2008 Sentinel Awards Ceremony and Panel

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1 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

The Sentinel for Health Awards The Norman Lear Center

The Sentinel for Health Awards recognize exemplary The Norman Lear Center achievements of television storylines that inform, educate is a nonpartisan research and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and and public policy center safer lives. For many loyal viewers, television dramas and that studies the social, comedies provide both entertainment and information political, economic and about disease, injury and disability. A compelling storyline cultural impact of that demonstrates risky behavior and consequences, or entertainment on the world. The Lear Center translates shows how to avoid risk, can benefit millions of viewers its findings into action through testimony, journalism, and their loved ones. strategic research and innovative public outreach campaigns. On campus, from its base in the USC Each entry is screened by Hollywood, Health & Society Annenberg School for Communication, the Lear Center staff for eligibility. Qualifying entries are evaluated in two builds bridges between schools and disciplines whose rounds of judging. In the first round of judging, each sto- faculty study aspects of entertainment, media and ryline is reviewed for accuracy by a panel of topic experts culture. Beyond campus, it bridges the gap between who take the following into consideration: the entertainment industry and academia, and between them and the public. Through scholarship and research; * How the health problem can be prevented through its conferences, public events and publications; * How a character’s choices affect his/her health or safety and in its attempts to illuminate and repair the world, the * What causes the health problem and how it impacts the Lear Center works to be at the forefront of discussion and lives and relationships of characters practice in the field. For more information, please visit * Common myths about the health issue www.learcenter.org. * Which characters are at greatest risk for the health problem * Professional standards and practices observed by health care providers Hollywood, Health & Society

Finalists from the first round of judging are reviewed by Hollywood, Health & a panel of invited experts from public health, academic, Society (HH&S) is a advocacy and entertainment organizations. The entries program at the USC are evaluated on the following criteria: Annenberg Norman Lear Center that provides * Potential benefit to the viewing audience entertainment industry * Entertainment value professionals with accurate and timely information for health storylines. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The California Endowment, and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Division of Transplantation and Poison Control Program, the program recognizes the profound impact that entertainment media have on individual knowledge and behavior. For more information, please visit www.usc.edu/hhs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recognized as the leading federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions and promoting health through strong partnerships. For more information, please visit www.cdc.gov. 2 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Speakers 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards Winners

Martin Kaplan, Norman Lear Chair in Daytime Drama Entertainment, Media and Society, FINALIST: As the World Turns (CBS): USC Annenberg School for Communication “Barbara’s Cancer Story” (Oral cancer) Director, Norman Lear Center

, Director Sandra de Castro Buffington Primetime Comedy Hollywood, Health & Society USC Norman Lear Center 1st PLACE: Desperate Housewives (ABC): “Lynette’s Cancer” (Cancer) Neal Baer, Executive Producer, Law & Order: SVU 2nd PLACE: Desperate Housewives (ABC): “Something Coming” (Drug addiction)

David Poindexter, Founder and Former President of Population Communications International (PCI) Primetime Drama 1st PLACE: Breaking Bad (AMC): “Walt’s Lung Cancer” (Lung cancer) 2nd PLACE: ER (NBC): Panel Discussion Participants “Abby’s Alcohol Relapse” (Alcohol abuse) FINALIST: Law & Order (NBC): Colleen Zenk-Pinter, Actress, As the World “Betrayal” (Sexual abuse) Turns (CBS) FINALIST: Without A Trace (CBS): “A Bend in the Road” (Organ transplantation) Jordon Nardino, Story Editor, Desperate Housewives (ABC) FINALIST: House (Fox): “The Right Stuff” (Cancer) Vince Gilligan, Executive Producer, Breaking Bad (AMC) Primetime Minor Storyline Karen Maser, Co-Producer, ER (ABC) 1st PLACE: Private Practice (ABC): Diego Gutierrez, Writer, Without a Trace (CBS) “In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead” (Teen sexual health) 2nd PLACE: Private Practice (ABC): Matt Lewis, Staff Writer; Liz Friedman, Supervising Producer, House (Fox) “In Which Cooper Finds a Port in His Storm” (Newborn abandonment) , Director of Medical Elizabeth Klaviter 3rd PLACE: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): Research, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice “Piece of My Heart” (HIV & pregnancy) (ABC)

, Producer, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) Stacy McKee Spanish-Language Telenoevla 1st PLACE: Pecados Ajenos (Telemundo): Zoanne Clack, Producer, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) “Construction Safety Storyline” (Occupational health) Michelle Alban, Director of Community Connections, Telemundo; Pecados Ajenos (Telemundo) Children’s Programming 1st PLACE: Lincoln Heights (ABC Family): Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Executive “The Vision” (Gang violence) Producer; Anthony Sparks, Executive Story Editor & Writer, Lincoln Heights (ABC Family)

3 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Speaker Biographies

Martin Kaplan Sandra de Castro Buffington The Director of the Lear Center, Sandra de Castro Martin Kaplan, Buffington, MPH is holds the the Director of Norman Lear Hollywood, Health Chair in & Society, a Entertainment, program of the Media and Society. USC Annenberg He is a research Norman Lear professor and former associate dean Center. Sandra is known for her at the USC Annenberg School for award-winning work in global health and Communication. A summa cum laude social transformation. She spent 20 years graduate of Harvard, a Marshall Scholar working internationally, and five of those to Cambridge University and a Stan- years were spent in residence overseas. ford PhD, he was Vice President Walter Formerly Associate Faculty of The Johns Mondale’s chief speechwriter and deputy Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Presidential campaign manager; a Disney Health and a past Board member of the Studios vice president of motion picture Pan American Health and Education production; and a film and Foundation, she was Vice President of television writer and producer. CEDPA and Senior Communication Advisor with the USAID Office of Population. 4 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Neal Baer David Poindexter Neal Baer, MD David Poindexter is Executive is the founder and Producer of the former president NBC television of Population series Law & Communications Order: Special International (PCI). Victims Unit. He has a long Dr. Baer history of developing graduated from effective entertain- Harvard Medical School and completed ment raising discussion in a way that his internship in Pediatrics at Children’s encourages viewers to think differently Hospital, Los Angeles. Dr. Baer’s about subjects on which they may have primary medical interests are in held long-standing, but unexamined adolescent health. He has written beliefs. He mobilized the producers and extensively for teens on health issues creators of numerous primetime U.S. for Scholastic Magazine, covering such television shows and he has shared this topics as teen pregnancy, AIDS, drug successful model with broadcasters in and alcohol abuse, and nutrition. developing countries across the globe. Recently, Dr. Baer co-established At the time of David’s retirement, senior the Institute for Photographic management from PCI put all efforts into Empowerment at USC’s Annenberg helping Bill Ryerson launch the Population School for Communication, which links Media Center. David currently serves as its photographic story-telling projects Honorary Chair. around the world and makes that work available to NGOs and policymakers. 5 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel For Health Awards

The 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards Ceremony

Neal Baer: Good evening. Thank you for coming to the Ninth An- nual Sentinel for Health Awards ceremony and panel discussion. My name is Neal Baer, I am the co-chair of Hollywood, Health & Soci- ety (HH&S), and I know all of you writers here tonight know about HH&S because you use their services wisely and well.

