The Shane Varga Story - by TJ Jorgensen
"Learn something from me." That is the words that stick with me forever, thanks to Shane Varga.
The Shane Varga Story is a project that first came to me about a year ago when Shane's sister Lisa, Shane and I began talking
about an idea to promote Shane's amazing journey. Lisa had some pull in the movie business with her career as an actress taking
off, and we talked with a film maker from Florida about making the documentary. But after hearing about how much of his personal
life was going to be filmed, Shane decided the timing was not right.
Fast forward to the spring of 2011. After discovering that he will have to battle cancer again, I thought Shane would be crushed.
Instead, he was even more determined to beat it - again. Seeing his passion and his undying determination to beat this, I began
talking with Lisa, Shane and his wife Amy about telling his story, but this time, not bringing in a big time move maker, but letting me
take a crack at it. After showing the family my thoughts on it, and laying it all out for Shane, I got the approval to start filming a
special "interview", where I would sit down with Shane and have him tell the audience about his journey. It was very important,
Shane told me, that this story not be about him. "It needs to be about the fight, TJ, not the person fighting," he reminded me.
I contacted my friend Josh Taylor, who had taught me so much about editing and filming and I asked for some advice. I got a lot
more than I had hoped! Josh, who has known Shane for many years as well, said he would like to help out. What he ended up
doing was what made this movie what it is today. Josh was the key man on the day of shooting, setting up all the lights, running two
cameras, two microphones, and basically helping me to create the perfect atmosphere for this movie.
We shot the entire interview in one night in March, and it took about three hours. After that, I had lots of "B Roll" footage that I
wanted to gather for the movie, so finally after gathering all of that footage, we began the long process of editing. Josh first had to
convert all the video and audio from one camera over to an editable format, and I worked on the other camera and sound. Total
time that took was about 60 hours. Then after I collected all the B Roll footage, I had to convert and render all of those files. When
I finally had all that I needed to make my movie, I went to work.
Every night I would work on this film. Many who know me know that along with a nine hour a day job during the day, I am still
very busy with my family, and of course with Street Kids Softball, which is a full time job in itself. There were many nights I got 2-4
hours of sleep max. I would work all day, come home and help out around the house, help with dinner, bath time for my daughters,
etc then I would be at the computer til 3am, 4am, etc. Many times during this editing stage I wanted to quit. Not because I didnt
want to do it, but because it began to wear on me emotionally and mentally. But I knew that this story needed to be told. Shane's
message is so powerful that if I gave up now, so many would never know just how powerful it really is. He has impacted so many
people in the last two years, and if I gave up now, I felt like I was giving up on him. So I pushed on.
Finally, after 170 hours of editing, I finished the greatest project I have ever worked on. We released the premier at a special
Varga family viewing on Friday, May 27th at Francesco's Restaurant in Mishawaka. Josh Taylor, who played such a big role in
making this happen, sat with me in the back, as I nervously drank my water awaiting the ending of the 56-minute film. When it was
done, the family sat there with tears in their eyes. I was hoping that was tears of happiness and not "thats the worst film I have ever
seen" feeling. Lol. But it turned out to be the former, rather than the latter, and Shane gave me a big hug of approval. The best part
of the night was when a stranger who was sitting in the back enjoying dinner came up to us afterwards and told Shane how much he
was moved and inspired by Shane's story. This man told us he sat back and wept like a baby, rethinking some of the decisions he
has made in his life, and how he wanted to "learn from Shane" as Shane asks of us in the film.
It was then that I knew that all that work at the computer was for something good. It was just in that few moments that this older
gentleman opened up to us that gave me that feeling of purpose in my life. I have done a lot of nice things over the years, started a
charitable program from a league softball team that is now known throughout the sport nationwide. I have fathered beautiful
children, married the girl of my dreams and get to smile every day when I wake up. But until I saw that stranger wipe away the
tears in his eyes from watching this film, I never felt like God was putting me somewhere for a real purpose.
God brings people together for reasons we do not understand. For some reason in 2006, God wanted Shane Varga and TJ
Jorgensen to cross paths. It was His predetermined plan that we would grow close, form a friendship that was as close as
brotherhood, and that our friendship would lead to His eventual plan.
The Shane Varga Story will touch your heart. It will inspire you, it will move you to tears and hopefully it will make you do exactly
what Shane asks in the film. "Learn something from me." I did. I hope you will also.
