Making the Call: Day 1 Filming the interactive movie

Bio-Linkers Jeanette Mowery, Vivian Ngan-Winward, and Lisa Seidman have traveled to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center for the filming of an educational interactive movie: Making the Call: Quality in Biomanufacturing. The purpose of this “choose your own adventure” movie is to prepare students to work in a regulated biomanufacturing environment. During the movie, students will view scenarios that might occur in the workplace and will be asked to make decisions as if they were the employees in those situations. Different outcomes, some good, some not, will unfold depending on the student’s decisions. This movie project is funded by the National Science Foundation as a collaboration between Bio-Link and Pellet Productions. The script was written by David Levin from Pellet.

We Bio-Linkers are stationed behind the scenes amidst boxes with lights, booms, and other items that we can’t identify. We’ve met the makeup and costume person, sound people, lighting people, a director, a producer, scientific advisors from WPI and other people working behind the scenes. The first scene filmed requires the actors to gown before entering the production suite. The lead actor noticed that some of her stage makeup rubbed off on the gown; she asked if this was a problem. Good catch! This detail-oriented actress would make an excellent biomanufacturing technician, should this gig inspire her to give up acting for science.

Actors Tasia Jones and Ariel Zuckerman learning how to gown and being attached to microphones while Jeanette Mowery looks on.

Professional lighting, sound, and camera work will make this production feel like Hollywood, not a cell phone video.

Bio-Linkers Jeanette Mowery and Vivian Ngan-Winward standing with David Levin, Pellet script writer and science editor, and holding documentation for our fictional biomanufacturing company, Franklin Biologics.