The USC Annenberg School for Communication plans to use two new grants to expand the entertainment-education programs of Health, Hollywood and Society, a health communication program working with the television and film community.
Health, Hollywood and Society is part of a Norman Lear Center initiative to equip writers, producers and directors with reliable and accurate health information for entertainment outlets. Its “entertainment-education” program is focused on increasing the accurate depictions of disease in television shows and creating entertainment content focusing on public health issues.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation endowed the Annenberg School with a $1.37 million grant for Health, Hollywood and Society to develop a strategy focused on prime-time TV shows to help increase public support for international efforts to reduce disease and health disparities around the world.
The California Endowment has contributed a two-year grant of nearly $500,000 to support the initiative in advancing effective policies and programs to help build communities that support children, youth and families. That effort will focus on critical issues such as obesity prevention and the prevalence of violence.
“Film and television have the power to educate and inspire,” said Joe Cerrell, director of global health policy and advocacy for the Gates Foundation. “The Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health and Society program has a proven track record of working with top writers and producers to build awareness of critical health issues. We are delighted that the Lear Center is expanding its work to inform the public about solutions to major global health challenges such as AIDS and malaria.”