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Risk Factor (2017)

One man’s journey to understand his personal risk factors, and the societal risks we all share.

Risk Factor was produced in association with TVO, Canal D and Knowledge BC in collaboration with the TELUS Fund. It premiered on TVO August 2017 and is being distributed internationally under the title The Truth About Risk by TVF in the UK.

PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN AND MOBILE APP

In 2017 Kensington launched a campaign to increase the public understanding of risk, supported by the Risk Factor film and a Kensington-produced mobile app: Risk Navigator.

SYNOPSIS

Risk Factor begins with filmmaker Robert Lang expressing confusion about his personal risks and the societal risks that seem to threaten us all. Which risk factors are truly dangerous? And which ones don’t matter? To gain insight, he decides to go on a journey to meet the world’s top risk experts.

Robert encounters a renowned statistician at Cambridge University, an extreme ice climber on an avalanche-prone mountain, a physicist in a nuclear reactor, and a security guru at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The twists and turns of Robert’s journey lead him to reconsider the riskiest moments in his own life story: a drunken joyride, a brush with nuclear radiation, a murder on his doorstep, and his parents’ escape from Nazi Germany – a family history that speaks to the current risks of terrorism.

In the end, Robert meets a Yale researcher whose data seem to prove that society will never agree about the biggest risks we face – that our risk perceptions will always be tied to our tribe. If that’s really true…we’re all screwed. But despite these gloomy findings, the filmmaker finds reason to hope, with the resolve to be more resilient amid uncertainty.

CREDITS

Director and Producer
ROBERT LANG

Writers
ALLEN BOOTH
ROBERT LANG

Editor
MICHAEL FULLER

Music
ERIC CADESKY
NICK DYER

Camera
IRIS NG
MATTHEW GALLAGHER

Additional Photography
ASHLEY MENEELY
GUY CLARKSON
ROBERT LANG

Produced in association with TVO

Produced with the Participation of TELUSfund, Canada Media Fund

Executive Producers (TVO)
JANE JANKOVIC, NATASHA NEGREA

Independent Production Officer (TVO)
LINDA FONG

Researchers
ALLEN BOOTH
KAREN DOUGHERTY

Researcher / Original Idea
DAVID OPPENHEIM

Visual Researcher
ELSPETH DOMVILLE

Production Coordinator
ALLYSON LUCHAK
ATEFEH SADREDDIN
FLORENCIA MARTINEZ CARRANZA

On-camera Participants (in order of appearance):
DAVID SPIEGELHALTER – Professor, Statistics Cambridge University
WILL GADD – Professional Adventure Athlete
DR. PETER LIN – Family Practitioner
FIONA MCNEILL – Professor, Radiation Physics McMaster University
GRANT STATHAM – Risk Specialist Parks Canada
BRUCE SCHNEIER – Fellow, Berkman Center Harvard University
DAN KAHAN – Professor, Law Department Yale University

Camera Assistants
HAYLEY WONG
JESSE CLARKSON
RICHARD BANARDO
SASHA APPLER

Props
LEN RYDAHL

On-Camera Extras
DARWIN De GUZMAN
STEVEN WRIGHT

Post Production Coordinator / Assistant Editor
FLORENCIA MARTINEZ CARRANZA

Animation and Motion Graphics
LUKE MURPHY

Conform and Online Editor
JOZEF KAROLY

Colourist
ARLENE MOELKER

Sound Editor
GARY VAUGHAN

Sound Re-Recording
RICHARD SPENCE-THOMAS

Sound Recordists
CHRIS MILLER
DANIEL HEWITT
EDWARD O’CONNOR
GUY BRUCKNER
PETER SAWADE
TOM REDHEAD

Production Accountants
MICHELE DAVIS

Business Affairs Coordinator
MELISSA McLEAN
ADRIANNA CRIFO

Digital Marketing Manager
DANILO FERRON, Blue Maroon Media

Impact Producer
JOANNE FISHBURN, GOOD INFLUENCE FILMS

Impact Partners and Collaborators
CANADA SAFETY COUNCIL
RISK INNOVATION LAB, ARIZONA STATE UNVERSITY
THE WINTON CENTRE FOR RISK AND EVIDENCE COMMUNICATION, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
McMASTER UNIVERSITY
WALRUS FOUNDATION
WILL GADD
GRANT STATHAM

Legal
DANNY WEBBER

Accounting Services
KAY AND WARBURTON

Additional Footage
GENEPOOL PRODUCTIONS
SCREEN AUSTRALIA
RAVEN PRODUCTIONS
SHEILA PETZOLD
MICHAEL FULLER

Archival Material
ALEX DWORKIN CANADIAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
BIG UP PRODUCTIONS
CBC ARCHIVE SALES/ ARCHIVES RADIO-CANADA
CNN
CRITICAL PAST
CTV NEWS STOX, A DIVISION OF BELL MEDIA INC.
ENVATO MARKET/ VIDEOHIVE
FREE AGENCY
JULIEN LOPEZ
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
PARKS CANADA/ BANFF NATIONAL PARK
POND 5
RED BULL MEDIA HOUSE
REEL ROCK
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
WPA FILM LIBRARY

Special Thanks to
SONYA PEMBERTON
MATT CALISSI
GUY CLARKSON
MARK HAMPTON
PETER HOLT
PARKS CANADA
BANFF NATIONAL PARK
SUNSHINE VILLAGE
SIMON KISS
ELIZABETH FRIESEN
CENTRE FOR MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, CAMBRIDGE
McMASTER UNIVERSITY NUCLEAR REACTOR
YALE LAW SCHOOL
FOREST HILL PROSTHODONTICS
WILFRED LAURIER UNIVERSITY
TRYSHA BAKKER
THERESA SEARS
DAVID SWITZER
THE SEA TREE, CAMBRIDGE
RAYNALD MARCHAND
DAVID LEONARD
ALEXANDRA FREEMAN
ANDREW MAYNARD

Produced in collaboration with TELUSfund, a division of Bell Media Inc.
LYNE MACHABÉE, Delegate, Original Productions

Produced in Association with TVO

Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit