Film project to capture the best of Sandusky

SANDUSKY — During some dark days, a local filmmaker vowed to showcase Sandusky in a glowing light. Though don't expect Joey Cassel to premiere any works of fiction, conceiving make-believe characters which result in too-good-to-be-true endings. It's not his style — and, just as importantly, it's not what people need. The documentarian, who owns the video production company New Departure Films, won't strain from his roots in developing a new series, titled #SanduskyStrongerTogether. For the past few weeks, Cassel has shadowed many population segments impacted by COVID-19 — students, teachers, government workers, first responders, small business owners, frontline health care professionals and others — in hopes of relaying their daily struggles to others. He won't edit out concerns expressed by overburdened hospital workers as they deal with people suffering from the coronavirus. But Cassel promised to also show their grit, courage and unwavering spirit as they help ailing patients. The same goes for restauranteurs, who are nervous about their future business prospects but remain undeterred in preparing tasty meals and plating them for to-go orders. And he's most excited about highlighting the humanitarian spirit on full display in all pockets of Sandusky. Cassel, who continues to preview upcoming projects with clips and stills on his company's social media pages, calls it his "most important project" yet. "Honesty is key, and I want to share the empathy and some positivity during a difficult time," said Cassel, who maintains a city residence with his wife, Sarah, a local school teacher. Together they have three daughters. "I'm fully committed to this project. It's about lifting people up." Cassel said. "I realize things may seem hard now, but I really believe this is our opportunity to take a step back and find compassion among others, resiliency within ourselves and to let hope be a guiding force. I wanted these videos to be a conduit for that message." Among the partners Cassel teamed up with include OHgo, the nonprofit organizing a weekly food drive. Since early March, it has provided thousands of community members with free food, no questions asked. Cassel, in fact, recently published a video on this very initiative, which serves as a prequel, of sorts, to the overall series. The mini-movie featured OHgo volunteers linking up with Sandusky's government and school district system to ensure families, and especially children, don't go hungry. "Joey has the best ability to move people and connect people through the power of story. He captures the heart," nonprofit co-founder Christine Boesch said. "He has always been able to communicate OHgo's vision in a phenomenal way. He's much more than making quality videos with great storytelling: He's a conversation starter, a forward-mover and a strong supporter." The city government also enlisted Cassel's talents for upcoming titles. "We wanted to remind people of how special the Sandusky community is by showing them firsthand the work being done on our frontlines to provide meals, health care essential services and more," city manager Eric Wobser said. "We will emerge stronger from this pandemic because we stood together during hard times and wouldn't let it tear down all the momentum we've created over the last several years." Cassel, a 1997 Perkins High School graduate, encourages people to periodically check his social media pages for updates when each movie will debut. "As a visual storyteller, many of my projects have been put on hold, so I decided to use this time to do what I do best: tell stories about a community I love," Cassel said. Coming soon Over the coming weeks and months, New Departure Films will premiere several movies as part of its #SanduskyStrongerTogether series. Viewers can expect pieces on: • "The Heroes of Sandusky" — How are firefighters, police officers, city government employees and hospital workers dealing with the COVID-19 crisis? And what will these groups do to help our community heal and recover? • An untitled project on the hospitality industry, how it's been affected and how the community has supported it. • An untitled project on small businesses and how they've remained engaged with customers during the stay-at-home order. • An untitled project that will capture the moment when Ohio reopens for business. How can the city capitalize on that moment? And what will people learn and apply to their lives going forward?