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Three months of filming.
Fifteen-hundred hours of raw footage.
Seven hours of prime time television focused on the excellent care delivered at MGH and BWH.
That’s the concept of a new documentary series ABC has been shooting at MGH, with additional stories layered in about BWH, scheduled to air in 2010.
“Medicine is ubiquitous,” said ABC producer Erica Baumgart from ABC’s temporary office on the lower Pike Tuesday. “Everyone one day will be in a hospital, whether they are receiving care or someone in their family is. There’s really nothing more interesting than medicine, we think.”
The aggregate 35 million viewers who tuned in to the same documentary team’s seven-hour “Hopkins” series last summer would agree. This documentary will be similar to “Hopkins” in that it is shot cinema-verite style, meaning that cameramen use handheld cameras and follow stories as they happen. The documentarians have been granted access to travel freely throughout the hospitals as they record stories.
“The gain is that the public receives medical information, and the series identifies the hospitals as places of excellence before a mass audience,” said executive producer Terence Wrong, whose previous documentaries including “Hopkins” and 2002’s “Boston 24/7” have received critical acclaim. “And thousands of people will sign organ donor cards as a result. I think it’s a real public service.”
The ABC team saw Boston as a “natural place” for this medical documentary because of the quality of academic medical centers here. “If you want amazing medicine, Boston is the place to be,” said Baumgart.
The producers already are busy interviewing individual employees to follow. They will select those whom they feel have compelling stories and “pop” on camera. Much of the footage will be shot in the hospitals, but producers may follow several subjects outside of work. “We like to also portray them doing the things the rest of us do,” Wrong said.
Patients often are the most receptive to being filmed, according to producers. “For patients, it’s a silver lining to a bad event that they are going through,” Wrong said. “They find comfort in sharing their stories, especially in the hope that it will help someone else going through the same thing.”
Only patients who sign written consent will be portrayed in the series, and the producers have received HIPAA training to ensure privacy is protected. Staff participation also is voluntary, and those who do not wish to be on camera may tell producers so. The team will film at MGH and BWH through the end of May. After that, they may return to follow up on individual stories.
“We’re very grateful to be here in Boston,” Wrong said. “These are amazing hospitals, and we look forward to portraying some real quality medicine to the American audience.”
DOCUMENTARY ABCs
Filming: Now through May
Series Air Date: Summer 2010
Staff Participation: Voluntary
Patient Privacy: The producers have received HIPAA training and will portray only patients who give written consent.
Security: The producers have ID badges that identify them as BWH Public Affairs/ABC News. They will not be escorted by Security or Public Affairs in most cases.
Questions? www.BWHPikeNotes.org/media/ABCQandA.asp