“…inherently shattering and enraging.”

An intimate look inside the billion-dollar addiction treatment industry where young people are bought and sold for their insurance policies and ushered into a system designed to keep them sick.

Director’s Statement

The participants in Shuffle trusted us in their most vulnerable moments with their most intimate truths. The film belongs to them. It is their story. I was the listener, the facilitator, the amplifier. My background as a person in recovery deeply informed my approach. I recognized the coded language of survival and the defensive humor in our subjects’ voices. My goal was to craft a narrative that refused to flatten them into victims or heroes, and instead allowed their contradictions to remain intact. Directing SHUFFLE was an act of witness, accountability, and ultimately love.

#stoptheshuffle

SHUFFLE has partnered with Twin Seas Media to launch an impact campaign aimed at sparking a nationwide dialogue on recovery—building awareness, fostering empathy, and driving change in the addiction treatment field.

What is the Shuffle?

The Shuffle is a process by which clients are cycled through a rinse-and-repeat style of addiction ‘treatment’ for maximum profit. It’s insurance fraud and can generate up to one million dollars a year per person in insurance reimbursements. From the outside, it may look no different than legitimate treatment.

Upcoming Screenings

  • Saturday August 23rd 10am

    First Church Birmingham
    Birmingham, AL

  • September 27th
    El Paso Tx
    Screening/Date time TBD


  • October 10th 12:50pm
    Federated Church
    Chagrin Falls, OH

    October 11th 1pm
    CFIS Theater
    Chagrin Falls, OH

  • Friday October 10th 2pm

    The Screening Room
    1313 N Market St
    Wilmington DE

  • SXSW Film & TV Festival

    UCLA Doc Legal Clinic LA

    Berkshires International Film Festival

    Lighthouse International Film Festival

    DC DOX Film Festival

    Flyover Film Festival/Louisville Film Society

    River’s Edge International Film Festival

    Rhode Island International Film Festival

    Vashon Film Festival


Finding Help

  • ALWAYS START LOCAL

    If you have a regular doctor, ask for a local referral to a trusted provider in the substance use disorder treatment field.

    If you have insurance, call the number on the back of your insurance card and ask them to email you a list of in-network treatment provider referrals in your area.

    If you don’t have insurance, your nearest hospital can likely provide you with local resources.

    If you are using the Internet to search, DON’T! Use a trusted resource who has worked in addiction treatment for at least 10 years and has a good reputation.

    Social media is also not a reliable place to seek treatment referrals. DO NOT USE it for this purpose.

    Avoid 1-800 numbers and third-party referral services at all costs.

    The best way to ensure you or your loved one receives treatment suited to your specific needs is to talk with a facility directly, ideally, one you can go see with your own eyes.

    Under no circumstances should anyone be offering incentives to come to a particular facility, including covering your insurance deductible or transportation expenses.

    • If you’re on the phone, who are you speaking to, and what is their relationship to or role at the facility?

    • Who owns the treatment facility or sober home?

    • How long has the particular facility been open?

    • If it’s a treatment facility, who is the medical director? Look them up.

    • Who runs the groups, and what are their qualifications?

    • How many clients are in the given program?

    • If it’s a sober home, is the owner in recovery? Who is the manager?

    • How is drug testing handled in the sober home?

    • Do they use disposable cups or cups provided by a lab?