The third person that Wulf interviewed for our Recovery Voices project was Marcus Fair from North Wales, Founder of the amazing Eternal Media project. Here is what Wulf had to say on Marcus’s People page.
‘I first met Marcus, Founder of Eternal Media, on a mountain, to which he always refers to me as ‘nearly killing him’. Over the subsequent decade plus, we have become great friends. It has been a joy to watch and occasionally support, the story that unfolds within Marcus’s emotional interview.
Marcus shares with us his decades of drug use, along with a spiral into chaos and mayhem, and his survival and eventual successful recovery. We then hear how influential individuals and moments alongside an introduction to broadcasting, and in particular film production, provided Marcus with a fresh sense of purpose.
What strikes me throughout is the strong sense of social justice (and injustice) that shapes Marcus’s experience as he explores the translation of his personal filmmaking into establishing one of the most fantastic of community projects. Marcus has become a key leader within and supporter of much of which stands out about the Welsh recovery movement.
In our interview in July 2023, Marcus talks about his 25-year addiction to heroin and crack cocaine, which was accompanied by long periods of homelessness and time spent in prison. He describes his last visit to prison as saving his life. There, he conceived the idea of Eternal Media, a media production social enterprise and charity making high impact documentary films, as well as operating as an inspiring recovery community.’
I edited 14 films, totalling just over 81 minutes, from Marcus’s interview with Wulf, details of which can be found on the former’s People page. In edition, 22 short Theme clips were edited for Marcus’s YouTube Theme Playlist. It’s always difficult choosing three favourite Theme clips for our interviewees—I’m spoilt for choice—and Marcus’s case is no different. Here’s my choice:
Living WIth a Class A Drug Addiction
Marcus travelled around the country buying heroin to feed his addiction. He used to wear out towns, rather quickly, because of the amount of crime in which he was involved. [1′ 52″]
Time of My Life in Prison
Marcus knew what he was doing was saving his life. He said to himself if this could happen to him, it could do a lot for other people. He started to spend a good deal of time planning what he could do to help others. [2′ 11″]
Now What?
When someone like him gets into recovery, they are thinking, ‘How I am going to fill those 24 hours? If you can’t remember what you used to do, or you were a kid when you got onto drugs, and you have no outside interests… now what?’ [1′ 25″]
And if you wondering how Marcus got from prison to developing Eternal Media, check out this post and film from our Stories section.