Taylor’s Vision

Whitewater rafting is one of the most thrilling and sometimes dangerous activities in the world, which makes this group of rafters in the Royal Gorge River in Colorado even more remarkable.

Most of the people in this raft are not able to see where they're going.

They've lost their sense of sight, but certainly not their sense of adventure.

This trip down the river has been organized by a young aspiring filmmaker named Taylor Aguilar.

This is the way we get by in our day to day life.

But this year, this will accelerate.

This and so much more fun.

Taylor is gathering exciting scenes and a compelling story in an effort to pitch a reality TV series about vision impaired people who travel the world seeking adventure to prove to themselves and others.

They have an enthusiasm for life that will not go unsatisfied, simply because they don't have the vision to see where they're going.

Even though I can't see, I feel this air going high.

I can feel the bumps in the water.

I can't, you know, smell this.

Like nature around us.

Like you hear the birds around us.

It's just really amazing in so many different ways.

It wasn't all that long ago.

Taylor could see where she was headed with big dreams of a Hollywood filmmaker's career.

She lost her vision and now lives in a world of only sound, smell, taste, touch and her incredible resolve.

This is the story of Taylor's journey and the challenge she now faces.

This is the story of Taylor's vision.

And.

It was worth.

You guys were awesome.

Thank you.

How did Taylor end up on this raft in this river?

The quick answer is that Taylor carefully reproduced this TV pilot with her vision impaired friends.

How was it?

So pretty fun, Yeah, but the back story for me actually started in 2014, when Taylor was a student in my journalism classes at Colorado State University.

Taylor showed an aptitude to be in front of the camera.

But have you ever taken an art class and talked about Andy Warhol?

Well, in 1981, he came to the UK to sign his famous exhibition of camp.

But she found herself more comfortable behind the camera, telling the stories of others.

Dancing is meant to look effortless.

So many people fail to see how much hard work and strength it takes to pull these moves off.

When Taylor graduated from CSU, she volunteered at small radio and television stations in California.

But the draw to Hollywood remained strong, and she entered the master's program in the School of Film and Television Production at Loyola marymount in Los Angeles.

Taylor immediately engaged with other students in the program.

Just an incredibly friendly personality who really, you know, tells us a lot to to build community.

So, that was that was incredibly helpful.

She became a centerpiece in many ways.

I really felt like I found my people.

It was all sorts of students from all over the world, and they were all really cool to work with.

So I was like, okay, let's just make money now doing this somehow together, because this is really fun.

Taylor impressed LMU faculty, too, such as professor Patty Meyer, who first met her during a request to be added to an already full screenwriting class.

Taylor approached me, probably in the Hall of very effusive and said, can I please get into your class?

And though I had kept it out at eight, I let her come in to, total nine students in the workshop.

Her willingness to learn.

Her eagerness to be better, to get better as a writer was really impressive.

As soon as I met her and I was with her ten minutes, I said, she's going to be.

She's going to be big in this industry.

She is a force of nature.

I mean, I mean, just right off, I just said, this is a wonderful person to have in my class.

Taylor was in the second year of her three year program at LMU when Covid hit.

Students were sent home.

Taylor returned to Pueblo, Colorado, and somehow in credibly, things went from bad to worse.

I think it was the day after Mother's Day.

She taught.

She told me, mom and I could just feel my throat fall into my stomach.

I'm having issues with my eyes.

And I went, oh, God.

So I hurried up, drove to the ice center.

Pseudo tumor, cerebro or intracranial hypertension.

Doctors decided to surgically cut Taylor's optic nerve to remove the inflammation and pressure in her brain.

They told her there was a chance her vision might be saved, but it also was possible it would not.

The fear of a life threatening brain tumor was averted, and so was Taylor's sight.

In all likelihood, for the rest of her life.

Basically, my my eyeballs work, my brain works.

But the middle message board, that communicates to each other, they.

That doesn't work.

So, you know, my eyes are all constantly dilated because it wants to take in all the light, because it's like we work.

Why aren't you going?

But my brain over here is trying to say the same thing.

So it projects these visions that aren't there.

So technically, I see things all the time, but they're just not there.

There's like, shapes and colors and textures running through my head all the time, and it's always moving.

So even when my eyes are closed, it's never dark.

Taylor enrolled in the Colorado Center for the Blind in Littleton, Colorado, where she would learn how to live and move around safely in this new dark world.

She was determined not to let her loss of vision stop her dreams of being a film maker.

I just couldn't imagine letting all that hard work go for nothing.

I guess I'm a really stubborn person and I don't like it when things don't go my way.

