#135: Rachael Dyer & Scott Alexander Ruderman | Pay or Die

Rachael Dyer and Scott Alexander Ruderman are the directors of Pay or Die, a feature documentary that provides an inside look at how the soaring price of insulin in America is threatening, if not deadly. 

We’ve heard WAY too many stories about people rationing their insulin and this film documents what life is like with this disease and the impact it has on our pocket books. 

STATEMENT:

While we commend Eli Lilly in taking this first step and hope that Novo Nordisk and Sanofi follow suit, it is important to remember that the key issue is not about these companies voluntarily slashing prices; it’s about changing laws so the insulin manufacturers do not have the ability to raise the prices again. This is the life or death issue that we focus on in our documentary “Pay Or Die.” It’s also important to note that insulin is just one of the many expensive prescription drugs in U.S., which is why we need to call for reform. Affordable medication needs to be a basic human right within reach for all Americans.

BIOS: 

Rachael Dyer, an Australian native and Canadian citizen based in New York, is an award-winning producer and journalist whose career has taken her across the globe, featuring stories seen on Netflix, Apple TV+, Disney, HBO Max, Peacock, Oxygen, Discovery ID, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and BBC. Most recently, she was a senior producer on Hillary & Chelsea Clinton’s documentary series, GUTSY (2022) for Apple TV + as well as a 4 part series, KEEP THIS BETWEEN US (2022), for Disney’s Freeform channel. Currently she is working as a senior producer on a 90 minute special on SHERI PAPINI: LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES for Peacock. Her previous credits can be found on Netflix’s hit series (UN)WELL (2020) and Quibi’s ANSWERED by Vox (2020). Prior to her work in documentary, she worked in the field covering breaking news stories for BBC, Australian networks 7, 9, and ABC, and Channel News Asia. Rachael was awarded the Southern California’s Journalist Award for best international feature, as well as a Clio Entertainment Grand winning entry for her work on THE GREATEST SHOWMAN LIVE – the world’s first live commercial for a theatrical release.

Scott Alexander Ruderman lives with type 1 diabetes, and is an award winning filmmaker and cinematographer whose work has been screened in film festivals around the world as well as on Netflix, BBC, HBO, A&E;, Hulu, and Discovery +.  Scott’s documentary short, PIANO CRAFTMAN, premiered at Big Sky Documentary Festival and Mountain Film Festival, and won a best director award at Madrid Art Film Festival. Scott’s recent cinematography credits include ANDY WARHOL’S AMERICA (2022), and a BBC mini series, CHASING GHISLAINE (2021). His cinematography work can also be seen on HBO Max’s THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY(2021), Netflix’s (Un)WELL (2020), and Hulu’s TASTE THE NATION (2020), which was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award. Ruderman’s producing credits include UNANSWERED IVES, which was awarded the Czech Crystal at the 2019 Golden Prague International Film Festival, and WHITER SHADE OF TERROR, a film about the the global spread of anti-muslim rhetoric and an increasingly violent white supremacy movement. Most recently, Scott was a producer on the film ROCK CHICKS, an upcoming documentary that tells the stories of women in rock’n’roll. Ruderman holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts.

LINKS & PRESS:

* Pay or Die Film