It’s really important, as we all know, to get accurate health information to our viewing audience, and tonight we’re honoring all of you nominees for the great work that you’ve done, and I want to thank you.

Patrick Verrone is the co-chair of HH&S, and he can’t be here tonight because he’s, of course, out picketing. I think he really is lying in the street working with hotel workers at the Hilton Hotel, so he cannot be here.

I want to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Director of the USC Norman Lear Center. His namesake is right over there [points to Norman Lear], and we have him to thank for all of this. And that’s where Hollywood, Health & Society is located. So please join me in welcoming Marty Kaplan.

Marty Kaplan: Thank you, and thank you, Neal, not only for introduc- ing me but for the work you do for our program.

I want to do some quick recognitions of people here, and with one exception, I’m going to do them by groups, and I’m going to ask you, each group, to raise your hands so that you can see who is here this evening. NEAL BAER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, LAW & ORDER SVU We have people here who are our angels, our funders, from the Cen- ters for Disease Control, from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, from The California Endowment, and from the Division of Transplan- tation at Health and Human Services. Hold your applause, but raise your hands for those of you who are those people. Well, all right. You can’t resist. It’s okay, but then don’t wear it out because there’s more.

We also have judges for the Sentinel for Health Awards who take very seriously their work and spend hours screening and hours in discussion, and I’m told reliably that during the final judging this year, there was open weeping. Would the Sentinel judges please raise their hands? 6 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel For Health Awards

We also have subject matter experts. Hollywood, Health & Society is a con- duit. We connect writers to experts, and here tonight, we have some of our national and international network of subject matter experts in health. Could you raise your hands?

An event like this only happens when a lot of people work really hard for a long time to get it right, and all those people showing their commitment to you are —instead of taking your seats, they’re standing over there. Please thank the staff of Hollywood, Health & Society and the Norman Lear Center.

And although Neal stole my thunder, there is someone here who I love dearly, someone who has changed my life and has changed all of our lives for the better. I’m thrilled he’s here, and please join me in welcoming Norman Lear.

We’re going to start tonight, as we always begin the Sentinel Awards, by giv- NORMAN LEAR AND ing a special prize. It’s called the Everett Rogers Award, and it’s for a pioneer MARTY KAPLAN in the field that we do now. Believe it or not, this is a field that’s called Enter- tainment-Education, and you are all educating the public by doing what you do in an accurate way.

And in the field of Entertainment-Education, there are some giants and pio- I’m told reliably that neers. A previous winner of the Rogers Award is here, Miguel Sabido, and to during the final judging introduce the award winner of this year, I’m going to introduce to you a member of both the Annenberg School Faculty and the Keck School of Medicine this year, there was open faculty, a former dean of the Annenberg School; please welcome Peter Clarke. weeping. KAPLAN Peter Clarke: Thank you, Marty. We gather at this time of year, and have for the last four years since Ev Rog- ers’ death, to not only celebrate his career and the remarkable work he did to help nurture this field of Entertainment-Education through his scholarship but also to recognize people who have brought to that an uncommon degree of intelligence and hard work and have played a special role. Miguel, whose name resonates so quickly amongst you all, is one recipient. Al Bandura from Stanford University is another. Arvind Singhal, who was actually a student of Ev’s, got his doctoral degree at Annenberg under Ev and then went on to do extraordinary work and continues to do so in studying the impact of Enter- tainment-Education. 7 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

And tonight it’s my great pleasure to introduce to you this year’s recipient. Someone who has played a very special role not as a researcher and not so much really as a program originator, but as someone who made it possible for this whole field to emerge by his uncommon and uncanny ability to bring people of power and influence together — heads of state, heads of networks, heads of production companies, heads of NGOs, people in a position to influence and to even fund the rise of Entertainment-Education and to make the work that we celebrate together possible.

He was the founder and first president of Population Communica- tion International. He’s tirelessly worked all over the world. He, more than any single individual, is responsible for the fact that this kind of work is going on in more than 40 countries today, 40 countries, in which series on radio and in television and in other media are combin-

DAVID POINDEXTER AND ing storytelling of a very high order with helping people realize their PETER CLARKE own health possibilities and to surmount prejudices and to get on with more modern and empowering styles of life than the futile societies in which their parents grew up. In many cases, they are still imprisoned.

So it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you and as the fourth recipient of the Everett M. Rogers Award, David Poindexter.

David Poindexter: Thank you, Peter. I’d like to simply say that I salute all of you because you are the people that make things happen. I first encountered Norman Lear after the whole of America had encountered him 36 years ago, and I learned a great deal. And at the table where I sit, there are two outstanding geniuses in television production, Entertainment-Education. One is Norman Lear, and the other is Miguel Sabido, whom you already met. I simply want to salute you and thank the Lear Center and the Annen- berg School for this award and to urge you to keep doing everything you’re doing and keep on doing it even better. Thank you.

Marty Kaplan: Thank you, David, so much. 8 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

We’re going to have a tag team tonight, and the other member of the tag team I would like to introduce to you now. Hollywood, Health & Society is very fortunate in its new program director, who is the person who is on the front lines of working with all of you, with our health experts, with our funders, and with our staff. Though brand new, it’s hard to believe that we have not been together for a very long time. Please join me in welcoming Sandra de Castro Buffington.

Sandra de Castro Buffington: Thank you. Now, let’s turn to the rest of tonight’s program, the other reason we’re here, to honor TV writers who make SANDRA DE CASTRO BUFFINGTON a difference in television programming in the United States and capture and hold the attention of viewers around the world.

These writers are showing us what is possible in television, how to educate and inspire viewers, and make progress towards reducing stigma and disease. These writers are show- We honor your powerful storytelling and your greatness for giving viewers the truth about health. ing us what is possible in television, how to Research has shown again and again that TV shows can have a powerful educate and inspire influence on viewers to educate them about health and to foster healthier viewers, and make behaviors. And so it is with great pride that I introduce the 2008 Sentinel for progress towards Health Awards finalists. Immediately following the awards ceremony, you will reducing stigma and hear from the writers and producers who are receiving awards. They will take a seat on the panel to talk about their portrayals of some very complex health disease... and ethical issues.