And I figured, you know, nothing was in my control except that I could use the education that I have.

And, the resources that I have to make it happen in some way, shape or form.

Taylor moved into an apartment near the school that also housed other students.

She now had friends and peers facing her same challenges, learning things she never expected to need.

The classroom for the blind.

That was the hardest school I've ever went to because I was faced with myself and all my fears.

Because blindness is most people's worst fear.

Like they ask people in surveys all the time, and blindness is on the top of everyone's worst fear.

And I'm facing my worst fear all of the time.

Oh my gosh, did they teach me so much?

I could barely keep it all in my head because I was learning not only how to, you know, use my phone.

What have I miss?

Texts.

You have messages from Addison and Amanda first.

Addison said okay.

The flight is a little delayed.

I was learning how to travel and cook and clean and do all the things you do in life.

Again, over again, in a whole new way.

So I was extremely frustrated.

I can get enraged where it stops me from moving.

At that school, though, they teach you how to like, calm down and focus on your other senses.

And now figure out where you're at.

I met a lot of incredible people at the Cfpb.

Really great instructors.

Every instructor there is blind, so that's really cool to learn from them because they're teaching you from their experience.

She also met individuals who will turn out to be lifelong vision impaired friends, including one named Tom McClure.

I, you know, became friends with, a really cool friend group.

And one of our friends would always host and Tommy was always there.

And yeah, he was, you know, he's pretty tall, so it's hard to miss him because his voice is coming from, like, all the way up there.

And when I heard her voice, I was like, wow, she is such a bubbly personality and she's so full of life.

And when you're blind, the voice is almost like the face that someone would say, you know, it's just the first thing that you hear.

And she just had so much passion and charisma and and I was like, I want to get to know her better.

Tommy and Taylor became a couple, and he was there to support Taylor during her graduation ceremony from Colorado Center for the blind.

I am so honored to present you with your certificate and honored.

It's a certificate of accomplishment.

The certificate is awarded to Taylor Aguilar and it's signed by me and dated today.

And congratulations.

Thank you.

Love you.

Really?

Due to Covid.

Most of the attendees were on zoom.

But Taylor's incredibly supportive family was there in person for the ceremony in front of the CCP building and a so grateful for having an incredible family and friends and supportive community that I have.

All of you.

With this graduation behind her, Taylor set her sights on finishing her Master of Fine Arts degree.

The co-producer of her thesis film, Addison Woodside, flew in from the West Coast to help cast for a short film written by Taylor called soul, a story based on her own experience as a young teenager tracking down a father she'd never met.

This is exciting.

You don't know when it's time to back up.

I can take care of myself.

Mom, I don't need you for every decision I have to make.

Now, I'd like to see more like a as if this is, a big secret.

Yeah.

She's really excited.

Taylor and Addison met with possible actors in a conference room of Taylor School answering the question.

The rest of us are certainly wondering, how does a casting director without vision pick the right person for every part?

I think I can feel the energy in the room like I can feel what they're, emoting through their, acting.

And I know I have to ask questions like, okay, how is their movement?

What about her work?

But if she like me, she's so cute.

She was very petite.

She had long brown hair.

Like, I feel like she's got really, like, she's got an expressive face.

Whenever I work with Taylor, I learn a lot from her.

But the way that she knows how to talk to them and really explain her character's motivations to people, it really transcends, like, trying to see.

And she can get to the emotion of what she's trying to do very easily.

He's not I'm not going to call him dad.

I'm not going to be that way.

With the help of grants, crowdfunding and the support of her local community, Taylor resumed her thesis project.

Her dream of filming Seoul in her hometown of Pueblo became a reality when crew and equipment traveled halfway across the country for three full days of field production in Colorado.

Searcher, would you like to tell us where you've been for the last 15 years?

A young actress by the name of Olivia Rodriquez was selected to portray a 15 year old Taylor, who goes by the name of Solana, or Soul in the film Souls.

Mother.

I'm just going to give it back.

And the film, named Louisa, was played by actress Daisy Chaffee.

Neither had worked with the vision impaired director before, but they both found it to be a very unique and productive experience.

Imagine like the bride, has been planning this with you for a while.

I think that she feels everything more deeply, because there are a lot of cues and notes that she gives us around, pausing and our tone.

And even though she isn't seeing us, she is hearing us moving around the space in between scenes.

It's just, I heard you do this.

I really liked that.

I want to see if you can play it more like this.

And then she has people around her describing to her what my face is doing, what my blocking looks like and how, the emotion looks in my body.

