Q&A With “Overload” Director Soozie Eastman

June 30, 2021

The Jackson Hole Environmental Health Trust Film Series

About “Overload”

Before starting a family, Soozie Eastman, daughter of an industrial chemical distributor, embarks on a journey to find out the levels of toxins in her body and explores if there is anything she or anyone else can do to change them. Soozie has just learned that hundreds of synthetic toxins are now found in every baby born in America and the government and chemical corporations are doing little to protect citizens and consumers.

 With guidance from world-renowned physicians and environmental leaders, interviews with scientists and politicians, and stories of everyday Americans, Soozie uncovers how we got to be so overloaded with chemicals and explores whether there is anything we can do to take control of our exposure.

 Just as she feared, extensive blood testing reveals alarming levels of chemicals such as organophosphates and PBDEs in her body, so she undertakes a rigorous detox regimen of dietary changes, exercise and informed product choices designed to manage and minimize her toxic body burden.

 She’s determined to find out: Can we hit the reset button, or is it too late? 

About Director Soozie Eastman

Soozie Eastman is a documentary filmmaker and short film producer. During her time at Chapman University completing her MFA in producing for television and film, she returned to her hometown of Louisville to produce and direct “By The Wayside,” a feature length documentary about the city’s homeless. The film played very well both in Kentucky and on the festival circuit, winning several awards, but it was the discovery of her profound love for educating and inspiring people through motion pictures that was taken away most from that experience.

Soozie has worked under Michael Ovitz (founder CAA, former president ABC/Disney) and Janet Yang (Producer “The Joy Luck Club” and “People vs Larry Flynt”). She was post-production accountant and festival liaison for “Dark Matter” which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. She has taught university-level courses in pre-production and was director of programs of the prestigious HUMANITAS Prize honoring writers in television and film. She is currently the executive director of the Louisville Film Society, serves on the Louisville Film Commission and produces the annual Flyover Film Festival. Soozie continues her love of creating “mindful media” with her latest film endeavor, her first feature, “Overload: America’s Toxic Love Story.”