Three short films created through an Eli Lilly-sponsored initiative are premiering at the Tribeca Festival, furthering the drugmaker’s efforts to improve on-screen representations of people with diseases.
Last year, a Lilly-backed analysis of the top movies and TV shows of 2023 found that representation of people with common diseases was rare. About 3% of the speaking characters had obesity—compared to almost 40% of the U.S. population—and they were often the butt of jokes. Cancer affected 0.16% of people and while real-world treatment has improved, it has remained a death sentence in media portrayals.
Seeking to improve representation, Lilly worked with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to give filmmakers a content creation toolkit (PDF) as part of their “Vital Stories” initiative. The toolkit “helps storytellers craft more accurate and empathetic portrayals of disease and patient experiences,” Lina Polimeni, chief marketing officer, consumer at Lilly, told Fierce Pharma Marketing via email.
“Through Vital Stories, participants received mentorship, workshops, industry guidance, development support and access to the content creation toolkit,” Polimeni said. “Our role at Lilly was to provide resources and support that could help inform authentic portrayals of disease and patient experiences, while creative decisions remained entirely with the filmmakers.”
The three short films feature characters with Alzheimer’s, breast cancer and Type 2 diabetes. While the diseases at least partly drive the stories, they don’t define the characters and are part of wider narratives that are unrelated to the health conditions.
Signs that a drugmaker may have had a role in the project are rare. The closest the Alzheimer’s-related film gets to a Lilly-focused disease awareness point is a line revealing that a character is ineligible for an amyloid-targeting drug. After a healthcare professional says the disease is too advanced for the therapy, the character’s daughter explains that “it took so long to convince her to do these tests.”
The projects will continue to receive support through advanced development as longer-form features or series, Polimeni said. Asked about the future of the program, Polimeni said that Lilly is currently focused on celebrating the inaugural initiative’s success. The company remains committed to advancing more accurate, empathetic portrayals of disease in entertainment, Polimeni added.