With You: The Mark Bingham Story

8 Years Later

marksite — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:38:21 +0000

It’s a rather stormy, rainy and somber day here in New York City. I spoke with Mark’s Mom, Alice, last night who is in town to attend some memorial and anniversary events. It’s been 8 years since 9/11 but for those most profoundly affected by that tragic day, time can only heal so much.

As we continue to explore the legacy of Mark Bingham, the story is as much about how one deals with loss, as it is about the event itself. Alice continues to speak and inspire people around the world and her favorite thing to do is talk about her son Mark: How she watched him ‘battle’ on the rugby field growing up. How he helped inspire her to live her life to the fullest. And, on one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, how proud she is that Mark stood up and helped lead a revolt against the terrorists on Flight 93.

It seems that after 8 years we still have few details about what exactly unfolded on that flight. There are lots of theories out there and with the passage of time we seem to have more questions than answers. However, we do know one thing: That plane did not reach it’s target because of the actions of the brave passengers on board. In exploring Mark’s life and his story, we hope our documentary will answer some of those questions.

As far as our progress, we are getting closer to the home stretch. We are currently in the process of editing a new 20 minute preview cut which will be used to help fundraising to get our project further down the road to completion. We are still in production and will be conducting more interviews soon. We hope to finish shooting spring of 2010 and begin submitting to film festivals later that year so the film can be out there for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. We want to make sure Mark’s story is part of the national discussion.

Thanks for your continued interest in the project. We’ll have more updates soon.

Scott Gracheff - Director/Producer

Exclusive interview clip with Mark’s Mom, Alice Hoagland

admin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:33:31 +0000

In March 2008, our film crew traveled to Western Pennsylvania where we met up with Mark’s mom, Alice Hoagland. Bright and early one morning, we drove from Pittsburgh to Shanksville and the temporary Flight 93 Memorial. After hiking a few hundred yards through bushes and weeds, we arrived at the actual crash site and set up our camera. As always, Alice gave us an incredible interview. One of the questions we asked her was a pretty simple one: What is a hero? As you will see in this exclusive clip, Alice gave us a rather inspiring answer…

How the Project Started

admin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:32:07 +0000

This project started when I met Todd Sarner at a dinner party in San Francisco back in early 2002. I was drinking a vodka-cranberry at the time and the conversation began when Todd told me that was the
favorite drink of his friend, Mark. We just started chatting and he asked me what I did for a living. When I told him that I made documentaries for PBS, he was very interested in talking to me. He told me about his friend and how he was one of the heroes of Flight 93. He talked about how Mark was already a hero to friends and family long before 9/11. That is why his heroism on that day was not a surprise to those that knew him. Before any of the news came out about the events on Flight 93, Mark’s friends and family knew that Mark had something to do with that plane not reaching its target. Todd shared with me how difficult it was not only to be dealing with the tragedy like the rest of the country but to be grieving for the loss of his friend. And the fact that his friend was directly involved in the events of that day and was in the papers and all over the news was very surreal indeed. What really bothered Todd was that a number of the stories being written about Mark in the days following 9/11 were not exactly accurate. Minor details that had been changed or omitted for the convenience of the journalist. Todd expressed that he really wanted the truth to come out about his friend. And the more he talked about Mark, the more I was determined that Mark’s story had to be told.

After that night we stayed in touch and began speaking about how best to tell Mark’s story. Given the fact that Mark and Todd had been lifelong amateur filmmakers and that Mark always had the camcorder rolling it seemed natural that the best way to tell the story was with a documentary. The more I learned about Mark, the more I realized that Mark had pretty much documented his life on video from his early teens to about a month before he died. Todd and I both felt this material would prove invaluable in creating a documentary.

It’s been a long road since then. We’ve covered numerous events over the years like the marathon where Mark’s friends and families ran in his honor, the first Mark Bingham Day in San Francisco and The Mark Bingham Cup Rugby Tournament held in New York. And we have interviewed numerous friends and family including, most recently, an interview with Mark’s Mom Alice at the Flight 93 crash site. There is still a lot of work ahead of us to bring this story to the screen, but myself and the rest of the production team are dedicated to do whatever we need to accomplish that goal. Even though it has been 7 years since that tragic day, we feel it’s as important as ever to tell Mark’s story. And we are going to tell that story as truthfully and honestly as we can.

Scott Gracheff - Director/Producer