And from there, she can kind of recalculate and and ask for what she wants, and, what she wants out of me.

Ready?

Yeah.

Okay.

Sound beating.

Camera.

Camera speeds.

This is take three.

And action.

Most of the film crew had worked with Taylor before she lost her sight on her projects and theirs.

So found this to be an easy collaborator.

I was just like, imagining the cameras here.

Her foot's down here.

And then she kicks like towards the camera.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

And if I have something that I don't particularly like visually, then I know she will trust me to, to say, hey, we didn't really get this.

We didn't really achieve what we were going for.

Can I tried a different way?

And her philosophy is always the best idea.

Wins it.

The California film crew was supplemented with local volunteers, including Taylor's family.

Taylor is actually my sister in law.

I'm married to her brother, so?

So just being in the industry as a stylist and makeup artist already, she reached out and was like, hey, do you want to work on my set?

And so I did a short film for her actually a year or two ago before, and it went really well.

There was undoubtedly a feeling throughout the crew and those of us filming behind the scenes that something really special was taking place here for Taylor and all of us.

What matters most to her about directing is seeing how everyone feels.

Every piece of the puzzle fits, and she really wants everything to fit organically.

We need to hear more stories of underrepresented groups and people who are differently abled than we are.

And she is going to break down so many doors.

She's going to inspire so many people.

Taylor doing this film and doing this film well will give a lot of hope to people who may who made that.

They saw the last of their vision when they when they lost their sight, May thought they saw the last of their passion, of their dream.

I think Taylor will be able to reignite that for them.

And I don't think there's anything more that I want to be a part of in life.

And that journey with the production wrapped in Colorado.

It was back to California and the LMU campus for the edit.

A destination tailor would need to learn all over again, this time without her vision.

But wait, there's another twist to this groundbreaking journey.

Taylor was pregnant when I found out I was pregnant.

Of course I was scared.

I was more so scared because I wasn't financially where I wanted to be.

I, you know, working on the whole career thing.

And so that part is what I was mostly scared of.

I knew that I've always been comfortable around babies.

I was just purely excited.

I've always wanted to be a dad.

And at the time, I wasn't really thinking about, the difficulties.

Although when I called my family, they were like, how are you going to lose that?

Are you gonna do this?

Tom and Taylor decided to tackle this challenge the way they have so many others as a team.

It would also require a team approach for Taylor to finish the edit of her film.

Hi, I'm soul.

And you got her.

Taylor knows her footage so well.

Which, you know, in our circumstance, you might not expect.

And she was like, I think there's a shot.

I'll try it and I'll try it both ways.

I lined up, I did you take?

Yeah.

I wanted it to be faster.

I wanted her to be like rummaging through the closet.

At that point, she's off camera for for most of that night, Professor Karen Smalley is the faculty member who would help Taylor in the project.

And Pam Presser was in charge of making the actual edits.

So I just kind of I just want to make sure Got By you were so dramatic.

You never know when to back off.

I can handle myself.

I don't need you for every decision I make anymore.

Back off.

And there's a look there.

Like she's annoyed with us.

Yeah, she kind of tosses her head up and just kind of.

It almost looks like she rolls her eyes.

I think about editing in such a different way now after working with her and I, and I really do believe that it has made me a better editor, I, I pay attention to things, I pay attention to everything that I have, and even though I've been through every single clip that she has, she, she she knows what I have better than I know what I have.

And that makes me want to know better what I have so that I can give her what she has envisioned.

The film is good, and that matters so much that it's going to be a strong film.

Not because a blind person made it, because it's a strong film.

I mean, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous or afraid to do this, to take on this project, because she will never see.

She will never see this.

So she's trusting me.

To produce something that is representative of what she has envisioned, you know, and she started this long before she went blind.

So she she knew what this was supposed to look like.

But she won't.

She won't see that.

She'll hear it.

She'll hear it and she'll hear the reactions from other people.

So.

Those other people get their first opportunity in this theater on campus when Taylor's film premieres.

Taylor, members of her production team, and many very curious film students fill the theater for this special screening.

Hey.

He's the one that missed out.

Let's go home.

Hey, Luke.

Hi, Adrian.

It looked amazing tonight.

It sounded wonderful tonight.

I'm blown away.

And, I'm proud of everybody that did their part.

The premiere was also noticed by the CBS television station in Los Angeles, and they featured Taylor in their newscast.

An inspirational story.

Now about a local college filmmaker who finished her movie even after she lost her eyesight.

Hi, mom.

Oh, it was a packed house in this small theater on the LMU campus.

As films from graduate students played all afternoon.

