Millsap ‘05 directs documentary Offering Hope Amid Opioid Crisis

Serving others continues to drive Chase Millsap ’05. Following his career in the Marine Corps and a Green Beret, Millsap produced a 2016 documentary spotlighting the efforts to help an Iraqi officer to America. The officer saved his life and the film, “The Captain’s Story,” shows the struggle the officer faces to get his family to safety. Millsaps’ latest project is “Small Town Strong,” a documentary highlighting a team of athletes struggling with opioid abuse in Portsmouth, OH, as they combat addiction with fitness.

Filmed over four years with his brother Spencer, Small Town Strong focuses on a town that has been known as the pill mill capital of America. Since 2007, the same year Millsap deployed on a second tour to Iraq, fatal drug overdoses have been the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, with nearly 80% of cases resulting from fentanyl in recent years. Millsap documents how, Portsmouth, a small town in the heart of Appalachia, has discovered a way to break the cycle of addiction, isolation and despair through fitness and community. “For me, this project was more than a calling, it was a mission,” Millsap said. “There’s an addiction battle raging in our communities, our neighborhoods and even our families. In a time when synthetic opioids, especially fentanyl, are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, Small Town Strong offers a message far different from other narratives about the crisis. Like all great comeback stories, our film captures HOPE.”

Small Town Strong was released on 3 October 2023 on Amazon and Apple TV. It was the top documentary on Apple TV when it debuted. For more information on the film, visit www.smalltownstrongdoc.com