The entertainment industry has always shaped culture, but on-screen depictions of illness too often miss the mark. As a medicine company that puts health above all, Lilly believes they have a responsibility to step in where culture meets healthcare — ensuring the stories we watch reflect the actual lives people lead.
Grounded by a landmark study sponsored by Lilly and conducted alongside Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Lilly is collaborating with powerhouse creative partners like Tribeca Studios, MACRO, Imagine Entertainment, Wild State, and Omaha Productions to champion authentic portrayals of disease through rigorous research, practical resources, and direct creative support.
Driving Change Onscreen
To help the creative community tell more honest, nuanced stories, these partnerships deliver both practical resources and direct mentorship. This includes launching the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s Content Creation Toolkit: a guide helping writers and producers navigate complex health narratives, in addition to powering Vital Stories, a custom program with Tribeca Studios that provides emerging filmmakers with hands-on development.
Through these initiatives, Lilly is helping build a future where patient experiences are represented with empathy, accuracy, and depth — fostering deeper understanding, dismantling stigma, and sparking healthier conversations.
Learn more about why disease representation in entertainment matters.
About Vital Stories
Launched in 2025, Vital Stories actively works to dismantle the underrepresentation and misrepresentation of health conditions on screen, bringing nuanced, deeply human films to a major stage.
This program provides critical development and mentorship to a select group of talented screenwriters and directors dedicated to authentic storytelling. The journey began with nineteen visionary projects attending the inaugural Creative Summit, which culminated in three select projects being produced as short films that successfully premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June 2026.
Sweet Tea’s first day out after serving a five-year bid unravels fast: a wild welcome-home party, an awkward boyfriend, spiking blood sugar, and a parole officer who reminds her that her freedom is conditional.
Do I Know You From Somewhere?
Series
Writer:
Angela Wong Carbone
Director:
Alan Scott Neal
Producer:
Grace Merriman
Excecutive Producers:
Fiona Fu, Chad Hladki, Yoko Kohmoto
Production Companies:
Sleight of Hand Films, Moody House Films
Logline:
Facing her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the crushing cost of care, struggling actor Kimmy takes a clandestine, lucrative side gig impersonating strangers’ loved ones. As her mother’s symptoms and the dangers of her job escalate, Kimmy must decide who she's willing to become to keep her mother safe.
Reconstructing Charlie
Feature Film and/or Miniseries
Writer and Director:
Lara Everly
Producer:
Claudia Chakmati
Excecutive Producers:
Emily Arlook, Katherine Romans, and Charlie Traisman
Production Companies:
Rhiza Films, Madhouse Films
Logline:
Charlie’s long-awaited “post-divorce glow-up” gets hijacked by a breast cancer diagnosis, leading her to move in with her picture-perfect sister for recovery. The two decide to have one wild “last night out for the boobs!”, sending both their lives on a crash course in sisterhood, second chances and letting go.
Sweet Tea’s first day out after serving a five-year bid unravels fast: a wild welcome-home party, an awkward boyfriend, spiking blood sugar, and a parole officer who reminds her that her freedom is conditional.
Facing her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and the crushing cost of care, struggling actor Kimmy takes a clandestine, lucrative side gig impersonating strangers’ loved ones. As her mother’s symptoms and the dangers of her job escalate, Kimmy must decide who she's willing to become to keep her mother safe.
Emily Arlook, Katherine Romans, and Charlie Traisman
Production Companies:
Rhiza Films, Madhouse Films
Logline:
Charlie’s long-awaited “post-divorce glow-up” gets hijacked by a breast cancer diagnosis, leading her to move in with her picture-perfect sister for recovery. The two decide to have one wild “last night out for the boobs!”, sending both their lives on a crash course in sisterhood, second chances and letting go.
