Contagion!
Back in the innocent days of 2017 the UK government thought the next deadly pandemic would be flu virus, along the lines of the bird flu that killed millions globally in 1917/8, and considered it a major threat to the UK that could happen at any time. Even after the COVID pandemic, it is still very likely. To predict the impact of the next pandemic accurately, new data was needed – and lots of it. I exec-ed and directed on this feature-length documentary with Dr Hannah Fry and Dr Javid Abdelmoneim: the largest citizen science experiment of its kind.
We partnered with a superlative maths team from Cambridge University and and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to devise an app to gather the much-needed data to model the next outbreak . How quickly would it spread? How many could it kill? The results were shocking but this film was made in the nick of time. The data we gathered from 40,000 participants nationwide was used to model the COVID outbreak.
Nominated: Best Digital Support for a Programme, Broadcast Awards
“…both a cheery piece of Reithian edutainment and a grave portent of our impending doom.” The Guardian.
“a vast, clever experiment…worthwhile and fascinating” The Times.