-TJ Jorgensen
"Learn something from me." That is the words that stick with me forever, thanks to Shane Varga.
The Shane Varga Story is a project that first came to me about a year ago when Shane's sister Lisa, Shane and I began talking
about an idea to promote Shane's amazing journey. Lisa had some pull in the movie business with her career as an actress taking
off, and we talked with a film maker from Florida about making the documentary. But after hearing about how much of his personal
life was going to be filmed, Shane decided the timing was not right.
Fast forward to the spring of 2011. After discovering that he will have to battle cancer again, I thought Shane would be crushed.
Instead, he was even more determined to beat it - again. Seeing his passion and his undying determination to beat this, I began
talking with Lisa, Shane and his wife Amy about telling his story, but this time, not bringing in a big time move maker, but letting me
take a crack at it. After showing the family my thoughts on it, and laying it all out for Shane, I got the approval to start filming a
special "interview", where I would sit down with Shane and have him tell the audience about his journey. It was very important,
Shane told me, that this story not be about him. "It needs to be about the fight, TJ, not the person fighting," he reminded me.
I contacted my friend Josh Taylor, who had taught me so much about editing and filming and I asked for some advice. I got a lot
more than I had hoped! Josh, who has known Shane for many years as well, said he would like to help out. What he ended up
doing was what made this movie what it is today. Josh was the key man on the day of shooting, setting up all the lights, running two
cameras, two microphones, and basically helping me to create the perfect atmosphere for this movie.
We shot the entire interview in one night in March, and it took about three hours. After that, I had lots of "B Roll" footage that I
wanted to gather for the movie, so finally after gathering all of that footage, we began the long process of editing. Josh first had to
convert all the video and audio from one camera over to an editable format, and I worked on the other camera and sound. Total
time that took was about 60 hours. Then after I collected all the B Roll footage, I had to convert and render all of those files. When
I finally had all that I needed to make my movie, I went to work.
Every night I would work on this film. Many who know me know that along with a nine hour a day job during the day, I am still
very busy with my family, and of course with Street Kids Softball, which is a full time job in itself. There were many nights I got 2-4
hours of sleep max. I would work all day, come home and help out around the house, help with dinner, bath time for my daughters,
etc then I would be at the computer til 3am, 4am, etc. Many times during this editing stage I wanted to quit. Not because I didnt
want to do it, but because it began to wear on me emotionally and mentally. But I knew that this story needed to be told. Shane's
message is so powerful that if I gave up now, so many would never know just how powerful it really is. He has impacted so many
people in the last two years, and if I gave up now, I felt like I was giving up on him. So I pushed on.
Finally, after 170 hours of editing, I finished the greatest project I have ever worked on. We released the premier at a special
Varga family viewing on Friday, May 27th at Francesco's Restaurant in Mishawaka. Josh Taylor, who played such a big role in
making this happen, sat with me in the back, as I nervously drank my water awaiting the ending of the 56-minute film. When it was
done, the family sat there with tears in their eyes. I was hoping that was tears of happiness and not "thats the worst film I have ever
seen" feeling. Lol. But it turned out to be the former, rather than the latter, and Shane gave me a big hug of approval. The best part
of the night was when a stranger who was sitting in the back enjoying dinner came up to us afterwards and told Shane how much he
was moved and inspired by Shane's story. This man told us he sat back and wept like a baby, rethinking some of the decisions he
has made in his life, and how he wanted to "learn from Shane" as Shane asks of us in the film.
It was then that I knew that all that work at the computer was for something good. It was just in that few moments that this older
gentleman opened up to us that gave me that feeling of purpose in my life. I have done a lot of nice things over the years, started a
charitable program from a league softball team that is now known throughout the sport nationwide. I have fathered beautiful
children, married the girl of my dreams and get to smile every day when I wake up. But until I saw that stranger wipe away the
tears in his eyes from watching this film, I never felt like God was putting me somewhere for a real purpose.
God brings people together for reasons we do not understand. For some reason in 2006, God wanted Shane Varga and TJ
Jorgensen to cross paths. It was His predetermined plan that we would grow close, form a friendship that was as close as
brotherhood, and that our friendship would lead to His eventual plan.
The Shane Varga Story will touch your heart. It will inspire you, it will move you to tears and hopefully it will make you do exactly
what Shane asks in the film. "Learn something from me." I did. I hope you will also.
-TJ Jorgensen