Background
The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame honours Canadians whose work has changed health and medicine, and inspires the next generation to follow them. Each year, new laureates are inducted at a national ceremony.
Challenge
Every laureate's career spans decades of research, practice, and mentorship, and each story has to land in a few minutes, for an audience that goes well beyond medicine. Some laureates are living; others, like Dr. Jennie Kidd Trout, the first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada, can only be told through the people and records they left behind. Interviews happen across the country, sometimes in both French and English.
Solution
We treat each video as a short documentary. Our story producers start with research and 30-minute pre-interviews, then build each film around the laureate and three supporting voices: colleagues, mentees, and family, chosen for a range of perspectives. We film in places that show the work, such as labs and libraries, and focus on legacy and character, not just credentials. Each laureate receives a tribute video, an extended version for the ceremony, and a social cut-down.
Outcome
The tribute videos premiere at the induction ceremony each year and live on in the Hall's channels. What began with a single project in 2021 has become a multi-year partnership, and we're now producing the next series of laureate tributes.
