Shoulder to Shoulder:
A Parkinson's Journey
Told she has an incurable disease, a filmmaker did the one thing she knew best to fight back—she picked up a camera.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS SIZZLE REEL
A preview of Shoulder to Shoulder: A Parkinson’s Journey, currently in production.
Approximately 75% filmed. Now seeking completion funding.
Through Sonia’s journey, the documentary brings together people living with Parkinson’s, caregivers, medical professionals and researchers in a search for what may help people live better with the disease.
Director • Producer Filmmaker • PatientÂ
How much can we fight back?
SONIA'S STORY
Sonia
Machado-Hines
Award-winning filmmaker. Diagnosed with Parkinson's — and now filming her own fight.
Her neurologist believes she lived with the disease for a decade before anyone knew. Rather than retreat, Sonia Machado-Hines picked up a camera.
She travels, questions doctors, meets patients and caregivers, explores different approaches that may offer relief, and documents what she experiences — what helps, what does not, and what remains unknown.
A VOICE OF LIVED EXPERIENCE
Ed Begley Jr.
ACTOR • ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATE • HUSBAND • FATHER • LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S
Ed speaks from lived experience about continuing to work, create and living fully with Parkinson’s.
WHY THIS FILM? WHY NOW?
A PERSONAL FIGHT BECOMES A WIDER INVESTIGATION.
WHY THIS FILM
WHY NOW
After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, filmmaker Sonia Machado-Hines turned to the tool she understood best: her camera.
What began as an effort to understand her own diagnosis grew into a desperate search for answers shared by millions of patients, families and caregivers. Sonia meets the people living with Parkinson’s, the people caring for them and the people working to understand the disease—asking what helps, what gives hope and how much we can fight back.
Sonia is asking the urgent questions while living them herself. Camera in hand, she follows every promising lead and listens to patients, caregivers, doctors and researchers.
When Parkinson’s enters one life, it enters many. It can take away the work someone built a life around, turn independence into dependence, strain or break relationships, and erase the future a family thought was theirs. Sonia may not find every answer. But she refuses to stop looking.
PARKINSON'S HAS NO CURE. AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH PARKINSON'S HAS DOUBLED IN JUST 25 YEARS.
The World Health Organization warns that disability and death due to Parkinson’s are rapidly increasing. This is not a distant problem or a disease we can afford to understand later. More people—and more families—are facing it now.
By 2050, an estimated 25.2 MILLION people worldwide could be living with Parkinson’s—112% more than in 2021.
Source: The BMJ, 2025 — modelling study based on Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 data.
There is no single pace or path. For some, the losses come slowly. For others, they come faster. But Parkinson’s is not a punishment or a personal failure. It happens—and the person diagnosed, along with everyone who loves them, must face what follows.
WHAT PARKINSON’S CAN TAKE FROM YOU
Parkinson’s progressively damages dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical messenger essential to coordinating movement. But it is not simply a movement disorder. It can affect how a person walks, talks, thinks, works, eats, sleeps and communicates—reaching into nearly every part of daily life. The disease moves differently in every person. But over time, it can reshape a person’s independence, relationships and future—and the lives of everyone close to them.
Sources: World Health Organization and Parkinson’s Foundation.
PARKINSON'S DISEASE CAN DRASTICALLY CHANGE THE WAY YOUÂ
MOVE • TALK • EAT • WORK • THINK • SLEEP
THIS IS SONIA’S FIGHT—BUT IT IS NOT HERS ALONE.
PEOPLE ALONG THE JOURNEY
Jason Kleiman
Jason built his painting business with his hands and lived a fiercely independent life. Eight years after a tremor led to his Parkinson’s diagnosis, he can no longer work in the field, drive, or camp—and now relies on his wife and caregiver to help him through each day. What keeps him going?
Eli Stonberg
Music-video and interactive-video director • 2017 Cannes Bronze Lion Entertainment winner • Living with early-onset Parkinson’s while continuing to meet the day to day demands of a high pressure career. What keeps him going?
Brian Tuckey, PT
A board-certified orthopedic physical therapist and creator of Fascial Counterstrain who treats Parkinson’s patients for physical trauma relief and related physical challenges. Sonia consults him during her search for ways to improve her condition. He does not claim to treat or cure Parkinson’s disease.
LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S, TOGETHER
Parkinson’s changes more than one life. Spouses, partners and families become advocates, organizers, protectors and caregivers—often carrying invisible work while learning how to help without taking away independence. Through Terence and Sonia, Sandy and Jason, and Rachelle and Ed, the film explores changing roles, exhaustion, humor, resilience and love—and what it means to face Parkinson’s shoulder to shoulder.
TERENCE + SONIA
Husband and wife facing Parkinson’s together—while turning their journey into a film that may help others.
SANDY + JASON
Bound by love, Sandy and Jason face his frustrations and hers as Parkinson’s changes their lives—taking each challenge one day at a time.
RACHELLE + ED
Husband and wife, in sickness and in health. Together, they navigate Parkinson’s with honesty, humor and love—one day and one change at a time.
Project Mission
Our mission is to turn Sonia’s deeply personal journey into a film that tells the truth about living with Parkinson’s and shares what she discovers along the way. We want people facing a Parkinson’s diagnosis—and those who support them—to see that they are not alone, better understand what questions to ask, and discover what possibilities they may want to explore. We want those with the power to make a difference—funders, grantmakers, doctors, researchers, advocates, community leaders, and people willing to open the right doors—to recognize the urgency of this story and help bring it to the world.
That person may be you.
Shoulder to Shoulder is already underway, but we need help to complete it and bring it to the people who need to see it now. Your funding, expertise, partnership, or meaningful introductions could move this film—and its message—forward, building greater understanding and momentum toward better treatments, stronger care, and better lives for people with Parkinson’s around the world.
This is more than a film about Parkinson’s.
It is a call to see, to care, and to act—
because millions of people are living this story right now.
Production Team
The dedicated creators and visionaries behind Shoulder to Shoulder.
Sonia Machado-Hines — Award-winning director, producer and central subject of this documentary. Sonia has directed or produced more than 30 short and feature films. In 2024, she and her husband received the Portland Film Festival’s Rising Black Filmmaker Award for their documentary Hiplet. In 2025, Sonia received a Force of Nature award recognizing her work and commitment as a filmmaker.
Christy Didier — Executive Producer. A veteran producer with Black++Productions, Christy has helped produce nearly a dozen films and web series.
Rick Cutter — Documentarian and director of the environmental feature documentary The Grid Unplugged, with additional projects in development.
Terence Bernie Hines — Producer. Terence has appeared in more than 20 feature films and has directed and produced both feature and short films. In 2024, he and Sonia received the Portland Film Festival’s Rising Black Filmmaker Award for their documentary Hiplet.
Sam Didier — Executive Producer. Sam is internationally known for his artwork and decades of creative leadership at Blizzard Entertainment, where he helped shape the visual concepts behind major video-game properties, including World of Warcraft.
THE PLAN TO FINISH THE FILM
Shoulder to Shoulder is already well underway.
The next step is to complete the remaining production, bring the film through professional post-production, and launch it into the festival circuit—positioning it for theatrical, broadcast, and streaming opportunities.
$200,000
COMPLETION-THROUGH-LAUNCH PLAN
This is the preliminary working budget required to finish the documentary and give it a meaningful path to audiences.
PRODUCTION
REMAINING FILMING
Complete the essential filming needed to bring Sonia’s journey and the stories surrounding her to their fullest and most honest conclusion.
POST-PRODUCTION
FINISHING THE FILM
Shape the finished documentary through editing, music, sound, color, graphics, archival materials, legal clearances, and final delivery.
LAUNCH
FESTIVALS & OUTREACH
Prepare submissions, publicity, outreach, screenings, and distribution materials—giving the film its strongest opportunity to reach festivals, Parkinson’s communities, industry decision-makers, and wider audiences.
COMPLETE THE FILM — $140,000
Remaining production and full post-production, including editing, color, sound, music, graphics, archival licensing, legal clearances, insurance and final delivery.
LAUNCH THE FILM — $60,000
Festival submissions, publicity, screenings, travel, audience outreach, distribution materials and strategic partnerships.
A detailed production budget, pitch deck, and additional project materials are available for serious funders, grantmakers, and prospective partners.
SUPPORT THE FILM
Your support can help complete the film and bring it to the people who need to see it. Contact Sonia to ask about funding support, grant opportunities, producing partnerships, meaningful introductions, professional expertise, or other ways to help. Contact Sonia!
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER: A PARKINSON'S JOURNEY FILM
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER - A PARKINSON'S JOURNEY / INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY / PRODUCTION STATUS: IN PROGRESS