To tell an emotional, layered story in Escape the Spiral, we relied on multiple disciplines inherent in film craft including cinematography, direction, production, art, music, and sound design. The integration of all these masteries allowed us to tell this complicated story. From cinematography choices that highlighted the ebb and flow of the spiral and relapse; to production design and art direction that drew the audience into and out of the spiral with equal emotional effect; and sound design and music that brought the spiral to life while presenting content seamlessly.

This work was reviewed throughout development by our client’s PARC committee, an internal team of medical, legal, and regulatory advisors. They ensured our film met all requirements for branded product promotion according to the latest draft guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP). Upon sign-off from our client’s internal team, the film was submitted for and granted approval by the FDA and the OPDP for distribution.

The risk of relapse is a dangerous and persistent challenge for people living with schizophrenia. Each relapse causes further loss of brain tissue and cognitive decline. Noncompliance with oral medications is a leading factor for these devastating effects, yet less than 15% of atypical antipsychotics are prescribed in long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations. While the schizophrenia LAI market is crowded, it’s full of campaigns casting patients as the issue—not the disease, its risks, and its consequences.

So, we chose to be different. We created a film that contextualized the omnipresent threat of schizophrenia relapse and the potential of a new LAI formulation—UZEDY. By recontextualizing the risks patients live with and the issues doctors contend with, we’re helping them Escape the Spiral. This approach was informed by feedback and research that painted a cyclical picture of medication failures and subsequent relapse.   

Escape the Spiral crystallizes the patient’s omnipresent struggle and focuses doctors on addressing the risk of relapse with a different kind of LAI. The spiral represents impending relapse as well as the potential devastation to a vulnerable patient—literally following him and enveloping him. Once the patient escapes that spiral with a treatment that can prevent relapse and maintain stability, we see him living, working, and connecting socially in ways previously unimagined. 

We made this film to highlight the different, valuable, and much-needed solutions this brand offers in a crowded market, and we crafted an insight-driven story to reinforce that differentiation and deliver hope for doctors and patients.

Pharmaceutical product promotion and communications are governed by the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP), which is an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Our target audience is practicing psychiatrists and other prescribing mental healthcare professionals in the United States. The film and its message are relevant to these specific healthcare professionals because they’re actively treating schizophrenia patients in a variety of care settings, including private practice, inpatient units, and community mental health clinics.

Awake before his alarm from another restless night, our hero prepares and leaves for work but forgets to take his daily medications.

A lurking presence appears to follow him. He is nervous.

It continues to grow as he arrives. He avoids his coworkers and accepts his daily deliveries.

His mood becomes more agitated as the spiral gets closer and larger.

He delivers a package, and the spiral closes in while he loses his grip on reality. He moves into a stairwell, and the spiral envelopes him.

The spiral relents and the man speaks with a psychiatrist in her office. He rides his bike out of the spiral, has coffee with an acquaintance, and returns to work. The spiral’s presence and influence over him recede, and his mood stabilizes. He returns to his previous delivery and completes it. The man rides his bike confidently glimpsing a future of his own making.

For patients with schizophrenia and the healthcare professionals (HCPs) who treat them, treatment with daily oral medications is overwhelmingly unsuccessful. This is largely due to a lack of adherence, which can lead to relapse, disease progression, and loss of cognitive function. Treatment with long-acting injectables (LAIs) offers benefits that can improve adherence and reduce relapse. However, the utilization of current LAI treatments remains low.

Our goal in Escape the Spiral was to personify, and therefore better illustrate to HCPs, the role of schizophrenia relapse in their patients’ daily lives and the risks that accompany it. The film crystallizes the patient’s omnipresent struggle and focuses HCPs on addressing the risk of relapse with a different kind of treatment.

By recontextualizing the risk schizophrenia patients live with and the issues HCPs who treat them contend with, we’re helping them Escape the Spiral.

Our target audience is practicing psychiatrists and other prescribing mental healthcare professionals in the United States. The film and its message are relevant to these specific healthcare professionals because they’re actively treating schizophrenia patients in a variety of care settings, including private practice, inpatient units, and community mental health clinics.