In 1985 Don was asked by his friend Rick Hansen, a renowned
wheelchair athlete, to join him on the Man In Motion World
Tour. The goal of the Tour was to create awareness for the
potential of people with disabilities and to raise funds
for spinal cord research. Rick planned to push his wheelchair
24,901.55 miles around the world through 34 countries. Two
years, two months and two days after departing, the Tour
had raised $26 million dollars for the cause and arrived
home to Vancouver to a hero's welcome for Rick. Today, Don
and Rick remain good friends and Don holds a vital role
at the Rick Hansen Foundation. The Foundation to date has
generated over a $200 million towards spinal cord injury
research and quality of life initiatives. Visit www.rickhansen.com
for more details.
In 2006, Don was approached by an independent film producer,
Michael French, to participate as a consultant in the making
of a movie about Rick and The Man In Motion World Tour.
Don agreed and oversaw the technical aspects for all of
the wheelchairs and related equipment and provided feedback
on the script. The movie is scheduled for release in theaters
2007/2008 and some of Don's original compositions will be
used in the movie.
While on set, Don took some photos and got access to others
that you can see below. Don enjoyed the experience of hanging
out with the actors and production team. He also enjoyed
spending time with Andrew Lee Potts (the actor playing Don's
character) and sharing a few guitar techniques to use in
the movie. The Rick Hansen Foundation has been made aware
of this movie and have sent their best wishes for a successful
production, however, the foundation is not involved in the
project in any way. Don would like to thank the foundation
for allowing him to pursue the opportunity to participate
in this project independently.
You can find out more about the movie at the IMDB
movie database
| Cast |
Character |
Personal Info |
| Jim
Byrnes |
Journalist |
Journalist
also a well known great blues singer and guitarist |
| YuNa |
Maylee
Wong |
YuNa
is a model in China and just releasing a new CD |
| Sarah
Jane Potts |
Amanda
Reid |
British
actress and a wondferful singer/songwriter |
| Andrew
Lee Potts |
Don
Alder |
British
actor (Sara's brother) very cool guy and also a gifted
musician |
| Victor
Webster |
Rick
Hansen |
Canadian
born, living in LA, did an awesome job playing Rick
Hansen |
| Ethan
Embry |
Lee
Gibson |
From
LA and plays in a Punk Band |
| Others |
|
|
| Michael
French |
Director |
Shot
Heart of the Dragon in China during the real Tour in
'86 |
| Mark
Gordon |
Producer |
|
| Blaise
Noto |
Publicist/Associate
Producer |
Movie
biz icon, worked on Apocolypto with Mel Gibson |
| John
Bromley |
Producer |
Managing
a ton of things, very cool guy |
| Peter
Kepkay |
Sound
Mixer |
Vancouver
based |
| Albert
Normandin |
Still
Photography |
Canadian
Photograher from Vancouver |
| Bing
Rao |
Director
of Photography |
An
amazing talent, famous in China |
Video
Clips - Click on thumbnails to see larger versions then use
here links to see video clips 
