ROANOKE, Va. – Glen Muse started Texas Pictures Documentaries 17 years ago.
What started as business videos, bloomed into stories of hope and awareness.
“We shot stories about fentanyl poisoning, stories that increase the awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and we shot recovery stories,” said Texas Pictures Creative Director Glen Muse.
These videos grew their YouTube page, increasing their following to over 147,000 followers.
“There’s a cool evolution that’s going on, as the stories have drawn more and more attention to the topic...more and more people who have lost someone to fentanyl are reaching out to us,” Muse said.
On Monday, Muse was in Roanoke to interview people locally who have lost a loved one to fentanyl.
Keondra Turner lost her brother Keith back in December of 2020. She has had run-ins with addiction issues and is now trying to use her and her brothers’ story for good.
“I feel as though my story is not just my story. My story is to help someone else. I can see where God has taken my pain and turned it into purpose,” Turner said. “What you’re looking for, you’re not going to get it from that bottle...neither bother...the liquor bottle or the pill bottle.”
The mini YouTube series has featured more than 100 stories from people who have been affected by fentanyl.
“A lot of our storytellers say that it can happen to anybody. It’s so easy to say that but it’s so on-target accurate, that it can happen to anyone,” Muse said.
The work of Texas Pictures and the voices of individuals like Keondra Turner continue to bring much-needed attention to the devastating effects of the fentanyl epidemic.