I'm Casey Landman, the writer-director of Casey the Frog.
When I was 18, I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a blood cancer. Although I was technically an adult, I was treated in the pediatric wing at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Being surrounded by children while I was in treatment, I was constantly thinking about the pros and cons of being a young adult with cancer. On one hand, I was still a child, just barely out of high school. On the other hand, I had gone from staying in dorms to staying in chemo rooms.
Throughout the whole experience, something that really stuck with me was how lucky I was to be able to understand what my body was going through. When I looked around, I noticed the children around me didn’t have as clear of an idea. They need to be able to understand what is happening with them so that words and jargon don’t leave them in fear and confusion.
That’s why I created Casey the Frog.
Children with cancer didn’t choose to be children with cancer. They deserve representation in stories and art that reflect on their experiences, and maybe even help them understand it, too. In nursery-rhyme style, the film goes throughout some of the staples of going to the doctor’s office in worrisome times. During the entire story, the film provides coping mechanisms and comforting call-and-repeat songs for not only children 3-8 years old but also for their parents, guardians, and loved ones. I really believe it will be a great way to help younger kids understand what’s going on with their bodies, and a way to start a dialogue between parents and children as well.
Thank you for taking the time to check out our website! Being someone who was somewhat a kid, and somewhat an adult in the cancer world, I really began to learn how important it is to tell children what is going on with them and their bodies. I cannot wait to give children who’ve been personally affected by cancer a sense of representation and understanding.
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Always,
