Celebrated biotech visionary David Blech struggles with bipolar disorder, impairing his impulse control and placing him in the crosshairs of the American justice system. THE BLECH EFFECT is the poignant true story of his fight to hold onto his freedom and his family. Will the judge see a chronically ill father in need of help, or a criminal deserving of hard prison time?
8 million Americans suffer serious psychological problems, and 400,000 in severe need of mental healthcare languish instead in prison. THE BLECH EFFECT is the true story of one such remarkable case. Relentless creditors, a loving wife, and a disabled child raise the stakes for his fragile family as the judge balances law enforcement and compassion.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I met David Blech at my son’s little league game in Greenwich Village. The coach pointed him out to me and said “See that guy standing in the corner in the white t-shirt? He was once worth 500 million dollars and lost it all.”
Over the course of the season I got to know him and one day he gave me his memoir to read. He told me it was optioned by Oliver Stone to be made into a feature film. I read it and thought it was an amazing story - he was a self-made man with a vision to save others but ironically his own illness became his demise. I told him I was looking forward to seeing the movie. A few years later I ran into him on the street and asked him about it, he said the option had lapsed and the movie was never made. I suggested we make a documentary and he agreed. The following Thursday, with no budget and no crew, I started filming and embarked on the journey that became THE BLECH EFFECT. When we began, David was at a crossroads in his life. He was 11 million dollars in debt and awaiting a possible jail sentence for securities fraud and at the same time he was anticipating trial results on a potential cure for Alzheimer’s, that if successful would make him hundreds of millions overnight. But this was only part of the drama that unfolded before my eyes. David really wanted his story to be told so he gave me full access to his family for two years. I was able to film them as they faced one of the most difficult times in their lives. I witnessed David’s struggle with bipolar disease, he and his wife Margie in conflict, but also desperately clinging to each other. And both of them trying to keep it together to maintain a loving household for their special-needs son, Evan. Ultimately this is a story about flawed human beings, which we all are. Everyone has money problems, everyone has mental problems and everyone has family problems – only the Blechs have more. It is part tragedy, part love story and part cautionary tale.