10 Days in a Madhouse: Movie Under Production in Salem

The film will benefit millions by showing one heroic woman's efforts to expose mental health abuse.

Visit the Facebook page, facebook.com/10DaysInAMadhouse

(SALEM) - The world needs inspiring heroes and we must collectively remember those who have graced this world with selfless, life-changing acts.

Tim Hines and his son Jacob

Nellie Bly is one of the most inspiring journalists in American history, a true heroin, and Director Tim Hines, who has worked on more than a hundred movies during his career, plans to introduce all of us to this grand heroine.

Once in a while, an opportunity comes around to tell a great story, one that can make a difference to society at large.

Tim Hines' new movie, "Ten Days in a Madhouse" is based on the early life, journalist endeavors of Nellie Bly, the first investigative journalist in America, the woman whose undercover reporting led to the closure of a torturous mental health facility in New York, the "Lunatic Asylum" at Blackwell's Island in New York.

Just the name is enough to make your skin crawl; this movie takes you into this place where women were not even provided enough clothing to stay warm.

"Nurse Ratched's" as we call them in Oregon, would actually intercept the women's clothing and sell it on the streets of the Big Apple. Punishment for those who didn't follow the rules was submersion in a tub of ice and water.

Women were often forced to live with patients who suffered from tuberculosis, which is highly contagious.

The treatment was inhumane, and Nellie Bly did more than expose it, she had the place closed, and torn down. They say once she took on a cause, she would not leave a stone unturned, and her exploits attracted the attention of the largest newspaper published in America.

Her name was a widely known then, it is proper that we all gain familiarity with her now. Bly's actions launched the art of investigative reporting, she is indeed a forerunner Queen of the Fifth Estate, as her modus operandi was distinctly different from all of the head nodding journalists of the day.

The movie crew for "10 Days in a Madhouse" is currently in Salem, utilizing historic locations like the closed down Fairview mental hospital, Deepwood Estate, the Polk County Courthouse and other locations, harnessing real energy from this time period, to tell a courageous story about the early treatment of mental health in America.

The film is set in New York in 1887, but Salem, Oregon and the surrounding areas are perfect for the purpose of replicating the look and feel of the early institutions, and Hines says the cost was far less than it would be in any of the big cities.

The ties between mental health and Oregon's capital city are both uncanny, and undeniable.

Mental Health experts like Penny Huyck, of Valley Mental Health, say there is no question that the final production of "10 Days in a Madhouse" will have a national impact.

Investors and all who care about this critical subject, should contact Tim Hines and pledge what they can.

Those who want to know more should watch the video below and also visit their Facebook page, facebook.com/10DaysInAMadhouse.

Tim King

16 March 2014