Audible | Executive Producer

CANCER

Back in March of 2022 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colorectal Cancer, after I had noticed blood in the bowl for a few months. It was discovered at a Colonoscopy, which still remains the best way to detect and prevent many types of Cancer.

Never did I think this would be Cancer. Never.

I went through a significant amount of chemotherapy and radiation, to eventually land with two surgeries in 2024. The first removed a piece of my colon and a piece of my rectum. This officially changed my bathroom behavior forever, but I didn't complain because I was now labeled as "No Evidence of Disease".

At the time, I had a temporary ileostomy bag to allow my insides to heal. Months later, I had another surgery to remove the bag and right the ship. Unfortunately, my next scan showed that the disease had metastasized to other areas in my body, and I was now a Stage 4 Colorectal Cancer patient.

Since getting Cancer I have worked to become more of an advocate. I do everything I can to raise money and raise awareness about this very preventable disease.

Below are some of the amazing pieces of work that I've done to help push screenings and lower the numbers on this awful disease.

First one up is Mastercard. Mastercard has a phenomenal partnership with Stand Up To Cancer. When I found out that my company, McCann. was doing a campaign for them, and I begged to produce it. Once I was given permission, I told everyone my plan. I wanted to hire a cast and crew that has cancer, had cancer, took care of someone with cancer, or lost someone incredibly close to them, due to cancer. I started by identifying 5 directors that fit the bill. All 5 wrote me a one-sheet explaining their relationship to cancer. Kevin Wilson Jr. of Little Minx was the winner, and I am now lucky to call him a great friend

MASTERCARD AUNT GIGI 30

Creatives: Shayne Millington, Ryan Barrett, Reto Oetterli, Emilio Zapata, Campbell George

Production: Little Minx

Director: Kevin WIlson Jr

Edit: Work Editorial

Editor:Hasani Franke-Harris

When it came time for a social campaign to tie this whole project together, my creative team and the Mastercard team both felt that it would be a great idea to feature the cancer-affected people and survivors to be interviewed. This brilliant idea sent this campaign over the top. We made separate videos for each person, obviously in every alt size imaginable. Below is the master 16x9 cut of all the edits together.

MASTERCARD Social

Creatives: Shayne Millington, Ryan Barrett, Reto Oetterli, Emilio Zapata, Campbell George

Production: Craft

Director: Katie Henry

Edit: Craft

Editor:Craft

VFX: Craft

This whole campaign was so successful that Mastercard and Stand Up To Cancer decided to air both Aunt Gigi and the BTS ads at the 2024 All-Star Game, before cutting to Katie and I on the field with some MLB legends. During pre-game, I was interviewed by HOF all-star, Albert Pujols, on the MLB Network. I also had a great chance to hang out with some of those legends that I mentioned earlier. Derrick Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Big Papi, CC Sabathia, and more. There was also a massive drone show to celebrate this event.

MLB ALL-STAR GAME 2024

ADVOCACY

Since being diagnosed with Cancer, I have tried to do all that I can to help raise awareness and push people to get screened. Over this time, I have been invited to join many groups and attend/speak at many conferences. I attended and interacted with the New York C5 Colorectal Cancer Event. The C5 stands for New York Citywide Colorectal. Cancer Control Coalition. We discussed many things, including policy issues and how to get more screenings to more New Yorkers. I spoke to a similar team in California, called the C4 CCCP or California Cancer Control Program.

In addition to these amazing conversations I was part of, I was also flown to Nashville, Tennessee, to attend the Early Age Onset Summit. I was also flown to Savannah, Georgia, to speak at the Southeastern Colorectal Cancer Consortium Conference. This was a truly incredible event that I was honored to speak at. Another event that I spoke at was the SUNY Downstate Cancer Health Disparities Symposium.

While attending conferences, and meeting with great people, I also connected with many charities like the Colon Cancer Prevention Project, Colon Cancer Coalition, American Cancer Society, Fight CRC, Colon Cancer Alliance, and the National Colorectal Cancer Round Table. Those are just a few of the many charities that I worked with, spoke to and developed a fantastic campaign called Toilet Talk.

Toilet Talk

Toilet Talk is a fun campaign that many colon and colorectal charities got behind. The goal of Toilet Talk was to record a video in your bathroom. Show off what is fun or different in your bathroom. In addition to showing your bathroom, there were three things that needed to be said/shared. The first is to know the signs of Colorectal Cancer. Examples of this are blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss, changes to bathroom behavior, fatigue, and more, but keep in mind that sometimes there are NO SYMPTOMS. The second thing was to havea family discussion about this. Many families do not discuss medical history. I do not know why, but its crucial to have these discussions and know if there is a risk in your family. The third thing is to know and understand that CRC is massively on the rise. It is currently the #1 killer cancer among men and women. If you were born after 1990, you are 200-400 % more likely to get it. This is NOT an old man disease, as I once thought. We quickly got help from comedian Paul Sheer, and soon after we got a great plea for help from Simone Ledwad Boseman, the wife of Chadwick Boseman. Below please see examples of Toilet Talk, and please know that this campaign is still in full effect. Feel free to make us a video and post it socially.

WARRIOR WALK

For three years straight, my wife Emily and I coordinated a warrior walk at the Massapequa Preserve. With each walk, our numbers grew to well over 400 people. We also raised over $50k at the three walks, which significantly helped Memorial Sloan Kettering launch a handful of new clinical trials in 2025. This made me so proud to know that I could be helping to save the lives of many people, possibly even my own.

TL;DR

If you made it through this section, then you know that I am a fighter and warrior in every way. I rang the bell twice when I completed chemotherapy and radiation. These were great honors, but they also didn't stop me from moving forward with more chemotherapy and radiation. My fight is far from over, but I will never give up. I am a fighter until the very end. More to come on this page.

CANCER​

Toilet Talk

CANCER