HOT SPRINGS, Va. (WDBJ) – A short film inspired by a 15-year-old from Union, West Virginia was played for the first time Monday night.
The imagination of Aimee Baker was on full display at the Omni Homestead in Hot Springs. Baker passed away in the fall after a battle with brain cancer, and now her family is hoping her creativity will help others fight cancer.
“It’s just such a blessing to see everybody working on this and especially with all the support going to fighting (cancer), because there isn’t a lot of money that goes into childhood cancer research,” said Aimee’s father Todd Baker. “The last we heard from her oncologist in Morgantown, at least in West Virginia, out of all the money that goes into cancer research, only like 7% goes to childhood cancer research. I think that’s a tragedy, so to see everybody pitching in and all the outpouring and cooperation, it’s just been amazing.”
Before her passing, Aimee worked with James Orrigo of the Big Dreams Virtual Tour, a Children’s Cancer Research Fund program that works with kids battling cancer to create cartoon music videos. Aimee created a video and song about muffins battling cupcakes and the program decided to bring it to life.
“We started teaming up with incredible artists from all across the country, they were building life-sized props. The Omni Homestead here got involved and let us use their location to film the most amazing, epic Hollywood-style showdown between these muffins and cupcakes. It was beautiful, the whole staff got involved and it really brought a lot of joy not only to just Aimee’s family, but it kind of preserves Aimee’s legacy in a really special way,” said James Orrigo, Creator of the Big Dreams Virtual Tour.
Emmy-winning costume designer Marina Toybina even created and donated the masks for the film.
Aimee was originally going to star in the film. She passed away three days before the video was filmed, but her family and friends decided to finish it in her honor.
“It was kind of up in the air and yet the family was like, ‘No we want to do this for Amiee. This is going to be something she would’ve loved and so we’re going to go all out.’ So her brother actually donned the suit of the main character and gave it his full 100% and it was just beautiful,” said Orrigo.
Amiee’s family got to watch the finished film ‘Sweet Revenge’ for the first time Monday night.
“It was really good; it’s just amazing to see, because it was very much Aimee, her vision coming to life. She would’ve just really loved to see this, but it all sprang out of her imagination,” said Todd Baker.
Everything was filmed in a single day at the Omni Homestead.
“For eight hours we filmed the entire thing, i was kind of like a blur. James wasn’t like, ‘Here’s the script, here’s what we’re doing’; he was really open to ideas. So a lot of it was different people contributing and it was a group effort,” said Aimee’s brother Ean who starred in the film.
Aimee’s friends and family described her as a bright light.
“She was just an example of courage, joy, and faithfulness. She had such a love for the lord that just shined in her life in everything that she did,” said Todd Baker.
Her family said they are grateful for the film in her honor.
“I’m really thankful for everything, especially James; he’s just a really cool person,” said Ean Baker. “He has boundless energy and he pours it all into helping and loving other people,” added Todd Baker.
The hope is that the film will help raise awareness and funding for Child Cancer Research. You can view the film and donate to the cause here.
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