But this one drew quite a crowd because the writer, director, and producer of this short sitting in the front row couldn't actually see it.

There was another significant storyline developing in Pueblo as tiny Violet snow McClure moved into the spotlight.

She had amazing star power right away.

The local audience fell head over heels in love with her, but catering to young Violet required a lot of pre-production, like, we have all these things that she could fit in right now, and then towards the end, it's like things that she might grow into soon.

This is the okay, so one, two three, four.

So I think this is another little one.

The trigger.

I'm always flabbergasted by the fact that there's been plenty of blind people in this world, and they figured it out.

And I'm wasn't the first blind mom out there.

So that's really encouraging to me to know that I'm not alone.

By Bailey's first birthday party, she was literally visual proof that Tom and Taylor and their families had figured things out in them.

Happy birthday to you.

Another incredible opportunity came Taylor's way.

She applied for and became the first blind intern at the American Pavilion Center at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

In many ways, this setting epitomizes all the dreams Taylor is chasing as the international center of the film world.

She traveled there with alumni sorority sister Michelle, her to meet for two four weeks working as an intern.

I expect all of my team to, you know, hopefully take away a lot of skills that they can take with them initially if they're going to be working in the industry moving forward.

One of Taylor's main goals was to prove to herself and others that she can participate in this industry.

I never met a blind person before meeting Taylor.

She answers like any questions that we have, and she works really hard.

She always has a big, big smile.

And this is kind of healing for everyone around her.

Even though I miss everyone immensely, this trip has really, I think, changed my life.

Feels at least really good right now.

The connections I've made.

I've gone to shake hands with people I would have never been able to meet before.

One of Taylor's standout Feel-Good moments came when she was the Green Room Attendant during award winning actor Jeffrey Wright's presentation at American Pavilion.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Jeffrey.

You gave me chills.

I have had chills since I've been blind.

And yours?

Talk on theater was just so incredible.

And I'm just so grateful that I got to be a part of the green room for you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What is your name?

I'm Taylor.

Taylor?

Yeah.

Nice to meet you.

I've only been blind for three years, so I'm just, you know, trying to keep it up and tell all the people about audio description.

So if you haven't heard about audio descriptions, it's the way blind people watch movies and TV.

And so I just want to spread the word while I'm here.

And yeah, I'm a director, writer, producer.

So I'm trying to do it all and I just love your work.

So I really appreciate.

Yeah, thank you for giving me chills.

It makes me feel like I'm in the right space, so giving me chills.

Oh, thank you very own.

You too.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So where does Taylor go from here and what happens next?

Highlights from Cannes are grounded with the reality.

She's still learning how to live without her vision.

Her career is somewhat on hold, all while raising a young daughter.

That means Taylor still must focus on what many of us would consider simple things.

We are learning how to cross the street on your own.

I feel nervous, confident, fabulous, and sessions with a therapist who uses horses as a confidence builder for people facing varied life challenges.

But Taylor also makes time to promote herself and her dreams.

She met with Colorado's lieutenant governor, who has long championed the rights of those like Taylor.

We want to make sure that people with disabilities are included in that mantra of a Colorado for all.

So we just really want to make sure, first of all, they have a voice, which now they do in the Lieutenant governor's office.

And then make sure that they can access all the things in life that all the rest of us can.

And that would be to be able to recreate, to be able to live and thrive and have health care and and jobs and everything that the rest of us enjoy.

It irritates me sometimes when people don't count audiobooks as reading because, I mean, Taylor is looking for work, hopefully through her reality show called Blind Movie, which now has a companion podcast.

Because really, for me, that's the biggest barrier to getting back to work.

Go 2023 Taylor and Tom further illustrated the concept of living life fully by walking in a 10-K race, guided by Taylor's family members, to yes, there are many joyous moments, but for those of us who admire and love her, we also clearly see the difficult journey in front of her.

A part of me when I first lost my vision was just like, I want everyone to be blind and experience theirs, and everyone has to know how terrible and how hard this is.

And then, now that I have learned throughout the last few years that, you know, I can still watch TV.

I can still read a book.

I can still do all those things.

I just have to do it differently.

The only thing worse than someone losing their own vision is watching their child lose their vision.

Because I would trade places in a second.

I don't care.

The permanency of it is hard.

The fact that she hasn't seen me in three years is hard.

She hasn't seen Violet, but she has.

And we have her.

And that's what I come back to, is we have her.

Perhaps the very end of Taylor's film symbolizes at best.

No matter how uncertain the future, the best of us find the strength and vision to face our fears and move ahead.