Research has shown A total of 31 storylines were reviewed by topic experts before the final 13 again and again that were selected as finalists in six categories – Daytime Drama, Telenovela, TV shows can have a Children’s Programming, Primetime Comedy, Primetime Minor Storyline, and powerful influence on Primetime Drama. viewers to educate them We’ll begin with Daytime Drama. There is one finalist from As the World about health and to fos- Turns, “Barbara’s Cancer Story.” After receiving the unexpected news that she ter healthier behaviors. has oral cancer, Barbara Ryan struggles with what to do next. Her doctor goes over her treatment options and urges her to tell her family so she does not have to go through such a difficult time alone. However, not wanting to bur- BUFFINGTON den her family, Barbara is reluctant to tell them she’s ill. 9 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

This storyline brings awareness to oral cancer, which is diagnosed in 23,000 new cases each year. Let’s see the clip.

[Clip plays.]

I am pleased to honor As the World Turns in our daytime category. On the air for 53 years and with a reach of over 2.7 million viewers each day, we would like to honor them for their submission on oral cancer. Here to accept the award is Colleen Zenk-Pinter, who plays the role of Barbara Ryan on the show. Will you please come up to accept the award?

Colleen Zenk-Pinter: It’s an honor to stand before you as probably one of the only actors in the room because we rely on your words for what we do.

I stand before you as someone who was diagnosed with oral cancer 18 months ago. That’s my story that I’m playing on the air. As an actor, I brought this to my executive producer and said, “What do you think?” COLLEEN ZENK-PINTER, ACTRESS, And he said, “I think we can really educate a lot of people out there AS THE WORLD TURNS about this very devastating form of cancer.” And so that’s what we’ve been doing. In January of this year, my character was diagnosed with I stand before you as oral cancer. Her treatment was different than my own because we someone who was couldn’t really show what I went through in a dramatic fashion. She’s a character living with cancer, as I am an actor living with cancer, and diagnosed with oral I am thrilled that Hollywood, Health & Society exists because all I’m cancer 18 months ago. trying to do now is get the word out, just like all of you are in the sto- That’s my story that I’m ries that you are writing every day. Thank you very much. playing on the air. Sandra de Castro Buffington: Next is the Telenovela category. We have ZENK-PINTER one finalist. This construction safety storyline is from the telenovela Pecados Ajenos. Ramone’s pregnant girlfriend, Tere, starts working in a construction site, the same site he does, because it’s her only option as an undocumented person. Since she does not speak English, she does not understand the safety briefing but continues to work anyway. Even after Ramone tells her she must follow the safety procedures, she ignores his advice in order to save time and climbs up on an unsecured ladder. Unfortunately, she falls off the ladder and loses her baby. After Tere’s fall, the foreman informs the construction workers that Tere is entitled to a safe work environment whether or not she is a legal resident of the United States. Let’s watch the clip. 10 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

[Clip plays.]

That was an excellent clip. According to our Porter Novelli data, 42% of telenovela viewers rate Spanish language TV as a top source of learning about As part of Telemundo’s health, just behind TV news. At this time, it gives me great pleasure to recog- mission to inform, nize the storyline, “Construction Safety,” from Pecados Ajenos as the winner of educate, and entertain first place in the telenovela category. Accepting the award tonight is Michelle U.S. Hispanics, we’re Alban, the director of Community Connections at Telemundo. very proud to take this Michelle Alban: I want to thank you. As Colleen warned you, I’m not an award. actress, so I have my lines written here. As part of Telemundo’s mission to ALBAN inform, educate, and entertain U.S. Hispanics, we’re very proud to take this award. We want to thank Eric Vonn, the writer. He was amazing. He was fantastic and very receptive in writing the storyline. And we’d also like to thank the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights for their patience with us and our writers and their invaluable advice and support, and, as always, our partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society. We really couldn’t do it without them. So thank you very much.

Sandra de Castro Buffington: Next is our new category, Children’s Program- ming, and I am thrilled to present ABC Family’s Lincoln Heights. Lincoln Heights is in its second season with 1.7 million viewers, and this entry is entitled “The Vision.”

Violence has reached a critical mass in Lincoln Heights, and it has begun to MICHELLE ALBAN, TELEMUNDO affect the people closest to Cassie Sutton. Cassie is determined to do something, and she decides her art might be the key to stemming the rise of violence. Against her father’s wishes, Cassie begins painting a mural over a wall normally reserved for gang graffiti. The gangs threaten Cassie, but the local mothers’ group takes a stand against them, helping Cassie work on the Peace Wall. Inspired by Cassie’s courage, Cassie’s sister, Lizzie, decides to turn the vacant lot adjacent to the wall into a peace park. At the park’s dedication ceremony, Cassie’s mural is unveiled, offering hope to the community. Let’s watch. 11 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

[Clip plays.]

Now, I’m pleased to present the first-place award to Lincoln Heights for “The Vision.” Will Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, executive producer, and Anthony Sparks, executive story editor and writer, please come up to accept the award?

Anthony Sparks: Hi. On behalf of Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, my executive producer, and our network, ABC Family, the writers on our show, our great staff, and our crew, I’d like to say thank you so much for this honor from Hollywood, Health & Society, the Lear Center, WGA, and everybody who acknowledged our show and what we’re trying to do. It’s really nice and heartwarming for us to see that there are people who are paying attention. It was a bit of an ambitious story, but we’re firmly committed to notions of community, art, and how they can make a difference, and so we thank you.

Kathleen McGhee-Anderson: And I would just like to add that even though our show is not a medical drama per se, we always think of our show as a show that deals with healing people and healing the

KATHLEEN MCGHEE-ANDERSON community of Lincoln Heights. And so thank you so much for ac- AND ANTHONY STARKS, knowledging the effort that we make in this episode, “The Vision.” LINCOLN HEIGHTS

Marty Kaplan: You may be wondering who is playing Vanna White for us. This is Demetrius Parker, our program officer at the Centers It was a bit of an for Disease Control. We’re now in our eighth year of funding from ambitious story, but the CDC, so you paid for those trophies. we’re firmly committed I’m now pleased to present the Primetime Comedy category. This to notions of community, year, we have two finalists from the television show, Desperate House- art, and how they can wives. Desperate Housewives is watched by 18.2 million viewers, and make a difference, and so the entries for this year are, first, “Lynette’s Cancer.” Lynette is we thank you. keeping her cancer a secret and trying to live her life as usual. But when another mother hounds her about not doing her share for a SPARKS school gala, she has no choice but to take off her wig and declare, “I have cancer.” While Lynette battles cancer, her friends try to make the treatment process as fun for her as possible, so Gabby holds a chemo party. Months continue to go by, and Lynette is keeping up with her chemo sessions. Tired of always delivering bad news, Lynette’s doctor arrives at her house to deliver the good news – she’s cancer-free. This storyline shows the ups and down in the life of bat- tling cancer. 12 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

[Clip plays.]

