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  "Heart of a Dragon (The Rick Hansen Movie)

 

 

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
 
Don shows some guitar tips to Andrew
see vid clip Here
Sarah's B-day
see vid clip Here
Don the Great Wall with the DA-G4
vid clip coming soon
Jim plays a tune see vid clip here  


Click on the thumbnails below to see larger pics

Una Don and Una Ethan, Andrew Lee, Don, Victor Blaise Noto Tai Chi master and Victor
Victor in a road scene Sarah Jane Potts and DA-G4 Lee introduces French Toast to China Victor and Ethan
who do you think won ???
Bing Rao
Don works on chair with Victor Victor and National Chinese BBall Team Sarah Jane Potts and DA-G4 Sarah and Victor Andrew plays the DA-G4
Sarah Jane, Una and Chinese Folk Dancers Don pretends to try to pull a fast one, good thing Sarah had a great sense of humor. Michael French explains the scene Andrew Lee Peter the sound tech for the movie
       
Jamming with Jim Byrnes in China        

 

 

 

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