Film, News + Views

Tandy Culpepper Talks to Filmmakers Dana Richie & Francesco Lucarelli about Their Post-Pandemic Documentary Unlocked

Covid-19 infections exploded across the globe in 2020. By the end of the year, statistics were staggering. In the United States alone, estimates put the number of infections at 20 million. Of those, some 340 thousand people died. Worldwide, nearly 84 million people had been infected resulting in more than 1.8 million fatalities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the virus a pandemic on March 11. Two days later, President Trump declared a national state of emergency. On March 19, California became the first state to issue stay-at-home orders.

In the earliest days of the pandemic, confusion reigned. The government seemed woefully unprepared and information released to the public often was more than not confusing. Don’t buy masks; leave them available for healthcare workers. Then, in a complete reversal, the public was urged to wear masks and stand six feet apart. 

Children couldn’t go to school. Schools and universities conducted classes online. Restaurant workers were laid off. Those lucky to have jobs worked from home. And healthcare providers were overwhelmed. The list goes on and on.

Two documentary filmmakers have joined forces to examine the emotional and physical fallout from this devastating pandemic. Now that the worst is behind us how are we recovering from this life-altering turn of events that affected people the world over.

Tandy Culpepper talks with Dana Richie of Backlot Productions and Francesco Lucarelli of Boundless Life about their documentary Unlocked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published by Tandy Culpepper

I am a veteran broadcast journalist. I was an Army brat before my father retired and moved us to the deep South. I'm talkin' Lower Alabama and Northwest Florida, I graduated from Tate High School and got botha Bachelor's degree and Master's in Teaching English from the University of West Florida, I taught English at Escambia County High School for two years before getting my m's in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Auburn University. Following graduation, I did a 180 degree turn and moved to Birmingham where I began ny broadcasting career at WBIQ, Channel 10. There I was host of a weekly primetime half-hour TV program called Alabama Lifestyles. A year later, I began a stint as a television weathercaster and public affairs host. A year later, I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida and became bureau chief at WPTV, the CBS affiliate. Two years later, I moved to Greensboro, North Carolina where I became co-host of a morng show called AM Carolina. The next year, I moved cross-country and became co-host and story producer at KTVN-TV in Reno, Nevada. I also became the medical reporter for the news department. Three years later, I moved to Louisville, Kentucky and became host and producer of a morning show called today in WAVE Country at WAVE-TV, Channel 3, the NBC affiliate. Following three years there, I moved to Los Angeles and became senior correspondent at the Turner Entertainment Reportn, an internationally-syndicated entertainment entertainment news service owned by CNN. I went back to school afterwards and got an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Oh, yes. I won a hundred thousand dollars on the 100 Thousand Dollar Pyramid, then hosted by Dick Clark.

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