"Do you ever think maybe other people could learn something from hearing about our story? I mean, when we were growing up, no one would have looked at our family, this all-American family that pretty much lacked for nothing, and predict how bad we'd crash. But maybe hearing what happened to us could help people. Maybe that's the story you should tell," said William Magee to his father David in Dear William: A Father's Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, and Loss.
This was from the last time author David Magee saw his son before he passed away in 2013, inspiring him to write his memoir, and now, it's going to be a movie. The writing process for the book didn't start until 2018, and the version we have now really didn't begin to take shape until late 2019. Today, the screenplay based on this book has wrapped filming and is in the editing process.
In chapter 8 of the book, Magee takes a roadtrip across the country to California, where he will be settling in for a while, and brings his son William. This is a turning point in the book. It's a moment where he is honest with himself about his own addiction struggles and starts to realize the depth of what his children are going through. This chapter will be a major plot point for the movie. Magee says the road trip is a device that will show how, "complexity speaks a lot to the dynamic of a parent-child relationship."
Rather than focusing on Magee's life, the movie takes a close look at his core family. During the book-writing process, Magee's family never asked him to see or change anything being written about them. They trusted he knew what he was doing and understood how important this work is in helping others in similar situations. When the book was being adapted into a screen-play, that complete trust stuck, which shows the impact they all expect this movie to have on others.
One of the most touching moments in the memoir, is when Magee's son Hudson is in the hospital after a near-death overdose, and when he miraculously comes to, the first thing he does is express concern for his brother William. Magee said this is a common theme of Hudson's selfless character, and he is much more present in the movie's storyline than the memoir.
Magee himself was very involved in the filming process, and he made a personal promise that he wouldn't interfere with his own character. "There were plenty of times watching filming where I'm just like 'man, that David Magee guy when he was really struggling that was ugly.'" But just like his family, he knows the story has to be truthful and vulnerable.
Most of the movie was filmed in Greenwood, but two days were shot in Oxford. Magee and his wife, Kent, were in the audience for two and a half hours recreating their son's funeral. They went through it fifteen times as the scene was shot from every angle. They had some positive recreations as well, like the freshman year party where they met. Magee reflects on it by saying, "I'm able to look at her, and she's still my girl, and it was just so incredible. We were speechless."
Magee has moved around a lot, not just to California, but Tennessee, and other areas of Mississippi. A lot of people questioned his move back to Oxford - in which he hasn't left since - because it didn't make the most professional sense. But he has a calling he could not ignore. He was called to help students and families. "I had that calling, and I knew that I had to get to this community. It had to be done here, and I made it happen."
That is just what he and his family do now. Although Magee's work has spread vastly outside of just the Oxford community, the William Magee Center for AOD and Wellness Education at Ole Miss continues to be an outlet for students to get support when they need it. As it's gotten more publicity, there is more external work that needs to be done. Magee said that as his work becomes more national, he's interested in getting back into his local work because, "to be able to do national work better, I need to do well at the local level."
Regardless of how national his work becomes, it is clear through the center and filming process of his movie that he remains incredibly involved in the Oxford community. His family has taken a difficult situation and turned it into something that continues to help others. As Magee said, "Great news is, recover is beautiful."
