HOT MORON: Johnny Hickey

by Stuff Boston |  July 25, 2011

Ten years ago, Charlestown native Johnny Hickey was a violent criminal who bought, sold, and abused OxyContin and every other narcotic imaginable.

Five years ago, he was working for the US Marshals as an undercover informant, righting a lifetime of wrongs by busting drug and gun rings across the country.

Now it’s time for Hickey to relay his epic story, which trails through the tribulations of friends and relatives he’s lost to opiates – but has a happier ending than the ex-con ever expected. Earlier this year, Hickey’s autobiographical feature film, Oxy-Morons, had successful test screenings at Showcase Cinemas in Randolph and Revere. And this summer, Current TV’s Peabody Award-winning documentary series Vanguard is airing an episode highlighting Hickey’s story.

The buzz is just beginning. Expect to see a lot more of our favorite tattooed townie come September, when Oxy-Morons premieres on big screens in 20 major US markets.

REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL-Oct. 15,                         6PM The Beverly Garland Theater       
                                  4222 Vineland Avenue 
                                                                    N. Hollywood, CA 91602                                                     Admission FREE  RSVP  info@writersintreatment.org

SEE FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE HERE

REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL CELEBRATES THE GIFTS OF RECOVERY WHILE DEMYSTIFYING ANONYMOUS STIGMA

(Los Angeles, CA 2010) – On the heels of a groundbreaking 2009 event, Writers In Treatment (www.writersintreatment.org) is proud to announce the highly anticipated return of the REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL. Oct. 26-30, in Los Angeles. Arena Stage Theater, 1625 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, CA 90028 Dec 15-16 in Nashville, TN.

Whether you are a novelist, screenwriter, cinefile, addict or the other 2% of the population, this year’s REEL RECOVERY FILM FESTIVAL will not only change the way attendees view addiction and recovery, but also will identify and celebrate some of the creative minds that are currently redefining how the masses can learn and grow from addiction and recovery. Leave your anonymity at the door and be prepared to share an honest experience with a healthy mix of entertainment icons, addiction and recovery experts, top therapists and total strangers with one thing in common – an appreciation for the journey through addiction and the lessons learned as a result.

While last year’s festival left an indelible mark on the community by featuring a rare opportunity to hear both Ben Stiller and Jerry Stahl discuss “Permanent Midnight”, and actor Danny Huston and U.K. director Bernard Rose discussed and screened their 2000 cult classic, IVANSXTC. BARFLY co-star Roberta Bassin talked about working with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway while also caretaking Charles Bukowski during his frequent visits to the set. This year’s festival will be taking things a bit further by featuring four New York City biopic classics (POLLACK, BASQUIAT, BASKETBALL DIARIES and CIAO! MANHATTAN.) with several surprise guests set to participate in post-screening discussions. Packed with various perspectives and vastly differing schools of thought, these discussions are certain to get to the core of the topic and not safely dance around the issues. It is this sometimes uncomfortable dynamic which ensures an unforgettable experience for all those in attendance.

The Betty Ford Center is hosting OPENING NIGHT on Tuesday, Oct. 26th with a 25th Anniversary screening of the “The Honour of All”, the extraordinary film about the Alkali Lake Indian Tribe in British Columbia, Canada. The film shows how a reservation suffering a 100% alcoholism rate, then achieves an 80% sobriety rate which they have maintained to this day. Elders from Alkali Lake will be present and lead a traditional drum circle ceremony around several square blocks in Hollywood, CA.

SPECIAL screening of the 2002 cult classic, “SHUT YER DIRTY LITTLE MOUTH!” to honor author and film star, Glenn Shadix. (April 15, 1952 – Sept. 7, 2010)

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festival is a five-day celebration of the arts, creativity and the prevention of life shattering addictions. The audience will be psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, chemical dependency counselors, men and women in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives and the general public. This is the social, cultural and networking recovery event of the year

The Los Angeles festival is sponsored by Twin Town Treatment Centers and co-sponsored by, Recovery Now TV, Lee McCormick and MALIBU HORIZON. Other sponsors include: KLEAN Pasadena, CRC Health Group, Newport Academy, Betty Ford Center, Inland Valley Recovery Services, It’s Perfect Malibu, RecoveryView.com, Aurora Las Encinas Hospital, Malibu Beach Recovery, Delta Groove Productions, Recovery Road Productions, The Meadows, Ascend Recovery, Hired Power, Hazelden/Springbrook, Michael’s House, Icelandic Glacial, Hollywood Holiday Inn Express, and others…

For more information: Leonard Buschel 818-762-0461

Writers In Treatment is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization grounded in the arts and recovery fields. W.I.T.’s primary purpose is to save lives through promoting and providing ‘treatment’ as the best first step solution for addiction, alcoholism and other self-destructive behaviors. We also offer educational, prevention and awareness programs through our W.I.T. Author/Outreach Series.

Similar to Betty Ford bringing addiction out of the closet 28 years ago, WRITERS IN TREATMENT wants to help bring recovery out of the closet today.

WRITERS IN TREATMENT
ph.&fx. 818.762.0461
info@writersintreatment.org

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festival will be held from Oct. 27-30 in Los Angeles, with plans for a smaller-scale presentation Dec. 13-14 in Nashville, Tenn. Writers in Treatment co-founder Leonard Buschel says last year’s inaugural event, which featured weekly film showings at a rented Hollywood theater, attracted a number of clinicians as well as persons in recovery and non-recovering people.

Some treatment centers sent groups of clients to the screenings last year, and the event included some facilitated process group meetings afterwards. Buschel, a former publisher and addiction counselor who has been in recovery for 15 years, recalls his own emotional experience in early sobriety after he watched the film “Leaving Las Vegas” starring Nicolas Cage.

“I immediately went to a location where meetings were held and waited for the next meeting to start,” he says.

Buschel recalls that while he was aware of other efforts on behalf of specific professional groups, such as musicians, he had never heard of an effort to help writers. People in California often assume the nonprofit was created to assist screenwriters only, but it’s for anyone who derives at least one-quarter of total income from the written word.

Scholarships are available to individuals with or without health insurance. Applicants must agree to participate in a relapse prevention program along with the primary treatment they attend, and must submit—what else?—a written essay of up to 750 words about their addiction and treatment history.

“We’d like to get at least one person a month into treatment,” Buschel says.

Besides the film festival, Writers in Treatment also sponsors educational events featuring authors and field professionals. The group tries to be sensitive to the needs of writers, who like other artists often find it difficult to resume with their craft in early recovery, Buschel says.

For more information about the REEL Recovery Film Festival, visit www.writersintreatment.org. Writers in Treatment is seeking corporate sponsors for this fall’s event. In addition, film and video entries for possible screening at the festival are being accepted through midnight on Sept. 17.

Last year’s Festival was an outstanding success. Talent associated with the film or a   film historian introduced each screening with a scintillating presentation.  Psychologists facilitated a post-screening mini-process group with audience members. This year we will be screening original shorts, documentaries, music videos and features plus four New York bio-pic classics: POLLACK, BASQUIAT, BASKETBALL DIARIES and CIAO MANHATTAN.  We are soliciting submissions from the U.S. and abroad.

During last year’s eight-night festival Ben Stiller and writer Jerry Stahl presented Permanent Midnight for a 10^th Anniversary showing, and actor Danny Huston and U.K. director Bernard Rose discussed and screened their 2000 cult classic, IVANSXTC. Barfly co-star Roberta Bassin talked about working with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway while also caretaking Charles Bukowski during his frequent visits to the set.

This year’s REEL Recovery Film Festival is a four-day celebration of the arts, creativity and the prevention of life shattering addictions. Writers In Treatment will host several panels with well know writers and performers discussing how victory over alcoholism and substance abuse heightens and exhilarates one’s creativity and career.

The audience will be psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, chemical dependency counselors, men and women in recovery, members of the entertainment industry, media representatives and the general public. This is the social, cultural and networking recovery event of the year.

The Los Angeles festival is sponsored by Twin Town Treatment Centers and co-sponsored by, Recovery Now TV, Lee McCormick and MALIBU HORIZON. Other sponsors include: CRC Health Group, Newport Academy, Inland Valley Recovery Services, It’s Prefect Malibu, RecoveryView.com,

FINAL DEADLINE for entries is midnight September 17, 2010 For more information: Leonard Buschel 818-762-0461