The second finalist in this category is “Something Coming,” also from Desper- ate Housewives. Since hurting himself in a car accident, Mike has been taking prescription painkillers and is now addicted. During an argument about his addiction, Mike’s pregnant wife, Susan, falls down the stairs and must go to the Emergency Room. Mike apologizes, and Susan tells him that she talked to the doctor about a rehab facility. Mike swears he can kick the addiction himself, but she firmly tells him, no, he’ll go to rehab now or she’ll leave him. Fearing the possibility of losing her and his baby, Mike gives in to her wishes. Have a look.

When we wrote both [Clip plays.] these storylines, the first place we went was And so in our Primetime Comedy category, we’re pleased to present second- Hollywood, Health & place award for Desperate Housewives, “Something Coming” episode and the Society, and it’s just so first place award also to Desperate Housewives for “Lynette’s Cancer.” Here to nice to see that we did accept both awards, Jordan Nardino, story editor. a good job. So thanks a Jordan Nardino: Wow. What you can’t tell from the second clip, the Mike’s lot. pills episode, is that there was a tornado going on outside. So I feel like not NARDINO only did we confront the challenge of prescription pain medication addiction but natural disasters during a prescription pain medication addiction.

When we wrote both these storylines, the first place we went was Hollywood, Health & Society, and it’s just so nice to see that we did a good job. So thanks a lot.

Marty Kaplan: Now, we’re turning to Primetime Drama Minor Storyline. The first finalist in that category is Private Practice on ABC. The storyline is titled JORDAN NARDINO “In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead.” Now, this is a little complex, and I’m only going to tell you a little bit of set-up. Then you’ll just have to follow along with the clip.

[Clip plays.]

Addison learns that her friend, Naomi’s, daughter, Maya is sexually active and may have STD. Caught between the binds of patient provider confidential- ity and informing her friend, Addison soon learns that Maya does not have an STD and it is, in fact, Maya’s friend who is sexually active and has gonorrhea. Let’s see the clip.

[Clip plays.] 13 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

The second storyline also comes from Private Practice. It’s entitled “In Which Cooper Finds a Port in His Storm.” And in this episode, Ad- dison and Pete participate in a safe surrender program in which they accept unwanted babies without asking questions. Let’s see the clip.

[Clip plays.]

The third finalist in this category is from Grey’s Anatomy. After learning she is pregnant, a woman wants to schedule an abortion because she’s HIV-positive and thinks she can’t have a baby without infecting it. Let’s see this clip from the episode “Piece of My Heart.”

[Clip plays.]

I think you can see why there was weeping in the judging.

At this time, I’d like to recognize the third-place winner, “Piece of My Heart” from Grey’s Anatomy. Stacy McKee, producer at Grey’s Anatomy, is here to accept the award. STACY MCKEE, GREY’S ANATOMY

Stacy McKee: Thank you. This is really tremendous. Probably you don’t know this, but Grey’s Anatomy partnered with Kaiser Family Foundation for this episode. We were partnering with them to conduct a survey, actually, to find out how much information public viewers ascertain from television that they watch. And in order to do this, we embedded a piece of medical information in the episode, which is what you just saw, and then they tracked how well this piece of information was retained over a number of weeks before the episode, right after it aired, and then after it aired a while longer. We just got all the results of the survey and I just wanted to read you one of the questions that was asked and then the percentage of people that retained the information.

This is what was asked. “As far as you know, if a woman who is HIV- positive becomes pregnant and receives proper treatment, what is the chance that she will give birth to a healthy baby; in other words, a baby that’s not infected with HIV?” 14 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

I’m a terrible public The percent of viewers who said that there’s a 90% chance that she’ll have a healthy baby, before the episode aired, was 15%. That’s 1 in 5. One week after speaker. That’s why the episode aired, 61%. Six weeks after it aired, 45%, which is pretty remark- I’m a writer. able. SCHMIDT I’m really proud to have been a part of this episode. I want to thank everyone who was involved in making it. Hollywood, Health & Society was a tremendous help, as was the Kaiser Family Foundation. Thank you so much.

Marty Kaplan: The second-place award goes to Private Practice, “In Which Cooper Finds a Port in His Storm.” Lauren Schmidt will accept the award.

Lauren Schmidt: Hi, everyone. I’m a terrible public speaker. That’s why I’m a writer. This is just such an honor. I still remember the day that Shonda Rhimes, our creator, came into our writers’ room and said, “I just heard the most amazing piece on NPR, and it was about a safe haven program,” which we based our safe surrender program on. And it was so emotional. It was about ELIZABETH KLAVITER, a 15-minute piece. It was so emotional, and it really inspired all of us, and I DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL RESEARCH, GREY’S ANATOMY know we turn to HH&S for a lot of our background research. So it’s an amaz- AND PRIVATE PRACTICE ing episode, and I just want to thank Hollywood, Health & Society for this award. I think that the last three nominees say Marty Kaplan: And the first-place award for Primetime Minor Storyline goes to Private Practice again, for “In Which Addison Finds a Showerhead.” Accept- a great deal about ing the award is the director of medical research, Elizabeth Klaviter. our creator, Shonda Rhimes, who believes Elizabeth Klaviter: On behalf of Marti Noxon and Shonda Rhimes, who co- in educating women wrote/co-authored this episode, I’d like to thank Hollywood, Health & Soci- about what their ety for this great honor. I think that the last three nominees say a great deal choices are, especially about our creator, Shonda Rhimes, who believes in educating women about what their choices are, especially where their reproductive health is con- where their repro- cerned. ductive health is concerned. To some degree, this particular award is about what happens when you don’t KLAVITER educate young women and it shows how simple it is to tell them, just talk to them, give them their options, talk to them about sex, talk to them about birth control, and talk to them about the risks and the rewards of sex. This was embedded in this episode. Shonda really believes strongly in that. 15 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

That’s kind of her bailiwick, and I’m so grateful for this award. It’s really nice to have an award that you can point to in your office full of writers who are working really hard to create drama and say somebody cares if we’re medically accurate. It is important because people learn. So I really appreciate this honor. Thank you.

Sandra de Castro Buffington: Our final category this evening is Prime- time Drama. We have five excellent finalists. We’ll start out with House. This Fox show reaches 16.7 million viewers. The storyline is called “The Right Stuff.”

During the surgery of a very secretive patient, Greta, whose diagnosis remains a mystery to House and his staff, the team finds cysts on her lungs. I’m going to let you see how this plays out, and I’m not going to tell you what the diagnosis is. So let’s watch the clip.

