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The Film Foundation was fronted by a jovial, cynical guy called Fabio. My only early contact with him had been over the telephone. He had recommended a good lawyer and we tried to be receptive to his advice every step of the way, somewhat believing in the Fairy God Mother. I knew that we needed help. Basically, what they offered was a way to raise money for a project that probably wouldn’t make a lot of money, so the investor route was pretty much eliminated. The Foundation was to become our non-profit fiscal sponsor, a way for people to contribute money to the project and in turn, get a charitable tax deduction. I felt that we were on some sort of a Quest, and as we progressed, if we persevered the path would illuminate itself before our very eyes. When the initial contributors had sent money, I heard “Entry the Gladiators” in the background. I expected nothing less than a circus. Of course, I was the ringmaster, though at times I appeared to be nothing more than a clown.
In July we finally set up an appointment with Fabio in Chapel Hill—to do lunch, of course. To prepare for the meeting, I confirmed with Kay the list of doctors to look up at the University. The King, Dr. Brinkhaus, was at the top of the list. She said that he was quite old, retired for many years, but expected to “die over his microscope.” We drove to Chapel Hill in Brent’s little red convertible with the top down. We arrived a bit early at the restaurant parking lot and stopped in a small tobacco shop for Players cigarettes and cigars. A man looking much as I would imagine Mephistopheles to look was at the counter purchasing a carton of Dunhill Reds. Instinctively, I knew it was Fabio, but kept it to myself until we left the shop.
“Nah,” Brent said.
We entered the restaurant, and a few minutes later in walked Mephistopheles. We got the confirmation that we were looking for, that we were working on a worthwhile project, and the foundation would do whatever it was able to help us further our agenda of producing a 90 minute documentary about hemophilia.
“It’s a worthwhile project,” he assured us. We made a pact with the little devil.

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