Events

Research Trips

Hollywood, Health & Society continues to stretch its wings through our outreach efforts. We've organized fact-finding trips for entertainment industry professionals looking for inspiration, whether on the streets of Los Angeles with our Storybus Tours or overseas in places such as India and South Africa. Wherever we go, groups of TV and film writers get to explore, learn about health problems and social issues, and meet individuals and organizations working for positive change. For more information about upcoming trips or to inquire about customizing a research trip for your group, please contact Sylvia Estafan at estafan@usc.edu. For more information, click here.

 


Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 9:00am - 5:00pm

market oranges

Residents in East and South Los Angeles are shaking up the food landscape in their neighborhoods, using innovative solutions to change their eating habits and tackle the challenge of getting more fresh, affordable and healthy food into communities. “Food swamps” are caused by an ever-increasing concentration of fast-food restaurants that overwhelm the more limited options for healthier alternatives, and the impact has been stark: an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and other related chronic illnesses. On a recent Storybus Tour organized by Hollywood, Health & Society called “Hunger Games,” writers and producers were given a first-hand look at the activists, community groups, public health professionals and students who are fighting back. 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

nasa_jpl thumbnail

On a recent morning beneath beautiful blue skies, a bus full of Hollywood writers and producers pulled up to a space-age-looking entry gate, where a sign next to the familiar NASA logo greeted them with the words: “Welcome to Our Universe.” For the latest Storybus Tour organized by Hollywood, Health & Society, this was a mission to learn about climate change from some of the world’s top scientists and engineers at the NASA-JPL complex just northeast of Los Angeles.Through these signature series of research trips, HH&S offers writers and producers real stories about real people and places—unusual, compelling and dramatic—from climate scientists, other experts and community members on the ground.

Saturday, June 9, 2012 - 9:00am - 5:00pm

st. johns center signHollywood, Health & Society took top entertainment industry writers and producers to get a look at what a ZIP code reveals about someone's health. From the St. John's Well Child and Family Center in South Los Angeles, with its mission of quality medical care and efforts to improve tenants' housing conditions, to the communities along the 710 Freeway corridor threatened by toxic waste and pollution, the Storybus Tour participants were given a first-hand look by visiting sites and listening to activists and organizers working on the front lines for change. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

homeboy industriesHollywood, Health & Society launched its Storybus Tours, a signature series of research trips for TV writers to various locations—this time to gather first-hand reports from those working to ease gang violence in the schools and on the streets of Los Angeles. Sandra de Castro Buffington, director of HH&S, modeled the tour on the overseas research trips for writers she led in South Africa and India last May.The inaugural Storybus trip on Jan. 18, which started in the morning at the Writers Guild of America, West, featured three stops, 15 or so excited participants, a lunchtime full of conversation and, in the end, an education. Said one writer after the tour: "As you can imagine it has taken us a few days to digest and integrate it all. The powerful things we witnessed and heard continue to reverberate within each of us. A simple ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem to express the gratefulness and appreciation that [we] feel for having had this unique experience."

Thursday, May 5, 2011 - Friday, May 20, 2011

girl in mumbaiFor two weeks in May 2011, Hollywood, Health & Society Director Sandra de Castro Buffington took six TV and film writers on research trips to Johannesburg, South Africa and Mumbai, India, to learn about global health challenges and low cost, effective solutions. The groups explored each city, learning about health problems and social issues and meeting with individuals and organizations working for positive change. The writers also participated in panel discussions in both Johannesburg and Mumbai with local TV and film writers and others involved in entertainment education in each country. All panelists showcased their work and shared their thoughts on how television can educate viewers, and transform society for the good.