[Clip plays.]

Our second finalist in the category is from AMC’s Breaking Bad. Break- ing Bad is currently in production for its second season. This storyline It’s really nice to have is entitled “Walt’s Lung Cancer.” an award that you can Walter White, a 50-year-old high school chemistry teacher, finds out point to in your office that he has inoperable Stage 3-A lung cancer. Although unwilling to full of writers who are expose his family to the very real financial consequences of cancer working really hard treatment, Walt ultimately agrees to costly rounds of chemotherapy to create drama and and radiation. Let’s take a look. say somebody cares if [Clip plays.] we’re medically accurate. It is important Our third finalist is from NBC’s Law & Order. Law & Order reaches 10.7 because people learn. million viewers. This is titled “Betrayal.” During her trial as the prime So I really appreciate suspect in her husband’s murder, Katherine Waxman decides to repre- this honor. sent herself. She gets on the stand and tells the jury that her husband, an adolescent psychiatrist, raped her as a teenager as part of her thera- KLAVITER py. Let’s take a look.

[Clip plays.] 16 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

The fourth storyline is from the CBS show Without a Trace. With 13.3 million viewers, the episode is titled, “A Bend in the Road.”

When cheerleader Diana goes missing, Jack Malone and his team start their investigation by interviewing her parents, who tell us that Diana recently had a heart transplant. Let’s take a look.

[Clip plays.]

The next finalist in the Primetime Drama category is NBC’s ER, with 9.1 million viewers. This entry is called “Abby’s Alcohol Relapse.”

A recovering alcoholic, Abby Lockhart has been doing her best to juggle her It’s an amazing roles as doctor, wife, and mother, but the stresses start to mount, and in a mo- line-up of storylines. ment of weakness, she relapses and starts drinking again. Let’s take a look. We’ve covered so much health content, from [Clip plays.] lung cancer to organ It’s an amazing line-up of storylines. We’ve covered so much health content, transplantation to from lung cancer to organ transplantation to alcohol abuse. I’m very pleased alcohol abuse. to announce three finalists in the Primetime Drama category. Please come up

BUFFINGTON when I announce your storyline.

“Betrayal” from Law & Order.

“A Bend in the Road” from Without a Trace. Diego Gutierrez, writer, will accept the award.

And, finally, “The Right Stuff” from House. Matt Lewis, staff writer, and Liz Friedman, supervising producer, will accept.

LIZ FRIEDMAN AND And to think before this episode of House, no one knew MATT LEWIS, HOUSE Liz Friedman, House: about this disease, whatever it was. Thank you, both of them, all of them.

On behalf of the writers of this episode, Doris Egan and Leonard Dick, we accept this, and thank you to Hollywood, Health & Society for all their help with this storyline and all the ones we do all year long. We couldn’t do it without you, and we thank you for trying to keep us honest. 17 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Diego Gutierrez, Without A Trace: Thank you. On behalf of my co- writer, who couldn’t be here tonight, and everyone at Without a Trace, I want to thank you all for this. It’s an honor, and it’s humbling to be in a room with people that do very important things, and it is very nice and a privilege to know that we were able to portray obviously such an important issue well enough to deserve this honor. At Without a Trace, our best episodes, I think, are always the ones that tackle the hardest issues, and even though we’re not a medical show, we are very thankful to have Hollywood, Health & Society, the Lear Center and everyone here to help us out with that. So thank you very much.

Sandra de Castro Buffington: The writers from Law & Order could not make it here tonight, so I will read their acceptance speech. At Without a Trace, our best episodes, I think, “We’re very, very grateful for this distinction. Our hope with this are always the ones that episode was twofold – to illustrate that there really is no such thing as consent in relationships between adults and minor children. The scars tackle the hardest issues, from such relationships are enduring and long, and in this fact-based and even though we’re case, terribly tragic. We also wanted to illustrate the way in which the not a medical show, successes of psychopharmacology for teens run the risk of obscuring we are very thankful the benefits of more traditional and time-consuming and expensive to have Hollywood, talk-based therapies. While these drugs are life changing for kids who Health & Society, the need them, we hope they will not completely replace talk therapy as an option for young people in duress. Thank you so much for singling Lear Center and every- out our episode in a field of great television.” one here to help us out with that. And now, the second-place award for Primetime Drama goes to the

GUTIERREZ storyline, “Abby’s Alcohol Relapse” from ER. Shannon Goss, story editor, will accept at this time.

Shannon Goss, ER: I was maybe just going to give you my speech and you could read it. I didn’t know that was an option [Laughter]. I’m very happy to accept this award on behalf of our writers, producers, cast and crew, and thank you to Hollywood, Health & Society and the CDC for all of the information and experts that they bring to us. Also, thank you for the vegetable-shaped stress balls, which we all appreciate. Thanks to Maura Tierney, who portrays Abby Lockhart. Lastly, I think for a lot DIEGO GUTIERREZ, of you that work on these shows, the hope is always to entertain as well WITHOUT A TRACE as to educate, and this just validates that we’ve been able to do both here. Thank you. 18 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Sandra de Castro Buffington: And the first-place award for primetime drama for the 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards goes to Breaking Bad for their storyline, “Walt’s Lung Cancer.” Vince Gilligan, executive producer, will you please come up to accept the award?

Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad: Thank you very, very much. This is very excit- ing. I’d like to congratulate all the other folks who were in competition with VINCE GILLIGAN, BREAKING BAD us, and I thought it was fun how Sandra was saying that ER has 20 million viewers and House has 17 million viewers. I just want to say that Breaking Bad numbers its viewers in the tens of hundreds, so we’re catching up to you guys, I hope [Laughter]. But thank you so much to Hollywood, Health & Society. I thought it was fun You guys are invaluable on any kind of a show where medical information is to how Sandra was say- be imparted because we, us writers, know very little about what we’re actually ing that ER has 20 writing about. So thank you very much. million viewers and House has 17 million viewers. I just want to say that Breaking Bad numbers its viewers in the tens of hundreds, so we’re catching up to you guys...

GILLIGAN 19 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Panel Discussion

Marty Kaplan: Now I’d like to ask the shows that won to send their representatives up to take chairs here, and I’m going to explain what’s going to happen. We’re going to have a brief – and I emphasize brief – panel discussion about the craft of actually writing these shows.

I know that Hollywood goes to bed early, and I also know that a lot of people have Tivo’d the vice presidential debate, so I promise to get you home in time to see that debate and get a decent night’s sleep. So would the writers please come up?

Excellent. One of the big themes tonight is the issue of accuracy and the entertainment imperative of all your shows. And I’m going to ask the panel if there was ever a time in the course of working on this episode or other episodes of your shows where you were tempted to take a shortcut, not be accurate, make something up? After all, probably only a few people would know. It might not make a difference, maybe. Did you ever consider not bothering for the sake of an entertainment value?

