Our Storytellers

Doctors and actors, singers and activists, entertainment industry titans and longtime survivors –the people integral to this story span the range of humanity. Through intimate new interviews and rare archival footage, theirs are the stories we tell.

The Celebrities

From Joan Rivers’ appearance as the first celebrity to headline an AIDS fundraiser to the superstar power of Madonna, Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler, Hollywood showed up. Elizabeth Taylor, Sharon Stone, Morgan Fairchild, Judith Light and scores of Hollywood’s biggest stars shined their light on the disease and brought the issue to America’s attention.

Commitment to Life will feature Hollywood actors and personalities of today including Queer Eye’s Karamo Brown, Kathy Griffin, Sharon Stone, Melissa Rivers, Bruce Vilanch, and Pauley Perrette who show us how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.

The First Responders

Forty years after publishing the first medical account of what would later be known as AIDS, Dr. Michael Gottlieb is still treating patients with HIV. He’ll tell us how he and Dr. Joel Weismann helped bring the disease to light, and we will hear first-hand accounts of what it was like on the front line in the AIDS Wards from the nurses who did the work others were unwilling to do.

The Activists

Running a hotline for people with questions about the “gay cancer”… fighting a proposition that would quarantine anyone with the disease… creating a safe place for LGBTQ+ and POC communities… these are just a few of the monumental challenges taken on by activists across the city. We will hear from LA icon Jewel “Jewel’s Catch One” Thais-Williams and others about their work fighting the epidemic.

The Survivors

The people who lived through the period have their own stories to tell. We will meet Susan Bluestein, the wife of actor Brad Davis—who was compelled to conceal his HIV+ status; Paul Michael Glaser, the husband of the co-founder of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation; Jim J. Bullock, an HIV+ actor on one of the most popular sitcoms of the day, and Randal Kleiser, the director of a film about his lover’s suicide.

The Moguls

The success of the first AIDS fundraisers relied on the hard work of a few dedicated individuals and caught the attention of some of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry. Barry Diller, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steve Tisch and Sandy Gallin threw their weight behind the effort, bringing in A-List talent and increased awareness of the epidemic. We talk to insiders including producer Howard Rosenman to find out how Hollywood’s elite stepped up to the plate.

The Artists

Philadelphia. Longtime Companion. “Very Special Episodes” of TV shows featuring storylines about HIV. Hollywood brought these stories to the screen and gave HIV a face. Producer Jonathan Murray talks about Pedro Zamora’s inspirational role in MTV’s The Real World. Ron Nyswaner remembers writing the screenplay of Philadelphia, which would star Tom Hanks—one of Hollywood’s biggest and most supportive stars. Patrick Ian-Polk and Daniel Franzese talk about the depiction of HIV+ characters today.