Documentary Media alum lands game-changing broadcast deal with PBS
Documentary Media alum Michelle Melles is helping to rewrite the narrative around mental health. Her documentary thesis, Drunk on Too Much Life (external link) , has achieved a major milestone, securing a national broadcast deal in the U.S.A. through NETA, which will bring it to PBS stations across the country.
The film, which shines a light on the complexities of mental health, is set to reach millions of viewers across the United States during Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2025. For Melles, this achievement is not just a professional triumph but a deeply personal victory in her ongoing mission to spark meaningful conversations about mental health on a global stage.
Image from Drunk on Too Much Life
Drunk on Too Much Life is centered around Melles daughter, Corrina, and her experience from locked-down psych wards and diagnostic labels to expansive worlds of creativity, connection and greater meaning.
Originally released in 2021, Melles recently secured a game-changing opportunity to share the film’s important message to a wider audience, with an official deal to broadcast the documentary to millions of people across PBS outlets early next year.
“The idea behind the film has always been to spark dialogue around mental health, trauma, and recovery, and the PBS platform provides an excellent avenue for this mission,” says Melles.
Rewriting the narrative on mental health
Modern medical modalities have largely treated and framed mental health issues as purely biological problems that can only be solved with modern medicine. Melles' film challenges these entrenched, conventional and often fear-based narratives surrounding mental illness by highlighting a new mental health paradigm that rejects the idea that every mental illness inherently needs fixing and that they can be neatly labeled and cured.
“Drunk on Too Much Life advocates for a new paradigm in mental health care—one that is person-centered, holistic, recovery-oriented, and trauma-informed. It's about celebrating each person’s full humanity and their right to make meaning of their experiences,” says Melles.
Michelle and her daughter, Corrina
Image from Drunk on Too Much Life
Rather than accept that label, as American activist, writer and clinician Sasha DuBrul mentions in Melles’ film, these experiences shouldn’t be viewed as a disease that needs to be cured, but as a dangerous gift—one that can be cultivated and taken care of to create new forms of meaning.
“I want viewers to see that these experiences—what some may call ‘madness’—can be powerful and meaningful aspects of the human condition,” states Melles.
Putting theory into practice
While work on the project began back in 2017, the film only truly took form as Melles’ documentary thesis project for her MFA in Documentary Media. There, under the supervision of professors Michal Conford and Gerda Cammaer—who helped shape the film’s content and guide Melles vision—she was able to realize the documentary’s award-winning full potential.
“The program was invaluable in helping me transition from producing short TV documentaries to becoming a feature documentary filmmaker,” Melles noted, highlighting the importance of this academic grounding in shaping the film’s content.
But beyond all the recognition for the countless people who supported the film, Melle is especially grateful for her daughter, Corrina, whose powerful experience—when viewed as a dangerous gift—set the basis for a larger and more meaningful conversation surrounding mental health on the international stage.
“It’s been an incredible journey to get to this point, and I'm deeply grateful for the support of everyone involved, especially, my daughter Corrina, who has courageously shared her story with the world in the hope of changing the treatment and perception of mental illness,” states Melles.
Interested in learning more? Watch the trailer of Drunk on Too Much Life or the feature documentary on TVO (external link) , The Knowledge Network (external link) or Kanopy (external link) !
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