Is it possible to stave off a global pandemic if we don’t have an agreed upon understanding of truth, trust, and decency?
IMMUNITY is an exploration of the vaccine hesitancy movement and the dangerous resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases coalescing at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With direct access to top U.S. health officials, global science leaders and grassroots vaccine advocates, IMMUNITY will tackle the fight at the heart of the vaccine debate: the negotiation between individual wellbeing and global health security. As trust in science and public health institutions is declining while support for anti-science and anti-vaccine groups grows, can this pandemic truly come to an end? Or will this trend of misinformation become an unmanageable virus of its own? The virus within the virus.
Six months before COVID-19 took hold on the health of the world, documentary director Scott Hamilton Kennedy was chasing a story on the 2019 Measles outbreak in Samoa, consulting with renowned scientists Dr. Anthony Fauci, Peter J. Hotez, and Paul Offit. With the support of immunologists, pediatricians, nurses, and public health officials, the story pivoted to investigate the virulent spread of misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, and the development of the coronavirus vaccine, while interweaving his own family’s experience of living during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Academy Award® nominee SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY is a writer, director, producer, cameraman, and editor. His documentary work includes Oscar nominated THE GARDEN, Independent Spirit Award nominee OT: OUR TOWN, and the critically acclaimed FAME HIGHh. FOOF EVOLUTION, Scott’s latest documentary, narrated by the esteemed Neil Degrasse Tyson, is a resetting of the gmo controversy. It highlights the importance of using the scientific method to help everyone – from parents to politicians – make better decisions. FOOD EVOLUTION was both one of the most controversial and well-received documentaries of the past couple of years, garnering a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
MARK MONROE, PRODUCER
MARK MONROE is an award-winning documentary writer and filmmaker, and co-founder of Damond Docs. A journalism graduate from the University of Oklahoma, Mark began his career as a news writer for CNN. His theatrical credits include: ICARUS (winner, best documentary 2018 Academy Awards), THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK – THE TOURING YEARS (best music film, Grammy Awards 2017), BEFORE THE FLOOD (Toronto 2016, National Geographic), RACING EXTINCTION (Sundance 2015, Discovery), THE COVE (winner, best documentary 2010 Academy Awards & best documentary script, WGA 2010), ONCE IN A LIFETIME: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE NEW YORK COSMOS (WGA nomination “best documentary script,” 2017).
CHE LANDON, CREATIVE PRODUCER
CHE LANDON is a creative producer and artists’ advocate, recognized by Afterellen’s “30 under 30 queer creatives to watch.” As an emerging creative force challenging conventional media representation, Landon was one of two individuals selected nationwide for the NBC Universal diversity & inclusion apprenticeship program. Over the following two years, Landon worked on some of the most iconic film and television projects of the decade including BIRDMAN, THE MINDY PROJECT, and REVOLUTION AND MADMEN. In 2013 Landon co-founded the Creative Artists Lab (CAL), which produced over 30 short films, 5 webseries, as well as narrative, documentary and commercial content for clients such as Google, Hulu, Sony, Microsoft, TNT, Pepsi, Youtube, Clorox and Covergirl. In March of 2020 Landon was proudly appointed head of production at Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s Academy Award nominated production company, Black Valley Films.
MARK STEELE, PRODUCER
MARK STEELE is a producer and industry professional with a successful track record in production, post-production and business affairs. Mark has steered many documentary projects from editorial through the long tail of sales and distribution, including IT’S A HARD TRUTH AIN’T IT (HBO), CUTIE AND THE BOXER (Radius/TWC) and SEMBENE! Mark was a founding production executive at Werc Werk Works where he helped shepherd films from development, production, and post-production through international distribution and delivery. Mark is a member of the Producers Guild of America and was a 2013 trans-atlantic partners producing fellow.