Author: Don Vasicek

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute under the acclaimed Dov Simen’s and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He studied screenwriting at The Complete Screenplay, Inc., with Sally Merlin (”White Squall”), daughter of the famed Hollywood Merlin family of screenwriters and writers, as his mentor. Don has taught, mentored, and is a script consultant for over 400 writers, directors, producers, actors and production companies. Don has also acted in 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard With a Vengeance”, NBC’s Mystery of “Flight 1501″, ABC’s “Father Dowling” starring Thomas Bosley, and Red-Handed Production’s “Summer Reunion”. These activities have resulted in Don’s involvement in over 100 movies during the past 23 years, from major studios to independent films including, MGM’s $56 million “Warriors of Virtue”, Paramount Classics “Racing Lucifer”, American Pictures “The Lost Heart” and “Born To Kill” starring the Charles Bronson of Korea, Bobby Kim, and his internationally-known director/brother, Richard, Incline Productions, Inc.’s “Born To Win”, Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Haunted World” with Emmy-nominated PBS Producer Alison Hill, and Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Faces,” “Oh, The Places You Can Go” and the award-winning “The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary film short. Don also has written and published over 500 books, short stories and articles. His books include “How To Write, Sell, And Get Your Screenplays Produced” and “The Write Focus.” Don has been a guest screenwriting and filmmaking columnist for Hollywood Lit. Sales, Moondance International Film Festivals e-zine, Screenwriters Forum, Screenplace, Screenplayers.Net, Screenwriters.Net, Screenwriters Utopia, Spraka & Kinsla (Swedish), “Inkwell Watch”, and “Ink On the Brain.”Writing recognition includes Houston’s WorldFest International Film Festival, Chesterfield’s Writers Film Project, Writers Digest, The Sundance Institute, The Writer’s Network, and the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Guild, Inc. Don is presently is raising money for “Ghost of Sand Creek,” a mini-series/documentary and raising $200 million for five feature film projects. Contact Don at dvasicek@earthlink.net to see the Private Placement Memorandum/Business Plan. Don is on the board of directors of the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston. Don is the founder and owner of Olympus Films+, LLC, a global writing, filmmaking and consulting company, in 1994.
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The Sand Creek Massacre/Respect

Award-Winning Writer/Filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek on Location with Arleigh Rhodes, Cheyenne

Respect

I worked with Cheyenne and Arapaho people on a documentary film. It was their story, and they told it, on film. One thing surfaced more than any other during the several years it took to get the job done. Respect. Respect has never really been shown to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people. If respect is shown, and it is meant, then, it will be most helpful to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people.

When writing about the Sand Creek Massacre, one should always interview Cheyenne and Arapaho people. They tell quite a story (check my award-winning documentary, “The Sand Creek Massacre”, and you will understand what I mean). If one doesn’t interview Cheyenne and Arapaho people, then they are showing disrespect to the Cheyenne and Arapaho.

Southern Cheyenne Chief Laird (Whistling Eagle)Cometsevah told me that over 400 Cheyenne people were murdered at Sand Creek. He also told me that the Arapaho people always traveled and camped about 8 miles away from the Cheyenne. He said the Arapaho were not at Sand Creek. He bases these statements on what has been passed down through his family. His great-great grandfather survived the Sand Creek Massacre.

The Cheyenne oral histories must also be respected, particularly since whoever presently writes about the Sand Creek Massacre, were not there on November 29, 1864. Cheyenne people’s ancestors were there. Cheyenne people’s ancestors passed their oral histories down through their families. So, these oral histories must be respected. They contain more facts about the Sand Creek Massacre than most Caucasians can find, many more facts.

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(May 27, 2012 response to “Boulder Daily Camera” article):

During the past several years while reading about the Sand Creek Massacre as written by various writers, journalists, etc., one thing in common continues to surface. No one interviews the Cheyenne people before they write what they write. That is not ojbective journalism. You all need to do that if you want to write the complete truth about this horrific and tragic event in American history.

The research I did while making my award-winning documentary film about the Sand Creek Massacre, which was recently put in the Smithsonian Institute Libraries, I learned from Southern Cheyenne Chief Laird (Whistling Eagle) Cometsevah that there were over 400 Cheyenne children, women, elders and physically- and mentally-challenged people murdered, raped, mutilated and burned during and after that massacre.

Also, Chief Cometsevah told me that the Arapaho were not at Sand Creek. The Arapaho always followed the Cheyenne wherever they went. The Arapaho always camped about eight miles away from the Cheyenne, it was an unwritten law between the tribes. The early morning of the Sand Creek Massacre, the Arapaho were camped by Sand Creek eight miles to the south of Dawson Bend, where, as Chief Cometsevah told me, the massacre took place.

Chief Cometsevah, as well as several other Cheyenne and Arapaho people told me, the only thing they want now is respect. Check it out. Over 147 years have passed since the Sand Creek Massacre, and that respect is still as fleeting as a peregrine falcon racing away through the sky. Respect begins with the self. Respect can be demonstrated by including the Cheyenne people in all media reporting, and it should begin now!

So, you all should think about these pieces of research the next you write about the Sand Creek Massacre.

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Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre Documentary Film to be in Boulder History Museum Exhibit

Award-Winning Sand Creek Massacre Documentary Film to be in Boulder History Museum Exhibit

Centennial, CO May 15, 2012 – The award-winning Sand Creek Massacre documentary film is going to be part of the Chief Niwot – Legend and Legacy Exhibit at the Boulder History Museum, 1206 Euclid Avenue, Boulder, Colorado, from May 25, 2012 to November 25, 2012. The film, a short rendition, to accommodate the exhibit, depicts the Cheyenne and Arapaho people sharing their oral histories about the Sand Creek Massacre.

Award-winning writer/filmmaker, Donald L. Vasicek, writer, producer and director of the film, says that including the film in the exhibit amplifies the message meant for the film. “When the film was cataloged into Smithsonian Institute Libraries, I realized that it had a life of its own totally separate from me. With the Boulder History Museum exhibit, my goal from the inception of this film was to inform, to educate and to create awareness for America’s indigenous people, and it is once again being realized. The film must continue this journey for the people of Native America.”
The full-length film can be acquired on the Films Media Group website.
Contact:

Donald L. Vasicek
Olympus Films+, LLC
303-903-2103
www.donvasicek.com

"The Sand Creek Massacre" Lobby Poster