Jordan Nardino, Desperate Housewives: I said snidely under my breath, “Yes, and we got an award for it.” No, with Lynette’s cancer story line we wanted to do a thing about chemo and how everyone is a downer when she goes to get chemo and it’s depressing her, and unfortunately, I gather from my chemo research that it’s just something you do in one pop and then you have to wait a few weeks. So we fudged it, and we said you had to do it once a day for a few days in a row so it fits the Des- perate Housewives storytelling structure. But otherwise, we stuck to it.

Marty Kaplan: That seems perfectly innocent. Anyone else have a story about the tension or contest, if there is one? Yes?

Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy: On Grey’s Anatomy, I’m the physician writer on the show, so a lot of times, people say, “Well, only 2% of the people are going to know that that’s even wrong.” And then we had a storyline where we had a psychiatrist, and one of our executive producers is very into the art of psychiatry, and she got very mad about how we were going to tell the story, the psychiatry story. And I said, “See? 2% of the people will know that that’s wrong.” And she said, “Oh, I get it.” You know, after five years of me fighting for the 2% of people who will know, we finally reached an impasse now where we know it’s 20 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

very important, and that 2% of people is important. But we also know that we compress things. You know, like he was saying, we compress time to fit into our one-day structure of, say, a six-month process of surgery, whip it into one day, and that’s perfectly reasonable [Laughter].

Marty Kaplan: Anyone else want to take a stab at that one?

Anthony Sparks, Lincoln Heights: Actually, I’ll jump in. On Lincoln Heights, we had this idea that we wanted to do for a show. I don’t know if you guys remember maybe about a year or two ago there was a lot going on in South or East LA about a garden where I think Darrell Hannah was protecting a tree. We had this community-based idea that this is something that falls very natu- rally within the world of our show.

What you didn’t see in the clips is that there was a whole lot of violence that was happening around one of our lead characters going to try and reclaim that space. And so the question was if it is realistic that an artist could do this? But the fact is, as you saw in one of the clips there, is that there are people out there who are trying to make the health of the community better and who have really embraced the arts. It just helped us be much more confident in telling that story, I would say. Do any of you worry about being preachy Marty Kaplan: Do any of you worry about being preachy in getting across the messages in the show? Is that a precipice you have to pull away from, from in getting across time to time? the messages in the show? Michelle Alban, Pecados Ajenos: I have a story. I’m not a writer, but I work KAPLAN with all my writers, and I’m the one who presents the stories to my writers. And with that construction storyline, it took two years to do. And it’s because every time we would start with a novella, I would say, “I have a great idea that we can incorporate into the novella,” and they’d be like, “Oh, that’s fantastic. What is it?” And I say, “A construction safety storyline.” And they’re like, “Okay, great.” And we would try, and they would actually write it. Some writers really don’t get it. They don’t understand the value, or they’re like, “There’s no way. I can’t work with this. I can’t make it dramatic enough.” And thankfully, we had Eric Vonn there, and he got it right away. And he said, “I got it, and I can write this.” So, thankfully, there are some great writers out there. 21 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Marty Kaplan: Anyone else on the topic of the risks, dangers, or en- ticements of sending a message?

Karen Maser, ER: What Shannon Goss said on ER, the first goal that we have is to entertain, and you don’t really want to get preachy, but if you can get information out that helps people through the storyline and helps people, that’s great. So it’s kind of funny because when we’re in the writers’ room, just like Zoanne’s on Grey’s, we have two writers on our shows who are also ER doctors. And we’ll come up with things that are laymen and civilian, and we ask well, “Can’t this happen and can’t this happen?” and they just laugh at us. We all feel like we’re doctors in there. Like I feel I could deliver a baby now or do a thoracotomy or something with this pen.

So they always keep us grounded in what really can happen, you can’t do that, we can’t show that, that surgery would take six months, we can’t really fudge that, etc. Sometimes our lab results and blood tests come back really fast, and that doesn’t happen in real ERs, or our people get from the waiting room into our ER, so that’s how we fudge KAREN MASER, ER it on the show.

Liz Friedman, House: On House, the good news is if you have a char- We all feel like we’re acter make a statement about an issue, House is going to mock them doctors in there. Like so savagely, which is a little like what happens to you as a writer when I feel I could deliver you pitch that to David Shore. So it’s always dangerous in a way when you write about something you really care about on our show because a baby now or do a you’re going to get to present it, but you’re also going to have to make thoracotomy or some- merciless fun of the people who really take that seriously, which I sup- thing with this pen. pose the good side of that is that you do get to get it out there, but you also have to be willing to take pot shots at an earnest stance. MASER

Marty Kaplan: The evening started off with an amazing bang when Colleen told us about the origin of the storyline in As the World Turns. I’m wondering, there’s some of you whom I don’t think had a chance to tell us where the stories came from in the episodes that won the awards tonight. So any of you in that category?

Vince Gilligan: Breaking Bad is a story about a guy who is dying of can- 22 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

cer, and he finds this out, and he knows he’s got to make a lot of money in a What is the relation- short amount of time to leave to his family, so he makes a very bold and really ship between the stupid decision, and he uses his chemistry knowledge to cook crystal meth, show and the which I would not recommend to anybody to do. executives when the issue is accuracy? But so this started off for me as a story-- the lung cancer that Walter White, our character, suffers from started off as a logistical construction, like a me- KAPLAN chanical construction to get this very good, very straight-arrow man involved in this very criminal, unpleasant enterprise. So it started off very mechanical, but then after we started going into production, we shot our pilot, we were into our first season, my aunt got diagnosed with lung cancer and actually passed away from it within about six or seven months. So it started off as a bloodless plot point for me and then became very personal, and I don’t know. That story doesn’t have a great ending to it, but that’s how it worked out on our show.

Marty Kaplan: Well, it’s another illustration of the ways in which parts of your DIEGO GUTIERREZ, LIZ lives enter into the stories. FRIEDMAN, MATT LEWIS, AND MARTY KAPLAN What is the relationship between the show and the executives when the issue is accuracy? Do they simply say, “Sure, go ahead, do it, whatever you want is fine,” or are there any instances in which you have been told, “It really doesn’t matter,” and we won’t tell?

Diego Gutierrez, Without A Trace: Well, I would say that, in general, actually, our executives are very good about allowing us to explore whatever topics we’re getting into and do it honestly. One of the executives, and I won’t name any names, likes to ask us what the special is on our show, which usually means something saucy, something sexy, something maybe not so realistic but to make the show more dramatic.

