Docsville

Documentary Business

Peter Hamilton Consultants, Inc

Polio Virus Documentary: A Case Study in the Defeat of a Raging Epidemic

A SHOT TO SAVE THE WORLD is a special about Jonas Salk’s race to defeat the dreaded polio virus.

  • It captures how strong, unifying leadership and Science-based government can overcome a terrible global epidemic.
  • I became committed as an Executive Producer.
  • Bill Gates kindly agreed to serve as the narrator of our film, and his foundation supported our efforts.
  • A SHOT premiered on the Smithsonian Channel.
  • And later on the BBC Storyville strand.

Read our very relevant Case Study here…

Still from A Shot to Save the World.

Emotion: A Childhood Terror

This project hooked me from the moment I was pitched by Pittsburgh’s Steeltown Entertainment.

As a child growing up in Melbourne, I often woke from two nightmares:

  • The first was that a disaster like a bushfire would destroy my family, and I would be thrown into a horrible orphanage.
  • And, second, I was terrified of polio:
    • I often saw children in steel calipers struggling to cross our schoolyard.
    • But I loved to run and jump. I wanted to be an Olympic high jumper. I couldn’t bear the thought of being grounded by crippled legs.
    • And, then, suddenly, we all lined up for a polio shot, and my terror of the virus vanished.

I wanted to help Steeltown retell this story for the CAB/SAT era!

Case Study

Bill Gates 4Light

Bill Gates in A SHOT TO SAVE THE WORLD


Documentary Production Roadmap