TRAILERS & Teasers

​PADDLE OUT 

​featuring Melissa Pappageorgas

The feature documentary film "PADDLE OUT" delves into the therapeutic benefits of the ocean, as experienced by one woman battling Cystic Fibrosis.  Melissa Pappageorgas sought refuge in the surf and saltwater as a means to cope with the difficulties of her debilitating disease.
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​However, her time in the ocean not only provided relief for her breathing but also offered solace from the emotional burdens that accompanied her illness. 

After surviving a close encounter with her disease and undergoing a double lung transplant, Melissa had to claw her way back from rock bottom to return to the water she loved. Despite the obstacles, her partner Joey adapted and redefined the process of surfing, helping her pursue her dream of being out on the water.

​The documentary provides a genuine and emotional account of the struggles associated with Cystic Fibrosis and organ transplantation, interwoven with Melissa's journey to rediscover the freedom and liberation that the water once offered her.
 
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WHERE TO WATCH
Coming Soon...
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FILM STILLS

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MEET THE TEAM

MELISSA PAPPAGEORGAS - Producer
Melissa, a lifelong resident of the central coast, earned her degree in Sociology from USC in 2007. With a heart for volunteering, she spent much of her time helping those in need. She worked as a mentor and counselor at The Painted Turtle, a camp for children with serious medical conditions, briefly volunteered with The Make a Wish Foundation, and primarily dedicated her time to The Living Breath Foundation, a non-profit started by her parents to support individuals with cystic fibrosis and their families. Melissa organized and hosted events such as “In a Garden of 65 Roses” and “Bay for Breath Crossing” to raise funds for the foundation. After receiving a double lung transplant, Melissa was grateful for her second chance at life and was determined to make the most of it. She pushed herself to participate in activities she previously couldn’t, such as surfing, sprint triathlons, camping, and RV road trips with her husband. Her story of resilience and perseverance inspired her to share her experiences with others, in the hope of inspiring them to never give up on their dreams.

SEBI LEE - Director / Producer
Sebi an Emmy® Award winner, draws her artistic inspiration and energy from her homeland of South Korea. Despite opposition from her family, Sebi followed her passion for storytelling and moved to the United States at the age of 21 to study film.  Since 1999, Sebi has written, directed, and produced various forms of media, including documentaries, short stories, news segments, commercials, and music videos. Her documentaries have been featured on national PBS. Sebi has also produced award-winning art shows and hundreds of short stories for Arizona Public Media, the PBS affiliate in Tucson, Arizona.  Sebi has been actively involved with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) in Los Angeles since 2002, where she has contributed as a consultant, producer, program coordinator, mentor, and lecturer.
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ANDREW SIEGMAN - Producer
Andrew is an Emmy® Award winning documentary filmmaker, and he has contributed to two Peabody Award winning productions. He has had films debut at the Toronto Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and the Sundance film festival. In 2019 Andrew found himself in the middle of the biggest scandal in international sport history when he co-produced ICARUS, the Academy Award winning documentary that exposed the secret Russian doping program, which directly led to the years long Russian Olympic ban. Andrew was once selected to be a judge at the famous Coney Island hotdog eating contest where he was a witness to an historic world record. 
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LORI & CHRIS PAPPAGEORGAS - Executive Producers
​ Chris and Lori were high school sweethearts who married in 1976.  Lori became a dental assistant after graduation in 1974 and is still working in the field 48 years later. Chris graduated with a B.A. in physical education in 1978 and worked as a carpenter for 45 years until retiring in 2020.  Chris and Lori have a son and a daughter. Nick was born in 1983, and Melissa in 1985. Both children were diagnosed with CF in January 2000. Nick is now 39 years old. Melissa had a double lung transplant in 2015 and passed away in 2018. After watching firsthand the complications, CF causes to an individual’s health, Chris and Lori started the Living Breath Foundation in 2008. The foundation provides individuals needing assistance with, transplants, medications, equipment, financial aid, scholarships, food, travel to and from clinic visits, and hospital care packages. As of December 2022, they have raised and distributed over 3.5 million dollars to the CF community.  In addition to his volunteering work with the LBF, Chris has volunteered to use his carpentry skills and knowledge to run several projects for the Monterey Peninsula College athletic facilities over the past 40 years. Two projects he worked on were bleachers and  stadium seating at the baseball field and the football stadium at Monterey Peninsula College. 

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JIMMY COHEN - Editor
Jimmy is a director and editor from Mexico City. He graduated with honors from CENTRO University and took editing courses in NYU and ECAM . His feature debut, The Third Path, participated at Cinelatino Toulouse, La Habana and other festivals. His second film, Omar y Gloria, premiered at the Play-Doc Festival in Spain and was screened in more than 20 festival worldwide.  As an editor he has worked in a variety of projects from documentary to fiction with films like: Alchemy of the Spirit, King of the Party, Bloody Famous (TV show) , documentaries like Kurosawa’s Grave, Paraiso perdido, a two episode series for Nat Geo and other projects like music videos and video art . In the field of music he co-created Zehel, an experimental music project that lasted 10 years playing mostly in Mexico City and touring in Puerto Rico and New York. At the moment he is working as a producer in his psytance project called Grushenko.
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