archer Productions Virginia Tech
Scholarship Fund. (More details as we finalize the things.)
In short, we would like to translate the success of the film into the
success of future Virginia Tech graduates who are devoted to Hokie
ideals of academic excellence and a sense of public contribution
through work and service to the community.
One of the things you learn as you put
together a documentary is that you can't really control what you get,
only what you choose to do with what you get. Of course, we
can't change the events, but we do feel very honored that we have a
document of life before the events. Horse Archer Productions is
committed to presenting a respectful, captivating and uplifting film .
. . because that best represents the great people we found in our
travels over the last 18 months and those we have lost.
In short, we hope that this film will be a
meaningful part of the healing process in many ways and will carry the
Hokie Nation forward for at least one small step.
Sincerely,
The Kotz and Valluzzo families.
 Executive Producer and
Director, Chris Valluzzo, is a Virginia Tech grad and his
father-in-law is a professor there. Executive Producer and
Director, Sean Kotz, is also a Virginia Tech grad and currently
teaches there as well. Our families are part of the
academic community and the medical community and we have close ties to the law enforcement
community. Our camera operators and assistants are VT grads and
students. Someone on the HOKIE NATION crew walks that campus
every single day--and many days, we all do. |
