UPDATE: FEATURE DOCUMENTARY IN POST PRODUCTION
Click photos to enlarge. Updated story below.
UPDATE
Meow Meow Foundation co-founder and president Doug Forbes said he has nearly wrapped his director’s cut of TO THE MOON AND BACK, the feature documentary he has written, directed and produced for more than three years.
Forbes said he is nearly ready to reveal shrouded details surrounding his investigation into Roxie’s brutal drowning death at Summerkids Camp in Altadena, California. He will also unveil his discovery of a dark American secret regarding the summer camp industry in sum—an industry that he still supports but only if children are afforded the protections they deserve.
“I have pored over thousands of documents and interviews seven days a week, 52 weeks a year for more than six years,” Forbes said. “People will learn how Roxie’s death and subsequent coverup at Summerkids Camp—directed by Cara DiMassa and run by the DiMassa family—are shocking enough. But my discovery of other summer camp harm over decades keeps me up nights. I want this film to fuel long overdue change.”
Forbes said that, after six years, he will finally get to expose why Roxie died at his trial scheduled for November. He said the DiMassa family has, time and time again, delayed his right to produce testimony and evidence at a timely trial. And while he cannot film the trial itself, he expects to quickly add some of its revelations to the film before the final cut later that month.
“I expect the DiMassa family to continue its attempts at muzzling me and my right to speak the truth of which I have plenty of publicly available examples. I told them five years ago that they will fail in that effort. They have. And they will. They clearly still do not fathom the devotion I have for my family and the persistence I have to expose the truth. Cara DiMassa and her family had many opportunities to do what was right when Roxie died. They chose to protect themselves, their assets and their reputation. Good luck with that choice.”
Forbes said his film is not only a compelling investigative journey but also a means to convert advocacy into legislation that will protect millions of young ones in honor of his daughter and wife. He has already passed an ordinance in Los Angeles County and a statewide bill, and he’s a pursuing federal measure. The tragic, wholly preventable drowning deaths of 24 girls at Texas Camp Mystic is the reason, he continues to say, enough is enough.
ORIGINAL POST
Meow Meow Foundation co-founder Doug Forbes recently announced that his documentary is now in the hands of multiple editors, including himself.
Forbes commenced production in August of 2022, three years after the horrific drowning death of his daughter Roxie. His relentless journalistic investigation of her death unearthed shocking revelations about the $26 billion U.S. summer camp industry that serves roughly 25 million children each year.
The film toggles between an exploration of America’s beloved but troubled youth-centric pastime and the extremely dubious circumstances that caused Roxie to drown at Summerkids Camp in Altadena, California. At its core, however, the film is an exposition of the lengths to which people go to honor their most precious cargo in the wake of their own suffering.
Forbes’ final words to his daughter before she was killed were, “I love you to the moon and back.” Those words serve are his mantra as he exposes those who ended Roxie’s brilliant but brief life, ravaged his heartbroken wife whose grief overtook her body and terminated the joy with which Forbes once lived hour after hour amidst his family.
“I set out to tell the stunning story of a dark American secret,” Forbes said. “But it did not take long for me to realize this is a story about the profound power of finding purpose in pain. It’s a love story in which recognizing beauty and leaning on community can help mitigate even the greatest grief.”
Forbes serves as the film’s director-writer, executive producer and central character. He interviewed upwards of 75 people in 17 states, including victims, family members, politicians, attorneys, social scientists, camp and recreational industry insiders, health and safety experts, journalists and more.
Forbes said he will screen a rough cut of his film in 2025 after which a full release is planned for summer. His Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated director of photography has worked on projects including the moving portrait of a woman’s personal confrontation with the Armenian genocide, trailblazing Indian women defying cultural norms, the wildly popular HBO series McMillions and Apple TV’s rousing stranger than fiction series The Big Conn.