Jane Schinasi: As Much As Possible

E452 When Jane Schinasi was in her early twenties, her little brother was diagnosed with a rare cancer. She speaks to how this changed her life, and prompted her to create her foundation Hug Back, making socially and environmentally engaged films, including Tiger’s Boxer, inspired by her brother’s struggle against all odds. For more information […]

Episode Transcript

(00:08):
Hey, humans. How's it going?
Susan Ruth here. Thanks for listening to another
episode
of Hey, Human podcast.
This is episode 452,
and my guest is Jane Shnazi.
When Jane was in her early twenties, her
little brother was diagnosed with a rare cancer.
She speaks to how this changed her life

(00:28):
and prompted her to create her foundation Hub
Back, which makes socially and environmentally
engaged films,
including Tiger's Boxer, inspired by her brother's struggle
against all odds.
Really lovely talking with Jane. She's in the
process of
putting it all together,
and it's it's for such a good cause

(00:48):
and supportive of such an important message.
I'm really, honored to have her on the
show. Check out heyhumanpodcast.com
for links and to learn more about my
guests and the show. Check out susanruth.com
to learn more about me and my other
artistic endeavors, including
which film festivals to see my film the
first,
and follow Susan Ruthism on social media and

(01:12):
Patreon.
Find my musical albums on Spotify, Apple Music,
Amazon Music, or wherever you get your music.
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human Podcast
on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Thank you for listening.
Be well.
Be kind. Stay safe. And here we go.
Jane Shanaze, welcome to

(01:33):
Hey Human.
Thank you.
It's nice to see you.
You too.
Let's jump right in. Tell me, did you
where did you grow up? Tell me what
shaped you when you were young.
Oh, so I was born in San Francisco,
and then I came to France when I
was two years and a half. And I
arrived in, Paris. It was really really cold

(01:56):
and my parents didn't like it so I
went to the South and what
built me really was the trees, the animals.
I was always surrounded by nature
and,
then my dad recycles so I always have
a awareness of, taking care of the environment
and,
I didn't never understand,

(02:17):
you know, the big cities and how can
people live in the big cities.
Because if we don't have nature, it's very
difficult to reconnect,
I find. I always wanted to say stories,
and give the voice to the animals and
the trees, and I used my imagination a
lot as a kid surrounded by nature. First
I wanted to write and then I said
oh we can make images,

(02:39):
of what we write, which is something that
I really didn't know and the first time
I went to the cinema I saw a
movie called Croblanc. It's the story of this
white wolf. It's a very big movie. And
so this made me want to to show,
what I had in my head through images.
And since then, I never changed my mind,
which is crazy.

(03:00):
You've been a filmmaker the whole time or
a storyteller?
I wanted to be a filmmaker since I'm,
like, seven years old. It takes a lot
of time.
I thought that by 30 years old, I
would, you know, be,
already
confirmed and recognized as a director. But, you
know, when you're a blonde lady at twenty
twenty four you're asking producers if they are

(03:21):
interested in reading your script and if you
don't know anyone people just like yeah no
we don't have time for you, you're just
a blonde young girl,
how can we trust someone like her And
so I never had the chance to really
have funding for any projects that I've written.
So I decided to start making documentaries and
filming my friends doing humanitarian jobs. I went

(03:44):
all around the world to film them and
gathered some money from sustainable brands. I had
the chance to find TV channels because I
was an editor for TV channels
and they all said, oh, let's show me
your pilots and everything. So I showed and
they were like, it's very good. We want
to buy it, but you need to find
a producer.
So I found the producer
and I did in two years, eight times

(04:04):
fifty two minutes for a series called the
hope bearers.
And then I, my brother was diagnosed with
cancer
and it hurts me to the bone to
see a new world with children, sick between
life and death.
My brother was 15, so he was still
with all the other kids, but he was
a teenager. So the clown didn't make him
laugh. And it was lacking of, you know,

(04:26):
activities to really think about something else than
disease and sadness and death.
So we had to bring a massage, yoga,
music, lavender,
all the kinds
of any anything that you can have in
mind and then I built a non profit
with my mum to bring boxing
and meditation in hospitals

(04:47):
since 02/2015
and it really changed a lot. I received,
two days ago a letter, of thank you
from the hospital, La Croix du Maranci.
And I tried to do the same here
in the South
and, with the movie that I'm preparing the
feature film, I really want now to give
a profit to the nonprofit in France that
I have and show the movie to all

(05:10):
the hospitals and the schools to build awareness
around the subject that is unknown and unfortunately
and unfortunately.
How old were you when your brother was
diagnosed?
I was
26,
and he was 15. He's twelve years younger
than me, so I love him like my
son, let's say. I have another brother who's
an actor, Robbie,

(05:31):
and a sister seven years old, older than
me, Sonya.
And Alex was, you know, full of hope.
And I mean, he's still now he's alive.
He thank God he survived.
He's one of the kids who took the
most chemo in, in the entire planet.
So, you know, his hair don't grow anymore

(05:51):
and he he's dying. He's, sterile. Apparently he
can not have kids for now, but it,
you know, the body cells change every seven
years. So maybe it will change And he
still does a
transfusion every week of, EGG,
EGG for the immune system to go up
because the chemo really
affected

(06:12):
his, immune system.
What kind of cancer was he diagnosed with?
He had the Burkitt lymphoma.
So it's, between the bone and the blood,
it's the lymphoma. And, it is one of
the cancer that is the fastest and the
most aggressive cancer. And my brother was a
boxer, so,
as soon as the the doctor said, oh,
you maybe you have to lose him. I

(06:33):
couldn't live with that sentence and I said,
cannot say that my brother
will probably die because you are not God
and my brother will survive.
So can you please,
always talk in a positive way to him
and all the other kids,
which she did, and I came in the
hospital when he to build,
a boxing ring and stuff. So my brother

(06:54):
was boxing every day when he could
and putting rap music and stuff who will,
you know,
strengthen his mental, his spirit towards surviving
and positive,
energy. So now he's good.
He's still boxing, and I promised him that
I was gonna make a movie about what's

(07:15):
happening for him and give an example to
all the other families and kids who are
experiencing the same thing.
And so I did a short movie who
did who had some prices
and who will also be probably,
with Eoflix,
on at the cinema. Then we also did
a documentary that was broadcast at the Ministry

(07:36):
of Culture and Health for three months.
And then now I need to do the
feature because when you do a promise, you
are in-depth.
So, my debt is to fulfill
my, my promise.
And, my brother is really, really
excited to see the movie. So we are
advancing
slowly but surely and,
voila. I'm glad that he's still with us.

(07:58):
That's wonderful.
Yes. Me too.
To me, when children are diagnosed with cancer,
the people around them get to experience
something quite extraordinary.
I think when when adults get diagnosed with
a sickness,
there is a defeatist
mentality that oftentimes comes with that. It's hard

(08:18):
to stay positive.
The kids see the world in such a
different way.
Exactly. They don't, suffer in the same way
as adults would. They want sweets, candies, and
they even
don't like hospitals most of the time, so
they wanna go out. I had a kid
who really wanted to go to Disney with
his parents, and,
she did. She went out. She went all

(08:40):
day to Disney. But when she came back,
the doctor said it's unbelievable because I don't
know how she walked. Her bone was completely,
turned
and, a normal human being would not be
able to walk. But she
she's so used to pain because she was
in the hospital since,
probably six months. And, she grew up in

(09:02):
the hospital because she had a immune disease
and so
her body she
she wants to live so much and to
have fun so much that she she doesn't
take care of the pain she she just
wants to be like other kids So she's
stronger actually than adults. Adults has tendency to,
oh my god,

(09:23):
dramatize everything. Kids are like, okay, it's a
world. And so what? Let's focus on the
positive side. And they wanna play. They wanna
live life as much as possible.
Absolutely.
We like I said, we could learn a
lot from the way kids handle disease. Yeah.
And I think attitude is a great part

(09:44):
of healing.
So it it makes sense that
incorporating
those sorts of programs, like you said, you
brought the boxing in and and the the
talking to the doctor about
being positive, being happy, being uplifting
makes a huge difference, and the brain believes
what you tell it. The brain believes what
you tell it. Even,

(10:05):
a very famous
in France told me,
art and,
and, sport and any activity that will
give you strength to live will heal you
better than chemo, better than anything. It is
first you and yourself, how you you take
away all the negative and you focus on
the positive

(10:26):
that will condition your body to survive
and go through everything.
Yeah. I really believe that for sure. Tell
me about the movie. So it's the premise
that I did to my brother.
I did this short, like I said, and
then it was really, really,
long process to write something that is universal
because of course, each family is different and

(10:47):
how to bring
the three years of experience I had with
my brother and my family into one single
story that could touch the entire
planet, cultures, different countries.
So I'm doing it in English, America.
Maybe we're gonna shoot in Portugal. Maybe we're
gonna shoot in London. Maybe we're gonna shoot
in The US. We still don't know. With

(11:08):
David Ornstein,
we really,
saw the script since a couple of months.
He helped me to build something more powerful
and, to find people who could give advice
that I, with my,
my step back my eyes, I couldn't on
my own. It's impossible. So,
I found a great team around me and

(11:30):
now we have,
well now we have,
I don't know if you heard about him,
Javen won a Walton, so he played in
Euphoria,
he played in Under the Bridge and he
played
in Umbrellas at Callemy, he's turning 18 this
summer, he's a boxer, champion of box actually,
and he's a very very good actor so

(11:51):
we are his parents are his manager and
he wants to be Alex my brother
so we are
advancing with him
with his parents as well and
then we will fix where we're gonna shoot,
when we're gonna shoot. And hopefully it's gonna
be in 02/2024.
We're really thinking about December now.

(12:12):
A movie is so long to build that
we don't know exactly
when is it going to be possible. We're
doing everything, we're working every day on the
movie and, never give up. That's the mantra
of,
my brother first and then it was the
first title of the movie and now the
movie will be called the Tiger's Boxer
because the tiger is the cancer

(12:32):
because it's aggressive
and fast like this cancer Burkitt lymphoma
and my brother is a boxer so
the Tiger's boxer makes sense, I guess. And,
it was also the title of the shorts
that you can find on Eoflix
and, twenty minutes at last. And this one
will be an hour and forty five minutes.

(12:53):
What did you learn about filmmaking that you,
you know, as you went along that what
was something that surprised you?
Well, it's how to build a team that
is really, really
focused and good around you because when you
don't have a team that is,
involved in the team that you wanna develop,
you can feel

(13:14):
very quickly lonely
and,
the movie will have a soul. If you
have every
movie with passion and love, everything will transpire
and sweat love and passion. So this is
how you recognize a good movie,
regarding a bad one. When everybody does it
for the money, of course,
it's important to be paid and but it

(13:35):
the most important is really to do it
with passion and love, especially in this industry.
The it takes so much time to build
a movie that if you don't have that
I don't think people really understand how much
it takes to make a movie. It's such
an undertaking.
My god. Yes. It's been eight years that
I'm,
developing it, trying to find a good team

(13:57):
who trust me, that I can trust as
well. And,
finding the finance is a big part of
it. I think it's the hardest for me
right now, Especially right now. I mean, the
industry is really slowing down. It's crazy.
I think every business is the same, but,
I got in the the movie industry is
really,

(14:18):
having a difficult time right now.
Yeah. It is very tough out there for
sure. Yes. And we also have, Mae Leung
who worked as a super,
ethics supervision supervisor ethics
with the movie,
Buenie and Rhapsody,
Inception.
And she's,
she she's part of the team now as

(14:40):
a producer. She's really involved.
She helps a lot. She's very talented.
She's teaching me all the special effects. She
built the tiger, and the tiger is beautiful.
He will look like,
he can be particles, fire, fur.
He's very realistic and at the same time,
humanized.
So it it is,

(15:00):
this is amazing to see.
So you also have a voice actor,
correct, that voices the tiger? Yes. We are
cast we are working on the casting right
now. We don't have a definite answer, but,
I'm soon gonna tell you. Well, that's great.
What is the plan with the movie once
it's out? I know that
I'm assuming that because the subject matter,

(15:22):
part of your fundraising
is perhaps with
people that are in the realm of cancer
research or cancer fundraising,
that sort of thing?
Yeah. We I don't we are trying to
make it, as much universal as possible and
have a cinema,
many cinemas
international distribution.

(15:44):
Either we'll have multiple distributors or just one
or two, depending on how it goes. Right
now, we have to work first on the
cast,
then the finance and then the
the distribution.
David is my mentor, very structured, very organized.
I'm learning everything in production.
I thought before we could do a movie
with low budget, but,

(16:06):
it's possible.
It's just,
even harder and longer,
I think, depending again on,
what's, what kind of movie you wanna do,
but because we involve a lot of three
d special effects and,
a hospital,
that we probably have to build. It is
not a cheap movie. I mean, it's not

(16:27):
a big,
it's not a marvel, but it's not a
cheap movie either. So Yeah. Marvel is yeah.
Marvel is really expensive to make. Are you
doing the movie in English?
Yes. Of course. Yes. Yes. We went to
international,
so English is the best language.
No English accent on, like, American. Yeah. Well,

(16:47):
everybody understand the the American accent. Everybody can
relay it's so big that,
this is the the way to go with
a subject like that. I always want to
give voice to the ones we don't hear.
I always want to tell stories
about social,
families
and environment
and, everything that,

(17:08):
is celebrating life. So right now I'm also
writing a comedy series about all the, the
experience I had, all around the world with
the humanitarian
documentaries that I've done, the amazing people that
I've met
and how it is to be a woman,
38 years old in this industry,
and,
all the dreams that we can have and

(17:30):
not enough time to fulfill everything.
So
comedy, I think, is the best way to
for me to show,
even if it's always
dramatic
subjects.
Comedy is a good way to
to touch the hearts of, many. Tell me
about life in in France. What's it like
living there? How do you

(17:51):
your day to day, what what's it like
there? I was in Paris for twenty five
years. Now I'm back in the South Of
France because I may go back to LA.
So it's like a transition for me. But
in Paris, it was,
you know, sometimes
working
as a teacher
or as,
as an extra, as a second AD,

(18:11):
as a first AD, as a cameraman,
a woman,
as
a editor for TV channels,
and also
with my non profits doing all the activities
and celebrating in Paris.
We we celebrate a lot,
like, more than in LA. It's crazy.

(18:32):
So in LA, it's more like, okay, you
need to pay your rent because the rent
is very
high. So I had, like, three, four jobs
at the same time in LA, not like
in Paris.
Now in South Of France, it's more cool.
I'm just focusing on the Tigers boxer,
waiting for,
I'm not waiting because the energy of waiting
is bad.

(18:53):
Always go forward and act. So that's why
I'm,
like,
trying to find as many people who want
to get involved in the project and building
a community around it. We're soon gonna do
an Instagram page that is gonna be more
and more. I mean, we already did the
Instagram page, but we, as soon as we,
we did the deal with the actor
and other actors will start to,

(19:15):
celebrate on Instagram with lives and everything.
And we really wanna build a community with
people helping us. Cause the way we do
the movie is non profit money and,
normal,
investors who have back back end points and
all that stuff. So we are combining both,
and,
hopefully, it will soon be

(19:38):
over, and we can, finally do the movie.
Yeah. And so if anyone listening wants to
be a producer on a film,
now's your chance. Yes. It is time. We
have a good team right now, and we
need more. We need more people like that.
So, also, my favorite part in the movie
is editing.
Because when we edit, I always feel that,

(20:01):
the baby is coming to life. You know,
it's the first time you see your baby
once you give birth, you're like, oh my
god, it's so cute. And you see the
future of all his life and you imagine
the best. And so this is
Yeah. Editing is
is
fun to bring it all and put it
all together, but, boy,
after making my film, I have a definitely

(20:22):
a new respect for editing
process because
it's complicated. You're building this intricate puzzle
with there's so many parts. There's so many
different ways you could go.
It's an integral part of the storytelling process.
It's it's really quite fascinating.
Yes. Especially, it depends how you wanna build

(20:44):
your movie. But when either you take a
lot of time on the script and the
shot list so that when you edit, you
everything is aligned and it's going going like
ten days and finish.
Or you, have a lot of,
impres vous,
contingencies
on the set,
things that you don't even expect that are
far more better than than what you wrote.

(21:05):
And suddenly you want to adapt and construct
a different way. And
so it depends Yeah. How free you can
be. Yeah. For sure.
What happens after the film? What do you
have other stories you're working on?
So I also have an animation film that
won the best screenplay prize,
in France with,

(21:26):
organism
of French, like, Sassen, CNC,
Maison du Film. It's like French
organism. But,
of course, it is way too expensive to
do it in France.
So I want to do it like with
Disney or, you know, big companies
for now, they look at me like if
I was a 24 year old blonde girl
who never done anything like that, because it's

(21:47):
a three d animation.
So, but it's sci fi, it's fantasy.
I believe sci fi and fantasy is also
very much in my, world.
I I'm waiting. I don't know. I don't
have any producers for this one either. It's
the story of a friendship between a tree
and little girl, and there is AI taking
over the world.
And,
trees are scarcer and scarcer. It's very hot.

(22:10):
And,
this girl is gonna save the world with
her tree because all she wants is to
plant back her Christmas tree,
in the forest.
And, she's gonna illegally
cross all the city to go back to
the forest where she's not allowed to go
and plant the tree next to his parents
because she hears the voice of the tree.
Oh, I love that.