With this particular episode, when we first started getting into the issue of heart transplants, we kept finding that a greater percentage of heart transplants really don’t happen with young people; they tend to happen with people of a more advanced age. And there were a lot of very interesting issues that we wanted to tackle with perhaps the greater percentage of heart donors and heart recipients would be, but definitely by putting a young very nice and good-looking teenager in the episode, made the show more palatable to the network for sure. 23 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

But once it comes to the issue of sort of the depiction and the emo- tions and the accuracy of what patients and the people around them were going through, they pretty much left us to do whatever we wanted to do as long as it was good dramatically.

Elizabeth Klaviter, Grey’s Anatomy: I’ve been called on several occasions to give documentation to studio executives, who, for one reason or another, question the accuracy of the story.

Marty Kaplan: They wanted it to be accurate?

Elizabeth Klaviter, Grey’s Anatomy: Yes. It’s of concern to them; particu- larly if it’s something health-wise they’re familiar with, and then also I’ve been called on the legal department is very interested in the accuracy of the show. several occasions to I was just going to say that mostly for give documentation Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy: us it’s not the executives; it’s usually broadcast standards and prac- to studio executives, tices who have more of a problem in how many times we say the word who, for one reason vagina. or another, question the accuracy of the Elizabeth Klaviter, Grey’s Anatomy: They do have a lot of opinions story. about that. KLAVITER Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy: They have a lot of opinions about that.

Marty Kaplan: Speaking of the words that people say, it is not easy for For us it’s not the actors to say a lot of the very complicated things that people say on executives; it’s these shows. How do you deal with that as the creative people? Do usually broadcast you just say, “Suck it up and do it,” or is there something about how standards and you put a scene together, where the conflict is and so on? practices who have more of a problem Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy: I often actually lose that battle on my show. We don’t speak as medical as I would like to speak a lot of times, in how many times and I’m like, “This is not how a doctor would speak to a doctor,” but we say the word they’re very concerned that the audience understands, and so I just vagina. pull it back. So we’ll try to find as lay as we can without making them CLACK sound like they did not go to med school, which is a balancing act. 24 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

Shannon Goss, ER: Which I think is different on ER. I think from day one, 15-years-ago, it wasn’t a concern that they had. They just talked doctor speak and talked about procedures and medicine, and even now they just figured the audience knows it’s medical stuff going over their heads, and that’s fine. It’s about what the drama is going on. But I know that the actors a lot of times in the cast read-through will come to a word, and they’ll say, “And …” and My story is just they just kind of pass through what the word is supposed to be, and we have our doctors actually give them a pronunciation guide of how to say these another one that we things. And I always felt bad for Goran Visnjic, who played Dr. Kovach. When have told over the he came to America and was on our show, he had to learn English; not only years, and I think English, he had to learn all these medical terms. So it was a little difficult for we’ve done a pretty him, and so people would speak into a microphone and a recorder and let him good job overall in know how it’s supposed to sound, but it’s really kind of tough. I don’t know the daytime com- how they do it. And they have to pretend they know what they’re doing at the same time, which is hard to do. munity in being able to tell medical stories Marty Kaplan: Any other comments on the challenge of writing dialog that is that are fairly technically accurate but almost impossible to perform? Colleen, did that issue accurate. ever arise in your performance?

ZENK-PINTER Colleen Zenk-Pinter, As the World Turns: Well, I play a fashion designer on TV who’s really the evil-bitch mother from hell, so I don’t get a lot of medical jargon to speak of, though during all of my storyline, the way we worked it is I sat down with all of our writers and our team, and I took them through every phase of what I went through so they had my story to then draw from, and then we changed the treatment.

But daytime is so different from nighttime. We run five hours-a-week, 52 weeks-a-year, so you have a different way of telling a story. And I think so many times because we have so many more hours on the air, we can get much more in depth with our stories, and daytime’s always been an area where medical issues have been told from the very beginning. We were always at the forefront of current issues, whether they were medical or social.

And my story is just another one that we have told over the years, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job overall in the daytime community in being able to tell medical stories that are fairly accurate. I know that at least mine was because I was damn well sure it was going to be, and I know I’m sitting here with a bunch of writers, but if something was wrong in the dialogue, I might 25 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

tweak it a bit. But I think we’re very concerned about the accuracy that’s out there.

Marty Kaplan: Do any of you hear from your audiences and fans about how the stories they are watching have an impact on their lives or it relates to something in their own lives?

Colleen Zenk-Pinter, As the World Turns: I’ll speak to that because I get fan mail. The mail I got was overwhelming from people who either had never heard of oral cancer, never knew how simple it was just to go into your dentist. I’m going to do my PSA now – it takes just a five- minute screening, five-minute screening. Don’t even have to take your clothes off. Hello, men and women, I mean that’s a pretty nice kind of We are allowed to screening to have. make community a character on our But the point is the overwhelming response, both with snail mail, e- mail, blogs, message boards. It was amazing how many people went, show, and we are “Oh, there’s a light bulb there that went on.” And not only the get-well always looking for wishes I got from people but the people who said, “I just want you to ways to dramatize know I went to the dentist. I just want you to know.” And it did for me that. what I wanted the story to do, which was to reach out to people and SPARKS have a light bulb go on.

Marty Kaplan: Any other stories about feedback?

Anthony Sparks, Lincoln Heights: We, on Lincoln Heights, on our website we get quite a bit of feedback about some of the stories that we tell.

One of the interesting things about our show and how it’s positioned, which is kind of on a line that slips back and forth between having a heavy teen audience and also having a heavy adult audience. A large part of our audience is what we would call the millennial audience, and what’s very interesting about the millennial audience is how they’re actually very interested in community, and actually, there have been studies that have shown this. So we are allowed to make community a character on our show, and we are always looking for ways to dramatize that. We don’t walk on with a sign that goes, “Here’s the community scene,” but our world is very heightened because we have to find a way for the community to take action. 26 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

And it’s really interesting to see people on our blog or our fan forum who sound like they’re probably 15 or 16 years old talking about, “Yeah! Go! March those streets!” And so it’s really kind of a great sort of hopeful element of that audience, and it allows us to tell those kinds of stories.

Marty Kaplan: So, Zoanne, you’ve been on the road a little bit doing panels and talking about the way in which accurate information and your show inter- act. Where have you been? What’s that been like?

Zoanne Clack, Grey’s Anatomy: Oh, I haven’t been on the road that much. I actually will speak at USC at these people’s classes a lot, and with Sonny Fox. I went to his conference in Atlanta at Emory before the strike – pre-strike and post-strike. But it’s been, for me, just amazing because my background – actually, in college, I was a communications studies major, and I did a little pre- med on the side and then went to med school. And then I got a public health degree after med school, after my residency, and got it in behavioral sciences, ZOANNE CLACK, GREY’S ANATOMY behavioral studies. So for me, this is the perfect mesh of all of my training through the years, and I’d just like to heighten that and be available when you need that.

