The spot ends noting that “Michael and Danny are healthy and don’t need a POLST form,” but that those who are seriously ill do.
Produced for nonprofit Goals of Care Coalition New Jersey, the ad is meant to increase awareness about a key issue for those who are elderly or suffering from serious medical conditions—the importance of defining what their healthcare providers should do in case they face a health crisis. POLST, or “Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment,” is a medical order that allows medical staff to give patients the care and support they want—and not the things they don’t want—when faced with emergencies or as end of life approaches.
“During COVID time when it’s hitting older people the hardest, it’s a reminder to have documentation when you go into the hospital,” says Graf. “I called my mom who used to be a nurse and some of her friends in their 70s and 80s and very few knew what a POLST form was, so it just seemed like a very good way to help people.”
Throughout the coronavirus crisis, the GOCCNJ saw firsthand the importance of POLST. The organization says that not enough New Jersey residents have documented their final wishes, and as a result New Jersey patients near end of life receive more aggressive medical care than those in any other state. Moreover, often the high-intensity treatment they receive is not what they would have opted for and brings heavy burden to their families.
The project began when John S. Johnson, founder and chairman of the Harmony Institute and one of the co-founders at Buzzfeed, approached M ss ng P eces co-founder Ari Kuschnir to help get word out about GOCCNJ’s push for POLST. Johnson is also friends with Dr. David Barile, one of the key architects in designing New Jerseys POLST form.
In April, Kuschnir, who had been collaborating on a potential series project with Graf, approached him to work on that project. Bringing Douglas and DeVito in was serendipity. Johnson already had a connection to Douglas, and for the actor, it was a no-brainer to bring in his longtime buddy.
Graf wrote the script with both actors’ experience in mind. “Knowing especially that Danny likes to wing it a bit, I wrote up an outline for them to follow to make sure it’s entertaining, but so that the important facts would come through,” he says.
The shoot, done virtually over Zoom, lasted about 30-45 minutes and went relatively smoothly, save for one bit.
The Link LonkSeptember 02, 2020 at 09:24PM
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Gerry Graf directs Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito in a funny ad for a serious issue - AdAge.com
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Funny
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