(22:32):
Yeah. I can't wait to do it. It
took me twelve years to write it. And,
it was a dream and it was a
story that my dad was telling me when
I was very young and then it became
a dream and I transformed it into AI,
Sci fi fantasy.
And I build a whole world and a
whole
politic,

(22:52):
organization,
that is very different from what we have
now, but basically it's that,
politics are,
all all into AI.
Well, I mean, that's a very timely
thing to write about. And I am curious
to see what AI is going to do
in our future, especially for creatives, but in

(23:13):
nature too. I think
it will go one of two ways. Either
everything will become so automated that
we
spend all our days in nature and let
AI do everything, or
it's a more dystopian
and
machines will just take over everything. And augmented

(23:34):
reality will become when we go to the
forest, it'll be through a headset, which I
hope it doesn't come to that. That would
be a real bummer because I'm a big
tree hugger myself.
Of course. But I mean, everybody should be
no. I don't understand. The people who are
disconnect connected with the trees,
are totally,

(23:54):
wrong because, the trees give you oxygen. Without
oxygen, you cannot breathe. They don't need us,
but we need them.
So
I don't understand the people who are, you
know, laughing about tree huggers like us because
they should all understand and have
a humility
about seeing what gives them oxygen.

(24:15):
Yeah. Water tree
water is,
also in danger.
There is a guy who told me there's
not one place on the earth where water
is not crying out for help,
because of all the pollution and
everything that we do with the planet.
I don't understand because
when you see animals, we are animals too.

(24:36):
And I believe we are in a circle,
not in a pyramid,
but a lot of people believe we are
in a pyramid and humans are on top.
But, if we were on top, then why
the heck are we,
leaving so many trash behind us?
Why are we transforming the landscape in such
a way that we don't have any more
natural resources to survive?

(24:58):
Why do we still want kids? Although we
know that how are they gonna live with
no no natural resources, they're not infinite.
They have an ending if we don't replant
and take care. And
it doesn't seem that the planet
goes on the right
side. That's why I built an alphabet of
trees that is free on my website and

(25:20):
I wanted to make it as a book
so that all the school could study the
trees before the numbers.
But
this is also a struggle. Even this simple
thing
is not with one yet. Though humans do
feel like they're at the top of the
chain,
the truth of the matter is the planet
doesn't need us. And if we don't respect

(25:41):
her and and take care of her and
coddle her in her time of need,
we will find
in not too distant future that she just
spits us right out and off, and
they don't I mean, anyone can see that
nature
will override
human.

(26:02):
We're just visiting. We're just passengers, and we
better not be like a bacteria, a bad
one, a parasite. We need to be, I
mean, we we we have the choice, which
is beautiful.
Either become the friend of our house and
a good,
how do you say it? A steward. A
good gift. Yeah. A steward. Or, and learn

(26:23):
from the environment and learn,
because we are just,
students and the life is just teaching us.
But then if we think that we are
the teachers that we know everything and that
we are just going to destroy everything and
pass like that, of course,
it's going to be horrible and I don't
know how it's gonna end, but it's not
gonna be pretty if we don't respect this

(26:45):
beautiful nature that is very respectful to us
and offers us everything we need.
There is a beautiful movie that is French
called La Colleen Vert,
of Colin Zero. This it is the story
of, another planet with lots of aliens and
suddenly,
someone says, who wants to go to the
Earth to see what's going on over there?

(27:08):
And nobody wants to go there. Everybody said
no way. Kidding me? Planet Earth is the
most stupid planet ever. People just
covered the Earth with concrete,
built tickets,
papers to give to other to have the
trees that are in front of them.
They they kill animal to eat, we are
never gonna go there, but there is one

(27:28):
alien who said, maybe my grand grand grandparents
were
there, so maybe I need to go to
see where I come from. So she goes
and she discovers the human planet
in her engineers' eyes, and it's so well
done. It's so funny. I will send it
to you, but it's really worth it. Thank
you. Definitely send it to me, and I'll
put a link on there. Tell people how

(27:49):
they might find you, how they can support
your work, or look into you more. Beside
I'll I'll put a link for IMDB, but,
also, is there a good place to find
you?
Yes. There is my website that I will
send to you,
Hackback and Magical Route,
and there is also,
you can check the Hope Paris, my documentary

(28:11):
series,
Le Porteur des Poins in French, and it
was on TV five,
Oshoia
TV, and the Planet Plus TV. I I
wish there were more, but for now, that's
all. But I'm trying
to No. That's great.
That's wonderful. Send me any links you want,
and I'll put everything on heyhumanpodcast.com
for people to to find easily. Yeah.

(28:33):
Thank you so much. Thank you. Jane, I
wish you so much success. Please let me
know when you're back in The States and
continued health and well-being for your brother too.
Thank you. Yes. Yes. I will.
That's what family is there for and friends
and
all the the positivity people who are around.
Thank you for listening, everybody.

(28:55):
Bye.
Thank you.
Bye bye.
Rate, review, and subscribe to Hey Human podcast
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Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks. Bye.