But what I was going to say, actually, is that from your last question, one of the stories that actually hits me the most is a story from Joe Sachs from ER, actually, because when one of their doctors had a brain tumor, apparently like when he was getting rediagnosed, his tongue deviated to the side, and somebody in Texas or something also had noticed that that was happening to her and her doctors had been blowing her off or something, and she went in and demanded that she get a CT, and she found that she had this huge brain tumor that apparently if she had gone six more weeks, she would’ve died. They handled it. She was well, and they’ve actually — they brought her to LA, and she’s done walk-ons on ER, and she’s alive and well to this day because of one storyline on ER. So that’s just one person, but if you can hit like one person, it’s — I think that’s an amazing story.

And another kind of ER connection that I have is when Lisa Zwerling, who’s one of their physician writers, was trying to decide whether she was going do 27 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

her fellowship or stay in TV writing, and she was mixed because she was like, “Oh, TV writing is so frivolous, and I can go and save lives.

After weighing that, one of her professors said, “You know, well, you can reach maybe five people in your office, and they can tell two friends and they can tell two friends.” If you go on ER with the 20 million viewers, you’ve hit 20 million people with one public health issue, 20 million people, and it’s like the study that we did with the Kaiser Foundation. We went from, what, 15% knowledge to 45% knowledge afterwards? I think that’s an amazing feat to be able to put on our belts, and it makes me okay with not having to go to the ER every day and save lives because I feel like I’m saving even more this way.

Marty Kaplan: Last question, and it picks up a little bit off of what Zoanne was saying. You became writers or producers or television con- sultants for one set of motives, and I’m just curious what the journey is from where you began, in terms of why you started in the business, to where you are now, winning these amazing awards for what you’ve been doing, which is not necessarily about the entertainment content, although that’s important; this is about the commitment to accuracy. And I’m just wondering, anyone, tell about your journey.

Michelle Alban, Pecados Ajenos: I can start with my journey. I was actually in research when I started, and I was a director of primary research, and my aunt was going through breast cancer. On the novella that we were watching, the actress was diagnosed with breast cancer, and they were saying that she needed a mastectomy and she needed to get pregnant before… and I was like what? Are you kidding me? So I went to the executive producer, and I go, “Seriously, what are you doing? Where is that storyline going?” And luckily I had met Vicki Beck, the former HH&S director, a month before, and I said, “You know what? I think we’re going to call these people because you need some help because there’s no way that this storyline is going to go anywhere.” So, luckily, we were able to save it with NCIS, and we got everybody on the phone, and they fixed the story saying that, “You should get a second opinion because obviously the first opinion is crazy.” And we fixed it, and that, I think, started that journey.

So I was the person to pitch storylines to the writers. And then two years ago, I moved from research to corporate communications, and 28 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

people were like, “You’re going to take that job, right? You’re going to take it with you.” And I said, “Yeah, I mean it’s something that I hold very dear,” because luckily we have a president in Don Browne, the Telemundo president, and he is a journalist. His background is journalism. And he’s all about informing the community. And when I have problems with the writers or the producers and getting these storylines done, I get him, and we’d go to the studios, and he gets them done. And he tells them what is the responsibility; it’s their responsibility, it’s our responsibility to get this word out. So that’s my journey.

Marty Kaplan: Anyone else willing to take this baton?

Anthony Sparks, Lincoln Heights: I’ll pick it up. I’m from the south side of Chicago originally from a very large family, and so TV was always on, but it was not very much a reality. Long story short, via the theater, first as a per- former but always writing, and then as a playwright, eventually deciding to move into television, the primary reason was realizing that I could participate

KATHLEEN MCGHEE-ANDERSON, creatively much, much sooner and that I was probably a writer first in many LINCOLN HEIGHTS ways.

What I really like about something like this is it shows kind of that melding, which I think my executive producer’s background also speaks to a lot of a certain kind of — I hate to use this word because it sounds so heavy or whatever, but a certain kind of activism that can take place. And I think it’s pretty natural for our medium, actually. And so it’s great. Of course, our first objective is always to entertain, but it’s always great when you can find those reasons and those ways to integrate those two things, education and entertainment.

Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, Lincoln Heights: I’d like to jump in and say that my journey began in Detroit, Michigan, and Detroit was a very vital city when I was growing up there, and over the past 30 years, it’s become a city that’s somewhat of a wasteland. We used to call it like Beirut; it was bombed out and all the vitality’s depleted. And having been in Hollywood about 30 years, it’s been a sad story for me to look at the town that I grew up in and see that it was a place that really had all the lifeblood taken out of it. And here in Hol- lywood, I kept thinking, well, maybe I should go home. Maybe there’s some real work that I should be doing in Detroit to try to help restore the city and help the people there who I care so much about. 29 The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards

And it’s ironic, and it’s also quite gratifying, that now here in television land, I am doing a show called Lincoln Heights, which is — in many ways mirrors the storyline that is happening in Detroit now. It’s about a policeman and his wife, a nurse, and their three kids, and they have moved back to an at-risk community, and they are trying to rebuild this community and make it a safe place and make it a place where a diverse population can live and be bonded together, and that’s the Detroit story.

So like I said, when I accepted the award, I really think that this is a great opportunity to talk about healing on a community level and on an urban level and on a level ultimately about mending the community that is our — the story of our people in this country. And I don’t want to be preachy. I never do. But that’s a sort of subversive tactic that I take, cloaked in a family story that is unique. And we’re the only The first drama — and now I’m going to plug us for a minute — we’re the only drama I saw was Little on television that has a main cast that is all people of color, and that’s House on the pretty significant. Prairie, and so I always want to tell For my first show, if we’re talking about how we began, the first drama the well-told story I saw was Little House on the Prairie, and so I always want to tell the well-told story about a family, and so it’s come full circle. about a family...

MCGHEE-ANDERSON Elizabeth Klaviter, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice: You know, it’s interesting as I think about it. When I was in high school, I joined a drama group called Project Listen, and we did plays about teen sex and sexuality and sexual education to different local high schools, and eventually, Shonda Rhimes also joined that drama troop, and now we’re doing sex education for a much larger audience, so maybe not that much has changed.

Marty Kaplan: Well, I promised to let you out early. Let me just tell you one mini-anecdote. During the screening of the clips tonight, I was standing next to one of our subject matter experts, and we were both kind of amazed and moved by the clips. And he said, “This stuff’s really important.” And I think that’s the thing that I take away the most from this. This stuff really is important. So thank you all, and congratulations to you all. The Norman Lear Center 2008 Sentinel for Health Awards