Hollywood, Health & Society brought together five leading creative talents behind current TV series that are shaking up the narrative of what poverty looks like. In much of their storytelling, people who are poor and marginalized communities struggle for a fair shake and the elusive American Dream.
Our co-sponsored panel with Ploughshares Fund brought together activists, policy-makers, experts and the entertainment industry on building a safer world free from the threat of nuclear weapons. The event featured Michael Douglas, award-winning actor/producer and UN Messenger for Peace.
Transgender people have achieved unprecedented media visibility, but does this translate into greater acceptance? New research by USC Annenberg and HH&S sheds light on this question.
From collaborating with our global centers in Mumbai and Nigeria to staging events closer to home, Hollywood, Health & Society had a hugely productive year in 2015. Below are just some of the highlights:
We know from research that stories can have a significant impact on what people know, feel and do. For better and worse, food’s pervasive depictions in entertainment like movies, television and music can be models for behavior and beliefs. How do these images of food affect us? What if storytellers chose to use their power to inspire audiences to make healthy food choices?
Hollywood, Health & Society, the CDC and the Writers Guild of America, East presented a panel on the topics of health and justice for women at the WGAE in New York.
The winners of the 16th annual Sentinel Awards were announced in a ceremony in Hollywood that recognized exemplary achievements in television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives.
Hollywood, Health & Society’s 15th annual Sentinel Awards had it all, including top names from the entertainment industry, a NASA astronaut who wowed the audience when she recounted her childhood dream to one day follow in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong, and moving tributes to the spirit of two young boys who have touched many hearts—one a fictional TV character and the other whose real life flashed brightly and ever so briefly.
For two decades, the Sentinel Awards have recognized exemplary achievements in TV storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives. For audiences here and around the world, television often provides both entertainment and factual information about a wide range of health topics and social issues.
As the entertainment landscape expands and programs continue to push boundaries, topics such as disease, injury, maternal health, disability, violence, discrimination and more are being explored through dynamic storytelling.
One only had to look at a montage of video clips from TV shows presented at Affordable Me, our panel on Obamacare, to see how far we’ve come.