#126: Lisa Hepner | The Human Trial

In June 2022, The Human Trial documentary film was released by writer and director, Lisa Hepner who was given unprecedented access to participants in the sixth ever embryonic stem cell trial in the world. Behind every breakthrough are those who risk everything for everybody else. In this episode we get into the hard hitting details as to what this means, moments of personal reflection, and if the cure really is on the horizon. I truly believe Lisa and her team are bridging the much needed gap between the people living with diabetes and the research teams who are working diligently to be the first to “cure” Type 1 diabetes.

BIO: Lisa Hepner and her partner Guy Mossman run LA-based Vox Pop Films, a production company specializing in non-fiction content and commercials. For the last 25 years, Lisa has produced a variety of films and programs for Sony Pictures Classics, HBO, A&E;, PBS, Lifetime, Discovery, MTV, TLC, and the CBC. She has produced for acclaimed directors Jonathan Demme, Michael Apted, Julie Taymor, and Lisa F. Jackson, among others. When she wasn’t in the field, Lisa worked at the PBS station, 13-WNET, producing a variety of programs, including the Emmy Award winning series, Air: America’s Investigative Reports. In 2003, she co-directed the feature doc, Peace by Peace: Women on the Frontlines. Shot in Afghanistan, Argentina, Burundi, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the US, the film premiered at the UN in 2003 and aired on PBS in 2004. She has lived with type 1 diabetes for 30 years, for about as long as she’s worked in film and TV. This is Lisa’s feature directorial debut.