CNN Films, Sierra Tango to produce documentary about deadly pandemics

As the fight against Ebola continues to make headlines, CNN Films and Sierra Tango Productions have partnered to co-produce a documentary about global readiness for battling pandemic diseases.

Intended to hit theaters by the fall of 2015 and air on CNN the following year, the yet untitled film is directed by Janet Tobias, an Emmy Award-winning documentarian, and Cesar Charlone, an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer (for “City of God”).

The film is to explore the lurking pathogens that could generate the next pandemic, and address how scientists are learning to combat them.

The documentary will feature Dr. Peter Piot, a microbiologist who co-discovered the virus that causes Ebola infection in humans, and virus hunter Dr. Larry Brilliant, a bio-surveillance expert who served as part of the team of World Health Organization scientists that led the efforts that eventually eradicated smallpox.

The filmmakers traveled with Piot to what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the location of the first identified Ebola outbreak in 1976, for the film, which will also chronicle his work on the current outbreak in West Africa. Brilliant, meanwhile, has led the development of mobile applications for disease warning systems and continues to bring together sometimes hostile governments to share disease surveillance data.

“Recent experience has shown us that modern life has made nations very vulnerable to global pandemics,” CNN Worldwide senior vice president for talent and content development Amy Entelis said in a statement. “We commissioned this film as a way to present the risks, explore the challenges, and offer solutions to this threat.”

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