When Quincy Gow left his career in New York City, he walked away from working on the sets of projects as diverse as The Amazing Spider-Man to Precious to FX’s Louise, what many of us would consider a dream job. He returned to his home state of Michigan in part to be closer to an old friend of his who’s been diagnosed with cancer who, despite his illness, insists on working towards the completion of a children’s book. Quincy was compelled to help in the only way he knew how, make a movie.

Ed Lahti is a Lansing-area artist, poet, and writer diagnosed with both colon and neuroendocrine cancer last January. Despite his extensive struggle, the tumors have spread through his body and conventional treatments have ceased. Eddie will be entering clinical trials one year after his initial diagnosis. In spite of all this, Eddie has maintained a positive spirit and thrives on creation and expression. As he’s simultaneously battling cancer, Eddie is at work on publishing Walter the Whale with Wings, the children’s book he wrote, a tale of whale who wants to fly, despite what he’s told. Ed’s doctors have repeatedly told him that he may not find a cure. Like the whale who desires and hopes for wings, Ed continues to desire and hope for a cure.

Quincy has taken on the gargantuan task of both producing a professional documentary and doing it working in his DIY filmmaking approach. The film, entitled Ed’s Whale, will be his first feature. He hopes to raise issues ranging from preventative screening accessibility, environmental concerns regarding Whale conservation, to awareness of Neuroendocrine cancer – a cancer so rare it doesn’t have its own ribbon. But the bigger picture, as the filmmaker sees, is that it’s an opportunity to pay respect to his childhood friend and his desire to create even in the face of his own mortality.

Ed’s Whale promises to be an approach to documenting perseverance as you’ve never seen before. With about 20 days to go Quincy has already raised over $5,000, but is still a long ways away from his goal. This is the kind of Outside-Hollywood project many of us know we love and just don’t see enough of.

You can donate to the kickstarter here.

Ed’s Whale Trailer: