THE TRUE STORY OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL WHISTLEBLOWERS IN U.S. HISTORY COMES TO THE SCREEN
ADDICTION INCORPORATED
The Story About the Fight to Reveal the Deceitful and Dangerous Practices of Big Tobacco Comes to Digital Download and DVD From Virgil Films in March
New York, NY (February 17, 2016) – After a young drug researcher is hired by a major tobacco company, he discovers the ingredients of addiction – and begins a brave and lonely struggle to have tobacco federally regulated. This story of a true American hero, as dramatic as any fictional David vs. Goliath tale, is told in ADDICTION INCORPORATED. Charles Evans Jr.’s urgent film comes to digital download, video on demand and DVD from Virgil Films on March 15, 2016.
ADDICTION INCORPORATED chronicles Victor DeNoble’s extraordinary 30-year journey from research labs to Congress to courtrooms. In the 1980s, DeNoble was hired out of college as a research scientist at tobacco giant Philip Morris. His assigned task was to reduce or replace cigarettes’ nicotine content – the primary addictive agent. The company was concerned about the mounting evidence that nicotine could lead to heart attacks and other fatal maladies; the new goal was to keep customers addicted without killing them, to keep them buying the product. DeNoble succeeded in that mission – and in the process uncovered a new addictive ingredient, setting off a chain of events that still reverberates even today.
In a true act of modern-day heroism, DeNoble took his findings to the people despite a strict confidentiality agreement with his employer, eventually testifying about his research in headline-making 1994 congressional hearings with the heads of the seven major U.S. tobacco companies.
Director Charles Evans Jr. (a producer of Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator) reveals how an unprecedented alliance of journalists, politicians, attorneys and whistleblowers achieved what was once considered impossible – the first federal regulation of the tobacco industry, which continues to have repercussions even today.
“ADDICTION INCORPORATED is a surprisingly entertaining tribute to investigative journalism,” wrote Jim Batts of We Are Movie Geeks. Loren King of Boston.com said, “The film packs a wallop. … the cast of characters Evans has assembled – heroes, villains, and many in between – bring the story of rapid scientific, political, and social change to new, unforgettable light.”
Press Contact:
Stacey Cusack
stacey.cusack@sapkarpr.com
732.674.2824
Daniela Sapkar
daniela.markoska@sapkarpr.com
646.644.4418
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ADDICTION INCORPORATED
DVD, Digital HD, VOD release: March 15, 2016
Running time: 82 minutes
Documentary
Not rated
