Science Advising in Entertainment

Seminar Overview • A Brief History of Science in Entertainment • ScriptPhD Concept: L.A.B. • Career Planning Advice and Ideas For Scientists

Jurassic Park: Before + After
Assumed audience knew or would understand cloning – complex science
Written by a medical doctor (Michael Crichton)
Thematic Elements: Reprecussions of bioengineering and technology revolution
Game changer for future film and television content
Jurassic Park – 1993 Universal pictures $900 million gross – still in top ten Dolly the Sheep cloned in 1996

The Dawn of the Internet Internet visualization map for routes of information exchange Number of internet users: 1995-2010 The internet is exploding and there ’s nothing to stop it! Nasdaq Hosts Sites The market might go up and down, but the Internet grows forever • Late 1994: Mosaic released, WWW is born • 1996: The word ‘Internet’ is common

Science is EVERYWHERE
Academic, government and industry labs have websites
Most newspapers/magazines have a science + technology section
The birth of the blog
Twitter, Facebook, other social media – news travels fast
2008: At least 2,000 science blogs written by PhD scientists (Technorati)

Science + Technology in Entertainment post-Internet
More science/sci-fi/technology/medical content on television (and movies)
Better (more) informed audience
More sophisticated content
The Internet # of Zombie movies (io9)

‘ The CSI Effect’
The belief that juries demand more physical evidence
Police collecting more physical evidence, in turn inundating crime labs
More forensic programs in colleges and universities
Jurors wanting DNA tests performed more frequently
The problem?
About 40% of the forensic science on
CSI doesn’t actually exist!
CSI premieres

Medical Shows Affect Your Health
Epidemiological studies conducted by the Kaiser Foundation
Presence of blogs amplifies this effect
Study in journal Resucitation : Med students copy bad intubations from TV
Purposefully embedded a health message in an episode then tested select group of viewers Health on Prime Time Television 947 episodes 33 series 2204-2006

Jovana J. Grbić, PhD
Undergrad: BA in physical chemistry from Northwestern University
Cancer research fellowship: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Graduate: PhD in oncogenomics from The Scripps Research Institute
Postdoctoral Fellowship: infectious diseases, UCLA School of Public Health
Current: ScriptPhD.com director + independent writer

My Goals as a Science Advisor YES NO

L.A.B.: The ScriptPhD Concept “ People bring ideas to life” Media+Entertainment Science The Public Building Relationships Exchanging Information

L.A.B.: L earn
Scientists
Watch movies and TV!!!
Know how your material is being represented
Make yourself visible!
Give and write feedback
Keep it simple: small bites are easier to swallow for non-scientists
Communicate effectively
Writers
Seek out advice
Ask SPECIFIC questions and involve the scientist
Attend a lecture/seminar
Shadow a scientist or doctor
Read blogs + tech publications
Communicate effectively

L.A.B.: A dvise Start a Blog For Your Area of Expertise • Start with short, simple posts • Guest post for other bloggers • Invite colleagues to post on your site • Reach out, interview people, start discussion topics, instigate… Increase Your Web Presence • Let out an occasional Tweet • Set up a site for your lab/research • Write the occasional supplement to scholarly articles Work For a Science Movie/TV Show • V and Castle ; freelance work • Fringe: Neurobiologist Ricardo Gil da Costa • BSG and Eureka : Physicist Kevin R. Grazier • CSI: Engineer Naren Shankar • Grey ’s Anatomy : Dr. Zoanne Clack • ER : Dr. Neal Baer Write Your Own! Michael Chricton Arthur C. Clarke

L.A.B.: B log…
Sample Topics Covered Recently in ScriptPhD.com:
“ Splice”: cast + crew video interview
“ Selling Science Smartly”: science in advertising + media series
World Science Festival coverage
Guest posts: Brain Training, Creativity, Genius
“ Breaking Bad”: Executive Producer Interview
In-Depth Means:
Interviews (Leading science experts, screenwriters, producers)
Panels + Roundtables
Original pieces
The science behind your favorite shows, films and media

Recognition & Achievements
Worked with: Warner Brothers, Disney, Fox, Universal, The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, SyFy, academic institutions
Recent clients: UCLA School of Film, Tribeca Sloan Founcation (NYC), screenwriters and authors, ABC Television ( V and Castle )
Profiled in the science section of The Charlotte Observer

Screenwriters ’ Resources in L.A.
Great starting blocks for information and connections:
Writers’ Guild of America
http://wga.org
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
http://www.oscars.org/index.html
Science and Entertainment Exchange
http://scienceandentertainment.org
Hollywood, Health and Society
http://learcenter.org/html/projects/?cm=hhs
The Science Network
http://sciencenetwork.org
ScriptPhD.com
Here to help you write creative science!

Acknowledgements Hosts: Emory University Career Committee, Katie Vance, Monica Taylor, Kevin Grazier Fellow Collaborators/Idea Generators: • Media + Entertainment subsidies (present and future) • Bloggers (ScriptPhD.com “sites we like” blogroll is a great resource!) • Scientists, Engineers, Innovators, Techologists, Geeks, and Nerds YOU! Engage and collaborate with ScriptPhD.com to expand the conversation about science and technology in entertainment, media and pop culture: • Twitter: @ScriptPhD •Vimeo: ScriptPhD • Facebook: ScriptPhD •SlideShare.net: ScriptPhD • LinkedIn: Jovana Grbić • Email: [email_address] Presentation and content ©2010 ScriptPhD.com. All Rights Reserved.

Science Advising in Entertainment

by Jovana Grbic on Dec 15, 2010

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Science Advising in Entertainment — Presentation Transcript