How GLIDER was born (a Reghal Media production).
Our building supervisor was chatting with Tom one day and he mentioned that a gentleman named Ed had moved into our building, and that he had some great stories about his time as a glider pilot in World War II.
As Tom puts it, “ten minutes after meeting Ed, I asked him if he would like to tell his stories in a documentary film. Ed said ‘why not’, and that was that.” That’s how their regular get-together developed and every Friday around 5:00 pm Tom would go to Ed’s apartment on the third floor, have a cocktail, and swap stories. Their friendship grew with time, and Ed became like our adopted grandfather.
Sadly Ed passed away in 2016, he was ninety-seven years old; however, thankfully his stories can still be enjoyed in the film they made together.
On the 2017 Memorial Day weekend, Glider was prominently featured at the GI Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Then Tom met Paula Zahn, a serendipitous meeting some may say; we think it was God’s doing. Tom loves animals, dogs in particular. Ms. Zahn’s dog took a liking to Tom one day in Central Park, and that’s how he met her. While chatting he mentioned Glider and she is the reason that Glider will be featured on PBS this coming Memorial Day weekend.
In the making of this film, Tom has met some amazing people. Ed and his family first of all (his sons David, Michael and Steve became our friends as well). We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Paula Zahn; to the staff at the Silent Wings Museum; to Stephen Segaller and the staff at PBS; Michael Jackman, who came on board as Executive Producer and saved the project at a critical juncture; to the incredible staff at Light Iron; to the musicians; to Mike Saz (animator extraordinaire); and Thomas McGuckin (Tommy), our building super who started the whole thing.
Tom promised Ed before he died that he would get the film out to the public so they could hear all about Ed and his beloved Glider Corps and with the help of these wonderful people, that promise is being kept.
PBS WNET 13 will air Glider on May 27th (at 7:30pm EST) and 31st (at 10:30pm EST) 2018.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Silent Wings Museum and Weisberger family.
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