ERNST PETERS/THE LEDGER Documentary filmmaker Charlie Ebersol talks to
students at All Saints' Academy on Thursday in Winter Haven. His film
"Ithuteng (Never Stop Learning)" is about the Ithuteng Trust school in
Soweto, South Africa.
Published Saturday, January 14, 2006
Young Filmmakers Explain Journey
Sons of executive at NBC also talk about losing brother in 2004 plane crash. By RACHEL PLEASANT The Ledger
WINTER HAVEN -- Two sons of a prominent network TV executive who
lost their younger brother in a plane crash more than a year ago were
at All Saints' Academy on Friday to tell students their experiences in
making a documentary film in South Africa.
During
the hour-long session with about 350 students, Charlie and Willie
Ebersol shared thoughts, fears and anecdotes about the process of
filming a documentary about the successful Ithuteng Trust School in
Soweto, South Africa, a place where most students are either criminals
or victims of crime.
Their feelings about the death of 14-year-old Edward "Teddy" Ebersol are just under the surface of everything they do.
"In
America there's a really common thing -- a grieving period where you
cry for a little while and then you get back to normal," Charlie, 23, a
recent University of Notre Dame graduate, told the crowd, recalling a
moment in Africa when his brother, Willie, tried to comfort a crying
child.
"They said that she needed to cry it out, to deal with
her emotions all the way," Charlie said. "I needed to cry this out and
experience the pain. I had to move past it in a certain way. I learned
to be honest about our pain."
On Nov. 28, 2004, Charlie and
Teddy and their father, Dick Ebersol, were among six people on board a
jet plane that crashed while taking off during a snow storm from the
airport in the small town of Montrose, about 185 miles southwest of
Denver.
Charlie and Dick Ebersol survived, but Teddy and two crewmen died in the crash.
Dick Ebersol is head of NBC Sports and is known for his love of the Olympics. He is married to actress Susan Saint James.
After
Friday's meeting with students, Charlie recalled the events of that
November day and talked about the healing process that has followed.
Just before the plane crashed, Charlie Ebersol said Teddy was watching a DVD recapping the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series win.
As
the plane was going down, Charlie Ebersol said while making a nosedive
gesture with his hand, Teddy turned to his father and said, "Dad, I'm
scared."
In memory of their brother, Charlie and Willie wear
rubber bracelets imprinted with a line Teddy included in a speech he
made at school: "The finish line is the beginning of a whole new race."
Those, and other words written by Teddy are especially meaningful to the brothers.
"He
wrote a 36-page autobiography that said any member of my family would
run into a burning building to save another member," Charlie said. "He
said that on the highway of love, my family is neck and neck with God."
Willie,
19, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, said has
found comfort in how fully his brother lived in such a short time.
"He
lived a complete arc," Willie Ebersol said, saying that seeing the Red
Sox become world champions was a high point for his brother. "I believe
he died having finished everything that was important to him.
"We
used to fight all the time and he taught me that if you really love
someone, you have to work on it. You have to work really hard because
you don't want to be mad at someone you love."
The brothers are traveling the country talking about their South Africa documentary, which will air on HBO in October.
The
documentary, which cost $23,000 to make, has already raised more than
$1 million to benefit the Ithuteng Trust School. The film follows three
students who attend the school and the peril of their everyday lives.
The documentary caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey, who recently featured the young filmmakers on her show.
To
illustrate the dangerous conditions children in Soweto live in, the
brothers' filmmaking partner Kip Kroeger used the statistic that every
23 seconds a rape is committed in South Africa.
Kroeger said one
of the most striking economic disparities he discovered in South Africa
is that just minutes from the Ithuteng school, where children have
experienced unimaginable violence and hunger, there is a Ferrari
dealership.
Thanks to money raised from the documentary, the school is building dorms, a cafeteria and swimming pool.
If the money is managed correctly, the school will have water, food and electricity for years to come.
The Ebersol brothers are moving on to other projects.
Willie
is working for breast cancer awareness and is looking for another
documentary subject he feels passionately about. Charlie will soon
begin directing a movie with actor Dennis Quaid.
They also are working to partner high schools and colleges in the United States with sister schools in Africa.
