Mesa filmmaker a Paul Revere of superbugs

Feb. 26—A frightening documentary shows a president begging the world to take notice and provide funding for safeguards before millions die from a global health crisis.

Though it may make viewers want to wash their hands raw, this isn't about COVID-19.

Meet Bill Mudge, who might be called "the Paul Revere of superbugs."

President Barack Obama raised alarms about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as "superbugs," during his 2014 State of the Union address. Years later, the problem is still lurking, according to Mudge's creepy "Beating Superbugs: Can We Win?"

The Mesa filmmaker's feature-length documentary was scheduled to start streaming last week on Amazon Prime until "an editorial emergency," as Mudge put it, delayed the release. A fact checker pointed out something in Mudge's animal feed antibiotics section that sent him scrambling to edit.

From his Las Sendas home where Mudge did much of the research and computer animation, the filmmaker said he is confident "Superbugs" will be streaming by the end of February.

The movie trots around the globe, showing a tourist who nearly died from a superbug in India, discussing antibiotic-pumped animals in China and interviewing experts from several nations.

Mudge became interested in the subject, after he met former Phoenix Suns basketball star Grant Hill, who chillingly recalls recovering from a MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection.

Hill talks about a fever that spiked to near 105 degrees, shaking so hard he thought he would die and, since recovering, begging his children to wash their hands frequently and vigorously.

The project started 10 years ago, when Mudge decided to ditch a financial career and embrace his creative side by enrolling at San Francisco Film School. He had moved to Mesa after a post-9/11 lay off, then returned here when he finished film school.

Mudge said he expects ASU's new Sidney Poitier New American Film School to boost a surprisingly vibrant film culture around Mesa.

"Some of my friends in San Francisco will say under their breath, 'I can't believe anything worthwhile is happening in the middle of the desert.' ... But I've been to local film groups and I've been really impressed with some of the quality there is here," Mudge said.

After making short documentaries on sailing and paratroopers, Mudge, now 60, is launching his first feature-length film.

The production team includes Jean Mudge, his mother, who lives in Berkeley.

Working like nearly all documentary filmmakers on a shoestring budget, Mudge figured he would save money by learning how to do the animation by himself.

"I was able to learn this right here in Mesa," Mudge said.

He said he worked off a desktop in his home and "95% or more of the creative work was done here."

One can say his "Superbugs" project has been festering for years.

"It started in film school. My thesis project was a documentary about MRSA," Mudge said.

He finally found time to focus on a bigger project of the variety of antibiotic-resistant virus strains just as the coronavirus hit.

"We finished filming interviews a year ago. We were just starting to talk about COVID at the time — nobody knew how bad it would get," he said.

The pandemic makes his project all the more timely, Mudge stressed.

"Superbugs follow up and often kill people after they're initially infected with COVID," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backs up his fear: "Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. Each year in the U.S., at least 2.8 million people get an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die," according to the CDC website.

After talking to patients, doctors, researchers and experts in economics, government and pharmaceuticals, Mudge insists that, though it won't be cheap, "We're utterly convinced this is a solvable problem.

"Therein lies the challenge. It doesn't matter if we have our act together here and in Europe if they don't do anything in India and China — or the reverse, if the Indians and Chinese have their acts together and we don't do anything. We now know it's just one flight away," Mudge said.

"COVID has shown us these things are moving around and will be on the other side of the planet in a day or two."

Information: beatingsuperbugs.com.